Who owns PokerStars?
As of : PokerStars is owned by Flutter Entertainment plc, the NYSE-listed betting group. Flutter got PokerStars in 2020 when it took over The Stars Group. The UK site, pokerstars.uk, runs under Stars Interactive Limited, which holds UK Gambling Commission account 39108. The .com site and other national sites use other Flutter companies.
| Ultimate owner | Flutter Entertainment plc (listed (NYSE: FLUT)) |
|---|---|
| Operating company | Stars Interactive Limited · seat: Isle of Man, not confirmed on the register |
| Licences | UKGC account 39108 |
| Products | Poker, Casino, Sports betting |
| Website | pokerstars.uk |
| Also runs as | pokerstarsmtairycasino.com, pokerstars.se, pokerstars.dk, pokerstarscasino.dk, pokerstarssports.dk, pokerstars.ee, pokerstars.ro, pokerstarscasino.ro, pokerstarssports.ro, pokerstars.bg, pokerstars.de, pokerstars.be, pokerstars.fr, pokerstarssports.fr, pokerstars.pt, pokerstars.es, pokerstars.it, pokerstars.gr, pokerstarscasino.gr, pokerstarssports.gr, pokerstarsnj.com, pokerstarsmi.com, pokerstars.ca |
| Companies of the other sites | TSG Interactive Services US Limited d/b/a The Stars Group (pokerstarsmtairycasino.com) · USA Pennsylvania — PGCB TSG Interactive PLC (pokerstars.se, pokerstars.ro, pokerstarscasino.ro, pokerstarssports.ro, pokerstars.bg) · Sweden — Spelinspektionen · Romania — ONJN Decizia nr.1438 din 12.08.2016 Reel Denmark Limited (pokerstars.dk, pokerstarscasino.dk, pokerstarssports.dk) · Denmark — Spillemyndigheden REEL Estonia Limited (pokerstars.ee) · Estonia — EMTA HKL000500 · Estonia — EMTA HKT000013 Cyan Blue International Limited (pokerstars.de) · Germany — GGL GAMBLING MANAGEMENT (SA/NV) (pokerstars.be) · Belgium — Gaming Commission +7 more on the owner page |
| Sister casinos | 22 |
| Fines and actions | PokerStars’s own company: 1 · whole Flutter Entertainment plc group: 21 |
| Owner proof | verified |
| Last checked | 14 Oct 2026 |
In numbers
- Flutter Entertainment plc owns 23 casino and betting brands (64 websites) in our data.
- 21 fines and regulator actions against the owner since 2018, about €12 million in total (converted to euros).
- Flutter Entertainment plc has owned PokerStars since 2020.
Who is behind it
Flutter got PokerStars in 2020 when it took over The Stars Group. That deal also brought Sky Betting & Gaming into the group. Flutter itself dates from the 2016 merger of Paddy Power and Betfair.
PokerStars uses different licence holders in different countries. Check the footer of the site you use to see which company you deal with.
Licence and what it means for you
Stars Interactive Limited holds UK Gambling Commission account 39108 for pokerstars.uk. For UK poker and casino players, that licence brings identity checks, safer-gambling tools and a complaints route. Outside the UK, PokerStars runs national sites such as pokerstars.fr, pokerstars.es, pokerstars.it, pokerstars.se and pokerstarsnj.com in New Jersey. Each answers to its own regulator. Stars Interactive Limited is probably based in the Isle of Man, but we have not confirmed it.
Licence records
What each licence means, and self-exclusion
- What a UKGC licence means · self-exclusion: GamStop
Sister sites
Sky Poker is the other Flutter poker room for UK players, but it runs under Bonne Terre Gaming Limited. Junglee Games is a poker brand in the group, and PokerStars Mobile FR serves French players. Flutter also owns Betfair, Paddy Power, FanDuel and tombola, among 23 brands in our data. A self-exclusion at PokerStars may not cover them.
22 sister casinos
Same owner often means the same terms, the same support team and the same payout rules. A self-exclusion at one brand may not cover its sister sites.
