PokerStars Ontario has revealed that it will host its flagship knockout festival, the Bounty Builder Series, a move that could mark the final tournament series on the current PokerStars client before players transition to a new platform.

Earlier this week, the operator confirmed that its software for PokerStars US and Ontario will merge with that of its sister brand, FanDuel, the US sportsbook giant.

The Bounty Builder Series (BBS) will run exclusively for Ontario online poker players. The festival carries C$750,000 in guaranteed prize money and will take place from March 13 to March 23. In total, the schedule includes 47 tournaments with buy-ins starting at C$20 and going up to C$100.

The Main Event features a C$100,000 guarantee and is set to take place on March 22. The tournament comes with a C$250 buy-in and headlines the closing weekend of the series. Complementing the tournament lineup is a leaderboard promotion distributing an additional C$5,000 in prizes to top-performing players across the festival.

Interestingly, no equivalent series has been announced for PokerStars US at the time of writing. Normally, when PokerStars launches a promotion or tournament series in North America, it runs similar campaigns across both the US and Ontario networks, often offering comparable schedules or parallel promotions.

This time, however, the BBS is being offered only to Ontario players. That decision stands out given the developments currently taking place within PokerStars’ North American operations. It also raises the possibility that this could be the final tournament festival held on the existing PokerStars platform for players in Ontario.

PokerStars FanDuel Merger Confirmed

On Tuesday, PokerStars confirmed a major change affecting its US and Ontario networks. The long-discussed integration with FanDuel has now been officially confirmed, and the transition to the new platform is expected to take place soon.

As part of the plan, PokerStars Pennsylvania players will finally join the operator’s shared liquidity network that currently connects New Jersey and Michigan. Once that happens, players from all three states will compete in the same network for the first time, increasing tournament field sizes and cash game liquidity across the regulated US online poker market.

Even more notable is the arrival of a completely new poker platform connected to the FanDuel platform. The product will be branded as “*PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel*.” Under this setup, the current PokerStars poker client used in the US and Ontario will be retired. Players will instead access poker through a new platform that combines FanDuel’s sportsbook and casino offerings, with all products operating under a single wallet system.

While many details about the new poker software have not yet been revealed, preview videos available on the PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel hub page provide a first look at the interface. The gameplay tables appear very similar to PokerStars’ familiar design, though several additions can be seen. One of the more noticeable features is a built-in HUD integrated directly into the client.

The previews also indicate that PokerStars’ iconic Sunday Million tournament will make its debut in the regulated US market, alongside popular formats such as Zoom cash games and Spin & Go tournaments.

Why No Bounty Builder Series for US Players?

Given these developments, the decision to run the Bounty Builder Series only in Ontario becomes even more interesting.

One possible explanation is that PokerStars intends to wait before running a major series for US players until after the transition to the FanDuel platform is complete. Once that move happens, operators will be able to run festivals where players from New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are all competing in the same pool, which should naturally produce larger prize pools and fields.

For Ontario players, however, the move to the new platform will not change the liquidity situation. Even after the transition, Ontario will remain a ring-fenced market, meaning its player pool will stay separate from both the US shared network and the international dot-com platform.

Timing may also be a factor. Signs suggest that the PokerStars–FanDuel transition will happen earlier in the US than in Ontario.

Although PokerStars has not published an exact launch date for the new platform, upcoming changes to rewards and casino features suggest that the rollout is approaching.

According to the FAQ section on the PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel webpage, PokerStars US Rewards will shut down on March 13, while Casino Progressive Jackpots will be removed on April 1. In Ontario, the timeline is different: the end date for the Rewards program has not yet been announced, and Progressive Jackpots are scheduled to be withdrawn later, on May 5. The sequence of these changes suggests that the US migration will likely happen before Ontario’s.

Given that timeline, PokerStars may simply prefer to wait before running another series for US players. When the new platform launches, the operator could instead introduce one of its flagship Championship of Online Poker (COOP) festivals to mark the occasion or a celebratory series, taking advantage of the newly unified US player pool and the new platform.

Ontario players will likely see that same COOP branding at some point as well. However, since the province’s migration may take place later, it makes sense for PokerStars to run the Bounty Builder Series now while the current platform is still fully in place.

BBS Ontario Series Details

Coming back to the series itself, the BBS schedule features a wide range of bounty formats. These include Progressive Knockouts (PKOs), Mystery Bounty events, Total Knockouts — where the entire buy-in contributes to the bounty pool — and Big Knockouts, in which 75% of the buy-in is allocated to bounties.

PKO tournaments make up the bulk of the schedule, while Mystery Bounty events account for a little more than half a dozen tournaments. In terms of table format, every event runs either 6-handed, 7-handed, or 8-handed, with the exception of one tournament that is played in a heads-up format. The series also includes four Zoom tournaments.

As is typical with PokerStars festival schedules, the lineup extends beyond No-Limit Hold’em. Players will also find Pot-Limit Omaha, 5-Card PLO, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, and even a mixed format rotating between NLHE and PLO.

The Main Event runs in the PKO format and carries a C$250 buy-in. Alongside it sits the Mini Main Event, which features a C$50 buy-in and C$27,500 in guaranteed prize money. There is also a Phase Main Event with multiple starting flights, offering a lower entry point with a C$20 buy-in and a C$25,000 guarantee.

In addition to the tournaments themselves, the series will be supported by a leaderboard promotion. Players earn the same number of points for every knockout recorded during the festival. Once the series concludes, the ten players with the highest point totals will split C$5,000 in prize money. The overall leaderboard winner will receive C$1,500, while the player finishing in tenth place will still walk away with C$125.