As of today, May 7, PokerStars is retiring its Ontario software platform in preparation for an upcoming relaunch on FanDuel.
Poker gameplay will no longer be possible on the brand’s Ontario client or app.
Players with accounts at Pokerstars Ontario now have until June 3 to clear their accounts and withdraw their balances. Any funds left in accounts after June 4 will be sent by check to the registered address of the account holder.
The brand will return to the Canadian province in the form of PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel, a poker client which will be available within the FanDuel gaming software.
When will play resume?
The move, combining two brands both owned by gaming giant Flutter Entertainment, comes on the heels of a similar customer migration in PokerStars’ US regions.
Players in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania have all moved to the FanDuel platform in a move first announced two months ago. It came into effect a month after that.
Assuming the Ontario launch follows a similar roadmap, players in Ontario should be able to access the online tables in early June, though no official launch date has been announced so far.
While the US move allowed for shared liquidity across the three states, no such widening of the player pool will be happening in Ontario, which is a ring-fenced regulated market.
However, putting online poker just a click away from FanDuel’s existing sports and casino bettors should hopefully lead to increased traffic, bigger tournament fields and larger prizes for PokerStars players in Ontario.
What do players need to do?
If you're an existing PokerStars player in Ontario you first need to withdraw your funds ahead of June 3.
You can then create a new account on FanDuel in order to pick up where you left off when PokerStars on FanDuel launches. If you already have a FanDuel account you don’t need to create a new one — you’ll have access to online poker in the existing client once it launches.
Note that you may not be able to use the same username at PokerStars on FanDuel that you have used in the past.
PokerStars will launch a ‘Founders Table’ promotion in Ontario, similar to its pre-launch activity in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
This offered the possibility of an early choice of username, as well as various other perks and deposit bonuses, and similar is expected in Ontario.
More info is available at PokerStars Ontario until early June.
Featured image generated using AI.
