Flutter Entertainment has opened the PokerStars Network (PSN) to operators outside its own group, turning the shared poker liquidity pool it built for its brands into a B2B product. Third-party partners can now plug into PokerStars player traffic, games, scheduling and live events, and can take the PokerStars brand into their own markets.
The move comes six weeks after Flutter consolidated its international online poker brands onto a single network. In August, the group confirmed that Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Poker would join PokerStars on one shared platform, with Betfair the first to switch on 13 August.
From internal consolidation to a B2B offer
The first phase of PSN was about Flutter’s own poker traffic. Betfair Poker left the iPoker network and moved onto PokerStars software, and UK PokerStars players were moved to play through Betfair while staying connected to the global player pool. Paddy Power Poker and Sky Poker were scheduled to follow later in 2026, with further expansion flagged for 2027.
Announcing the change in August, PokerStars Chief Commercial Officer Mike Woodbridge described what fragmented liquidity had cost the brand in the UK:
“Players have felt it through thinner fields and smaller tournament prizes on our site.”
Betfair Managing Director Kim Daly said at the time:
“I’m thrilled to bring two iconic brands under one roof.”
PokerStars has now set out the full shape of the network as it stands. According to the company, PSN already covers Flutter brands in 4 different setups and markets: Sisal and SNAI in Italy, which sit inside the Southern Europe shared pool; FanDuel in the US; and Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky in the UK.
What partners get
The pitch to external operators is access to PokerStars infrastructure without building a poker product from scratch. PokerStars lists the following for network partners:
- access to the network’s shared player liquidity
- centrally run games and tournament scheduling
- a dedicated game integrity function
- entry to PokerStars live and online events, including the European Poker Tour
- the option to operate under the PokerStars brand in their own market
The network’s own site also refers to platform integration, a tournament engine with customisable promotions, content and marketing support, and white-label options. Commercial terms, such as revshare levels or integration fees, have not been published.
The branding option is the most notable part. PokerStars has historically run its own B2C operation in almost every market it enters. Letting a third-party licensee carry the brand is a different model, and one that could give PokerStars a presence in markets where Flutter does not hold its own licence.
Why liquidity matters in poker
Poker is a peer-to-peer product. Operators earn rake, and the player experience depends on how many other players are online: field sizes, guarantees, table availability and the range of stakes. Smaller operators running a standalone poker room struggle to fill tournaments or keep cash tables active outside peak hours.
That is the gap B2B networks such as iPoker, run by Playtech, and GGPoker’s GGNetwork have filled for years. PSN enters that segment with the largest brand in online poker and an established tournament calendar, including the Sunday Million, SCOOP and WCOOP series.
Regulation limits how far this can go. Many European markets ring-fence poker liquidity by licence. Italy, Spain, France and Portugal share a Southern Europe pool, while US states that allow online poker license it state by state and share players only through interstate compacts. Any operator joining PSN will only be able to connect players to the pool its licence allows.
What happens next
PokerStars says it is now ready to open talks with leading operators outside Flutter. The PokerStars Network team will be on the Flutter stand at SBC Summit Lisbon, from 29 September to 1 October. The event will be the first public test of commercial interest.
The questions for prospective partners are practical ones: which regulated pools they can join, how the revenue split works, and how much control they keep over player accounts and CRM when running on PokerStars technology. The migration of Paddy Power Poker and Sky Poker later this year will also show how smoothly the network absorbs new brands before the first external operator goes live.
Source: PokerStars