Paddy Powerpaddypower.com
Betfairbetfair.com
Sky Betskybet.com
Sky Vegasskyvegas.com
Sky Casinoskycasino.com
Sky Bingoskybingo.com
Sky Pokerskypoker.com
tombolatombola.co.uk
- Sisalsisal.it
Snaisnai.it- Sportsbetsportsbet.com.au
FanDuelfanduel.com- Adjarabetadjarabet.com
MaxBetmaxbet.rs- Betnacionalbetnacional.bet.br closed
Junglee Gamesjungleegames.com- BetStarsbetstars.dk
PokerStars Mobile FRpokerstarsmobile.fr
FOX Betfoxbet.com closed- Betfair Brasilbetfair.bet.br closed
tombola arcadetombolaarcade.co.uk
MaxBet Bosniamaxbet.ba
Does self-exclusion at PokerStars cover its sister sites? · How national self-exclusion schemes work
Fines and regulator actions
Our data lists no fine against Stars Interactive Limited, the UK licence holder. Other PokerStars companies have been sanctioned. In May 2025 Sweden's Spelinspektionen gave TSG Interactive PLC a warning and a SEK 7 million fine for anti-money-laundering shortcomings. In Austria a civil court ordered PokerStars to repay one player €1.6 million of casino and poker losses, because it had no Austrian licence. That was a court judgment, not a regulator fine. Flutter companies have 21 entries in our data, shown in the table below.
All 21 fines and regulator actions, with sources
1 of these 21 concerns PokerStars’s own company; the others concern other companies of the Flutter Entertainment plc group. The company column names who was fined.
Fines from the 40 regulators, prosecutors and courts we track, online gambling only; fines against land-based casinos are out of scope. How we count fines.
| Date | Company | Regulator / court | Amount | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-30 | FanDuel (Betfair Interactive US LLC) | USA New Jersey — DGE | USD 5,000 | DGE Director's ruling (summary for sep16-30 2026): civil penalty of $5,000 on FanDuel pursuant to an Action in Lieu of Complaint for failing to adhere to a Division directive source |
| 2026-03-31 | FanDuel (Betfair Interactive US LLC) | USA New Jersey — DGE | USD 25,000 | DGE Director's ruling (summary for mar16-31 2026): civil penalty of $25,000 against FanDuel pursuant to an Action in Lieu of Complaint for violation of responsible gaming rules source |
| 2026-03-23 | Betfair Interactive US, LLC d/b/a FanDuel | USA Massachusetts — Gaming Commission | USD 5,000 | Commission fine after an adjudicatory hearing: a FanDuel employee placed sports wagers in breach of 205 CMR 238.32(1) (19 to 21 April 2024). Listed on the Commission's noncompliance enforcement page (https://massgaming.com/regulations/noncompliance-enforcement-actions/). source |
| 2026-03-12 | Betfair Interactive US, LLC d/b/a FanDuel | USA Massachusetts — Gaming Commission | USD 5,000 | Civil administrative penalty for Sports Wagering Catalog noncompliance (7 to 9 September 2023); hearing waived. Listed on the Commission's noncompliance enforcement page (https://massgaming.com/regulations/noncompliance-enforcement-actions/). source |
| 2026-01-15 | TSG INTERACTIVE SPAIN SA | Spain — DGOJ | EUR 75,000 | Breached responsible-gambling and player-protection obligations. Nominal fine €125.000; reduced to €75.000 after the firm admitted liability and paid early. Case ES 2025/097; DGOJ lists it under 2026. source |
| 2026-01-08 | FanDuel Canada ULC | AGCO (Ontario) | CAD 350,000 | Penalty for failing to identify and report suspicious betting on Czech table tennis matches with match-fixing signs (Oct-Nov 2024). source |
| 2025-12-17 | Paddy Power / Betfair (PPB) | UK Gambling Commission | GBP 2,000,000 | About £2m for failing to spot signs of gambling harm quickly enough (amount approximate as reported). source |
| 2025-07-31 | FanDuel (Betfair Interactive US LLC) | USA New Jersey — DGE | USD 2,000 | DGE Director's ruling (summary for jul16-31 2025): $2,000 civil penalty on FanDuel pursuant to a Notice of Violation for an unauthorized promotion source |
| 2025-07-23 | Betfair Interactive US LLC d/b/a FanDuel | USA Pennsylvania — PGCB | USD 40,000 | Consent agreement: failed to license several employees. source |
| 2025-07-10 | TOMBOLA INTERNATIONAL MALTA, PLC | Spain — DGOJ | EUR 9,000 | Did not meet the technical requirements set by the gambling regulations. Nominal fine €15.000; reduced to €9.000 after the firm admitted liability and paid early. Case ES/2025/079; DGOJ lists it under 2026. source |
| 2025-05-28 | TSG Interactive PLC | Spelinspektionen (Sweden) | SEK 7,000,000 | Warning and fine (PokerStars) for anti-money-laundering shortcomings. source |
| 2025-03-25 | TSG Interactive Spain, S.A. | Spain — DGOJ | EUR 100,000 | Used technical systems that were not approved, e.g. moving gambling data to a new data centre without approval. Nominal fine €125.000; reduced to €100.000 after the firm admitted liability and paid early. Case ES/2025/002; DGOJ lists it under 2025. source |
