PokerStars UK poker moved to the Betfair platform on October 8, 2026. The games remain available to eligible players, but account access, balances, currency handling and privacy controls now follow Betfair’s system.

The migration is part of Flutter Entertainment’s plan to combine player pools across its brands. For customers, the change is practical, not just technical.

Players must now check how they log in, where their money is held, which terms apply and whether their privacy preferences transferred correctly.

What happens to your account?

Players without an existing Betfair account can download the Betfair client and use their PokerStars credentials. PokerStars says the account will then transfer to the Betfair platform, with Betfair administering the balance on PokerStars’ behalf. PokerStars’ migration information sets out the process.

Players who already have an active Betfair account were told to withdraw their PokerStars funds first. They then continue through their existing Betfair account.

The Betfair username becomes the main login. The PokerStars poker nickname may remain unchanged.

  • The old PokerStars UK platform no longer provides access to poker gameplay.
  • A new Betfair client or app may be required.
  • If a username is unavailable on Betfair, the registered email address can be used instead.
  • Some transferred customers may face additional verification checks before all features are restored.

Balances, currency and tournament assets

Balances move with transferred accounts, but the withdrawal route is now Betfair. PokerStars says customers can withdraw through the Betfair cashier after accepting Betfair’s terms.

Players who do not accept those terms must contact customer support to withdraw their remaining funds.

The October 6, 2026 deadline applied to customers who wanted to withdraw before their balance was automatically converted into British pounds. That deadline passed before the migration completed on October 8.

Betfair uses British pounds as its default currency. PokerStars says balances may be converted automatically when players buy into or cash out of poker tables.

Repeated conversions and rounding can create small differences. PokerStars says these are usually worth a few pence.

Tournament registrations depend on how the account was transferred:

  • Transferred accounts keep eligible registrations for tournaments scheduled after the downtime.
  • Players with existing Betfair accounts are unregistered from affected PokerStars tournaments and receive refunds of their buy-ins.
  • Tournament money and unused tickets move with transferred accounts.
  • For existing Betfair customers, tournament money and unused tickets are converted into withdrawable cash.

The PokerStars cashier is expected to remain available for four weeks after the move. After that period, customers with unresolved balances must contact support to arrange a withdrawal.

Privacy and marketing settings

The data controller for gameplay accounts changes from TSG Interactive Services (Ireland) Limited to Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited. PokerStars says customers’ privacy rights do not change, but Betfair’s privacy notice now governs the transferred gameplay relationship.

Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited is an Irish company within Flutter’s Betfair UK and Ireland structure. Betfair’s privacy statement says it may share information across relevant Flutter brands for customer support, legal duties, fraud prevention and safer-gambling controls.

Those checks include cross-brand self-exclusion screening involving Betfair, PokerStars, Paddy Power, Sky Betting and Gaming and Tombola.

Betfair also says it checks the GamStop database when customers register, log in and at regular intervals.

Marketing settings need a separate review. PokerStars warns that not all preferences will carry over automatically.

Customers should open Betfair’s account details section and confirm their marketing and privacy choices rather than assume the previous settings remain unchanged.

Is the new operator licensed?

The Gambling Commission’s public register lists Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited as holding active remote gambling software and general betting standard licences.

The register shows the company’s remote gambling software licence as active from August 21, 2017.

That confirms the licence status of the named company in Great Britain. It does not replace the need to read the new terms, respond to verification requests and confirm how each account was transferred.

Checklist for PokerStars UK players

  • Log in through the Betfair client or app, not the old PokerStars poker route.
  • Confirm that the balance, tournament tickets and tournament money are present.
  • Check whether the account has been converted to British pounds.
  • Complete any additional identity or verification request shown in the account.
  • Review privacy and marketing preferences.
  • Download transaction records promptly. PokerStars says up to three months of transaction history will be visible on Betfair, with downloads available one month at a time.
  • Contact customer support about any balance that cannot be withdrawn through the cashier.

The PokerStars brand remains in place, but the account relationship has moved.

For UK players, the key change is that familiar games now sit behind a different platform, legal framework, currency process and data controller.

That is why checking the account details matters, even when the poker tables themselves look familiar. The migration was reported by 5 Star iGaming Media and detailed in PokerStars’ customer information.