Welcome to the party, Pennsylvania
PokerStars has announced that it will become part of FanDuel in the United States later this year. Players will use a single FanDuel account and wallet for all verticals FanDuel offers, including sportsbook, casino, and poker. PokerStars will still be on a separate, dedicated app that will have to be downloaded when the “PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel” era launches.
The big upside for PokerStars players is increased player liquidity. While PokerStars will still only be available in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania – no new states are coming online – Pennsylvania will finally be added to the poker site’s interstate online poker network. “PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel” will also be for Ontario players, but they are not part of the US shared liquidity.
Pennsylvania joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) last spring, allowing the state’s online poker rooms to share liquidity with sister sites in other states, but PokerStars did not join the cross-border party. Now it will. Once PokerStars merges with FanDuel, players will see more opponents at the tables, as Pennsylvania will be on board with Michigan and New Jersey.
Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of both PokerStars and FanDuel, is also counting on players to find it easier to try out new games – poker players testing out casino, sports bettors trying poker, etc. – because of the new shared wallet system.
Sit tight
For now, everything remains the same for PokerStars players, as the transition isn’t happening until some unannounced date later this year. When “PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel” does launch, players will have to download a new poker client and register a FanDuel account if they don’t have one already. The site’s FAQ doesn’t specifically say that player funds will automatically transfer over to the new account, but it is implied. All that is said about funds is that they are safe and can be withdrawn “until the launch of PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel.”
PokerStars has assured that all the tournaments and cash games players are used to will still be there, but new things will also be added. PokerStars Rewards, however, will end next week, on March 13. Players will receive cash for any unopened chests and pro-rated amounts for their progress bars. One would guess that there will be a new rewards system coming, or at least a modified version of what FanDuel currently offers, but we will have to wait and see.
Players who don’t already have a FanDuel account can create one ahead of time to take advantage of the site’s “Now and Later” offer. New FanDuel players can get a casino deposit bonus offer now, and then when PokerStars launches down the road, get another welcome deposit bonus for poker.
Image credit: PokerStars (video screenshot)