| 2025-03-11 | TSG Interactive Spain, S.A. | Spain — DGOJ | EUR 60,000 | Did not meet the technical requirements set by the gambling regulations. Nominal fine €100.000; reduced to €60.000 after the firm admitted liability and paid early. Case ES/2025/017; DGOJ lists it under 2025. source |
| 2024-02-15 | FanDuel (Betfair Interactive US LLC) | USA New Jersey — DGE | USD 2,000 | DGE Director's ruling (summary for feb1-15 2024): $2,000 civil penalty on FanDuel pursuant to a Notice of Violation for violation of rules regarding patron wagering source |
| 2023-05-25 | PPB Counterparty Services (Paddy Power) | UK Gambling Commission | GBP 490,000 | Sent marketing to self-excluded or vulnerable consumers. source |
| 2023-04-24 | Betfair International plc | Spelinspektionen (Sweden) | SEK 4,000,000 | Warning and fine for offering bets on a Swedish U21 football league, which is not allowed. source |
| 2022-03-09 | Bonne Terre Limited (Sky Betting & Gaming) | UK Gambling Commission | GBP 1,170,000 | Marketing emails sent to self-excluded and unsubscribed customers. source |
| 2022-02 | Sportsbet Pty Ltd | ACMA (Australia) | AUD 2,508,600 | Infringement notice for spam breaches: marketing emails and SMS sent without consent or without a working unsubscribe facility (Jan 2020 to Mar 2021). Also an enforceable undertaking and about A$1.2m in customer refunds. source |
| 2021-01-01 | PokerStars (Flutter group) | Austria — Courts (civil) | EUR 1,600,000 | Civil court order to repay one player's online casino and poker losses, because the operator had no Austrian licence. A court judgment, not a regulator fine; date approximate. source |
| 2019-06-26 | Betfair International plc | Spelinspektionen (Sweden) | SEK 5,500,000 | Warning and fine for taking bets on matches with under-18 players. source |
| 2018-10 | Paddy Power Betfair | UK Gambling Commission | GBP 2,200,000 | Customer-interaction and AML failures; stolen money gambled on Betfair exchange. source |
About Flutter Entertainment plc
The world's largest online betting group by revenue, formed when Paddy Power merged with Betfair in 2016 and later absorbed The Stars Group (PokerStars, Sky Betting & Gaming). Recent deals added Italy's Snai (2025) and a majority of Brazil's NSX/Betnacional (2025); its Brazilian sites had to go offline in October 2026 under a provisional Brazilian ban on fixed-odds betting. FanDuel is its main US brand.
Headquarters: Ireland (incorporated); operational HQ New York, USA · Founded: 2016 · Ownership: listed (NYSE: FLUT)
How we know, and what we could not confirm
How we know: UK site licensed to Stars Interactive Ltd; .com and other national sites use other licensees.
- We have no company registration number for Stars Interactive Limited.
Flutter Entertainment plc sister sites, fines and sources →
Ratings elsewhere
- Trustpilot: read the reviews there
Ratings from other websites, with their source. We do not copy their reviews, and they do not change our facts.
Often compared
- Are Betfair and PokerStars owned by the same company? Yes, both are owned by Flutter Entertainment plc.
- Are PokerStars and Sky Bet owned by the same company? Yes, both are owned by Flutter Entertainment plc.
- Are FanDuel and PokerStars owned by the same company? Yes, both are owned by Flutter Entertainment plc.
Questions and answers
Who owns PokerStars?
Flutter Entertainment plc, since its 2020 takeover of The Stars Group.
Is PokerStars licensed in the UK?
Yes. Stars Interactive Limited holds UK Gambling Commission account 39108.
Do PokerStars and Sky Poker have the same owner?
Yes. Both belong to Flutter.
Is PokerStars legit?
PokerStars is run by Stars Interactive Limited, which holds a licence from UKGC (account 39108). Check the licence in the UKGC licence register. Its owner is Flutter Entertainment plc, a listed company. Fines and regulator actions against PokerStars’s own company: 1; against the whole Flutter Entertainment plc group: 21. Sister sites with the same owner: 22. Guide: How to check a casino. We do not rate sites. A licence from your country’s regulator is the main protection.
What are PokerStars’s sister sites?
PokerStars has 22 sister casinos with the same owner, Flutter Entertainment plc: Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet, Sky Vegas, Sky Casino and 17 more. Full list: all Flutter Entertainment plc sister sites.
Sources
- https://www.flutter.com/our-business/our-brands/
- https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/downloads/business-licence-register-domain-names.csv
- https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/downloads/business-licence-register-businesses.csv
Last checked 14 Oct 2026. Review text checked against our data on 25 Oct 2026. How we check facts. Gambling can be addictive. Help: BeGambleAware, GamStop, Gamblers Anonymous.
