After nearly a month offline, the operator has confirmed that its replacement platform, FanDuel Poker Ontario, will officially launch in the province on June 3.
The relaunch marks the end of an unusual stretch for the Ontario online poker market. Since May 7, PokerStars has been completely absent from the province after shutting down its long-running Ontario platform as part of Flutter’s strategy to transition PokerStars to the FanDuel brand in North America.
For Ontario players, the downtime has felt far longer than expected.
When PokerStars first announced it would leave Ontario temporarily during the migration process, it was assumed the replacement platform would appear within days. The operator had even indicated on social media that the launch would take place in the first week of May. However, that timeline was not met, the post was later removed, and PokerStars subsequently stated that the launch would be delayed.
As a result, players were left without access to their usual games, while competing operators like GGPoker Ontario continued to run uninterrupted.
Now, PokerStars on FanDuel Ontario is finally ready to go live.
The Ontario launch follows the same strategy Flutter, the parent of PokerStars and FanDuel, already rolled out in the United States earlier this year. On April 1, the company migrated PokerStars players in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey onto the new FanDuel Poker platform, retiring the PokerStars software across those states.
Ontario is now becoming the latest market to make the switch.
What Ontario Players Can Expect at Launch
One of the biggest changes players will immediately notice is the software itself. The new FanDuel Poker platform does not run on PokerStars’ traditional client. Instead, it uses Playtech’s iPoker software, meaning the overall experience will look and feel very different from the PokerStars platform Ontario players had grown familiar with over the past several years.
That includes changes to tournament lobbies, gameplay presentation, rewards systems, and the overall interface.
PokerStars on FanDuel has also confirmed several launch promotions for Ontario players.
The operator will additionally kick off the launch with the “No Sweat Series,” a promotional freeroll campaign distributing C$100,000 worth of tournament tickets from June 8 to 14.
There will also be a new lineup of flagship Sunday tournaments under the FanDuel Poker name. The well-known Sunday Million brand will not be part of the launch. Instead, the operator will introduce new marquee tournaments called Sunday Dynasty and Sunday Shield, which together will feature C$100,000 in guaranteed prize money during launch weekend.
A New Chapter for PokerStars in Ontario
For years, PokerStars built a loyal player base in Ontario, with many players becoming highly familiar with its software and overall experience. The move to a completely new platform will now give players a chance to explore a different client under the FanDuel Poker brand once the games go live.
Some players may simply be happy to have PokerStars back in any form after weeks offline. Others will likely compare the new experience closely against the old client they had used since Ontario launched its regulated online poker market in 2022.
At the same time, FanDuel carries enormous brand recognition in North America thanks to its dominance in sports betting and casino. Flutter’s long-term strategy appears increasingly focused on using FanDuel as its primary consumer-facing brand across the region, including online poker.
The company has already shown in the US that it is willing to push aggressively to grow the platform.
Earlier this year, FanDuel Poker launched in the American market with a bold $5 million guaranteed Ignite Series. Although many events produced overlays, the operator continued promoting large guarantees and heavily marketing its Sunday schedule.
The approach appeared to work. FanDuel Poker quickly climbed the market rankings in the US and established itself as the leading regulated poker operator shortly after launch.
Ontario players should probably expect a similarly aggressive rollout.
The timing could also work in FanDuel Poker’s favor. After nearly a month without PokerStars in the market, some players may be eager to return to the brand once the new platform opens its doors.
Either way, one of Ontario’s biggest online poker operators is finally coming back, just under a very different name and with a very different platform than players were used to before the shutdown.
