PokerStars‘ new life as a part of the FanDuel product offering in Ontario officially began on Friday.
The iconic poker brand had been offline in the province for roughly a month since the prior PokerStars platform shut down in Ontario on May 7 as part of the planned FanDuel transition.
PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel, which uses Playtech’s online poker technology instead of PokerStars’ legacy system, launched in PokerStars’ three U.S. markets on April 1. Its rollout north of the border was delayed, multiple times, most recently on June 3, but it officially launched in Ontario’s regulated iGaming market on June 5.
A new era for PokerStars’ iconic brand
Until now, PokerStars has been its own licensed operator in Ontario, approved to offer not only peer-to-peer poker but also other casino games and sports betting. However, it was removed from iGaming Ontario’s list of contracted operators in May.
Now, it will restart life in the province as another product in FanDuel’s suite.
PokerStars is available through a dedicated FanDuel-run poker app and desktop site and is accessible through existing or new FanDuel accounts. FanDuel Ontario customers can now access FanDuel Sportsbook, FanDuel Casino, and PokerStars via one shared login and wallet. For FanDuel, it offers the potential for customer cross-sell between all three verticals.
The new FanDuel iteration of PokerStars will compete with other regulated real-money poker platforms such as GGPoker, BetMGM Poker and 888poker in Ontario.
It also comes as FanDuel prepares to launch its real-money gaming products in Alberta’s regulated iGaming market, due to launch on July 13. Parent company Flutter has not publicly confirmed whether PokerStars is part of its plans for that province.
FanDuel cannot pool PokerStars Ontario play with US
Flutter initially revealed back in March that it would unite them under the FanDuel name in all four of its North American markets. FanDuel has offered a three-state PokerStars network since April 1, encompassing:
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
Due to Ontario’s existing rules on player pooling, which mandate that all play must be fenced in to within Ontario, PokerStars players in the province cannot compete with Michigan, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania residents.
That could feasibly change in the future, if a Supreme Court of Canada appeal by multiple Canadian provincial lottery corporations is dismissed by Canada’s highest court.
The Ontario Court of Appeal issued an opinion in November 2025 that it would be lawful under the Criminal Code for Ontario to let peer-to-peer online poker players compete with players in other countries. That decision is being appealed in the Supreme Court by:
- Atlantic Lottery Corporation
- British Columbia Lottery Corporation
- Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries
- Loto-Quebec
Flutter is an intervening party in the case, where it supports the idea of cross-border play along with GGPoker and World Series of Poker owner NSUS, the Canadian Gaming Association, and the government of Ontario.
