PokerStars changes: it integrates with Betfair and modifies the way of playing online – CodigoPoker

PokerStars announced this Monday an important change for its players in the United Kingdom

The move does not mean the end of PokerStars in the British market nor the loss of access to its main tournaments. Players will still be able to participate in the big online events of the room, such as the Sunday Million, SCOOP, and WCOOP, as well as Spin & Go and satellites for live tournaments like the European Poker Tour (EPT).

The difference will be where players will enter to access that content: the PokerStars client will be replaced in the United Kingdom by the Betfair platform.

The change is part of a broader strategy by Flutter Entertainment, the company that owns PokerStars and Betfair. The company has been working on creating a structure called PokerStars Network, which connects players from different Flutter brands in shared pools. The goal is to increase the number of players available at the tables and, consequently, generate tournaments with larger fields and bigger prize pools.

The United Kingdom will be the first market to carry out this migration. For players, the main change will be the platform from which they access poker, while the PokerStars game and tournament offerings will remain available.

Read more A few days after winning the Main Event, Lucas Jumalon’s emotional message on social media — CodigoPoker

In terms of content, the change will be much smaller than the announcement might suggest. UK players will retain access to the global PokerStars pool and will be able to continue competing against international players. They will also keep the possibility to participate in the platform’s main festivals and tournaments. The big difference will be that this entire ecosystem will be available through Betfair.

The first step of a restructuring

The British operation is just the first move in a broader restructuring of PokerStars’ presence within Flutter.

The company seeks for its different brands to feed a common network and leverage greater liquidity. In online poker, having a critical mass of players is key: more traffic allows tables to stay open longer, tournaments to have more participants, and better guaranteed prizes.

Therefore, Flutter’s declared goal is to strengthen the so-called PokerStars Network and improve the experience through a greater number of players sharing the same tables and tournaments.

The move also shows how the major companies in the sector are trying to reorganize their poker platforms to compete in a market where liquidity remains one of the main assets.

Read more WSOP: Jumalon and Saaskilahti analyze the failed hero call