Flutter Entertainment is cutting jobs across its PokerStars team in multiple jurisdictions, the poker brand confirmed to SBC Americas, with affected staff informed on 7 July. The operator did not specify which regions carry the losses, but said some North American roles are among them.
PokerStars framed the cuts as part of a wider reorganisation tied to its integration with Flutter’s larger brands. The company said it is moving toward a more locally focused operating model in response to tighter regulation and stronger competition across its markets.
“PokerStars can confirm that it is proposing a number of organizational changes as part of its ongoing transformation program, which includes integrating its online poker offering with Flutter’s leading brands to better serve customers,” a PokerStars spokesperson said. “This reflects a broader shift to a more locally focused operating model, as the business responds to an increasingly complex regulatory and competitive landscape across many of the markets in which it operates.”
“While we have sought to minimize the impact on colleagues, including through opportunities for redeployment, the proposals will unfortunately result in a number of roles being affected. We are communicating with those impacted as part of the process and will provide them with the support they need throughout.”
The company did not give a figure for how many jobs are at risk. PokerStars said it will keep operating across all of its markets with no changes to its licences or market presence.
PokerStars folds into FanDuel
Flutter acquired PokerStars through its 2020 merger with The Stars Group. In North America, the brand has since been rebuilt as a FanDuel product. The previous US platform closed on 31 March and the FanDuel version launched the next day as “PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel,” pooling players across Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
PokerStars already shared liquidity between Michigan and New Jersey under the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). The relaunch added Pennsylvania to that shared pool and placed poker on the same platform as FanDuel Casino and FanDuel Sportsbook, with a single wallet across the three verticals.
The same rebuild reached Canada in June, when PokerStars relaunched as a FanDuel product in Ontario after delays that left the province without the brand for almost a month between the old platform closing and the new one going live. In the US, PokerStars on FanDuel competes with BetMGM Poker, BetRivers Poker and WSOP Online.
Cuts follow FanDuel and Flutter exits
The reduction lands on top of a run of upheaval elsewhere in Flutter’s US business. FanDuel CEO Amy Howe left abruptly in mid-May and was replaced by company president Christian Genetski. In early June, FanDuel confirmed to SBC Americas its own round of job cuts, which reportedly affected hundreds of staff.
Days later, FanDuel Managing Director of Casino Asaf Noifeld said he would step down after more than a decade with Flutter, first at PokerStars and then at FanDuel. The parent company also cut jobs in India last November. The moves feed into a broader picture of restructuring across the industry through 2026.
Guidance cut sharpens the pressure
The restructuring comes as Flutter lowered its full-year revenue guidance for 2026 after group net income fell 38% in the first quarter. US revenue rose 6% year on year to $1.76 billion, with iGaming up 19%, when the operator reported its Q1 results. Pokerfuse estimated that PokerStars on FanDuel generated roughly $2.74 million in gross revenue across its three-state US network in April, the first month of the new operation.
PokerStars cast the cuts as the next stage of a transformation aimed at aligning the poker brand’s structure with a regional, localised model. With redeployment offered to some staff and consultation still under way, the number of roles lost, and the markets that carry them, will set how far Flutter is prepared to shrink the poker business as it presses the FanDuel integration forward.
Source: PokerStars
