A PokerStars.com online satellite tournament produced the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP)[5] champion, Chris Moneymaker.

"[7] PokerStars was part of The Stars Group until it was sold to Flutter Entertainment, owner of the Irish gambling company Paddy Power, on May 5, 2020.

The move was driven by the establishment of a 0% corporate tax rate and the removal of rules barring companies from accepting casino and poker bets from the United States.

[11] PokerStars overtook PartyPoker as the world's largest online poker room after the U.S. Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

[17] The $731 million deal settled a civil lawsuit with the Department of Justice while giving ownership of Full Tilt Poker's assets to PokerStars.

[21] Later the deal led to a major insider trading investigation conducted by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) over a four-year period concerning Amaya Inc.[22][23] As of April 2016, they have reached an agreement with Netent to add desktop and mobile gambling games to its poker lobby in New Jersey and other locations.

[25] In July 2017, PokerStars agreed to a deal with bankruptcy administrators to acquire some of rival PKR.com's assets without reviving the brand, while refunding the full account balances of the entire PKR player base.

The tournament is expected to become one of the biggest events in the annual poker calendar with a $25,000 buy in and a $1 million bonus for the eventual winner.

[27][28] In March 2018, The Stars Group reached an agreement with gaming company Sugal & Damani to support the launch of its PokerStars brand in India.

[33][34] In October 2019, The Stars Group, owner of PokerStars, agreed to be acquired by Flutter Entertainment, in a $6 billion all-share merger.

The company stated they aim to provide fans "new and unique ways" to watch the sport in addition to increase technological advancements.

This upgrade is to allow Michigan and New Jersey poker players to play together, as both states are participants in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA).

The WCOOP 2010 Main Event champion Tyson "POTTERPOKER" Marks won $2.2 Million, the largest online tournament prize in history.

[51] It allows players to get free chips and use them to play Texas hold 'em as well as roulette, blackjack, slots, and sports betting, although the winnings cannot be transferred into real money.

As of 2023[update], the team consists of André Akkari, Arlie Shaban, Ben Spragg, David Kaye, Felix Schneiders, Fintan Hand, Georgina James, Jennifer Shahade, Lasse Jagd Lauritsen, Laurie Tournier, Lex Veldhuis, Nicholas Walsh, Parker Talbot, Rafael Moraes, Ramón Colillas, Sam Grafton and Sebastian Huber.

These have included Jamaican Olympic gold medal winner and World record holder Usain Bolt and American actor comedian Kevin Hart.

[54] Former associated celebrities include World Cup winning Brazilian striker Ronaldo,[55] tennis pro Rafael Nadal,[56] former tennis champion Boris Becker, FIFA World Cup-winning Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, Dutch field hockey Olympic Gold medalist Fatima Moreira de Melo, Norwegian cross-country skier Petter Northug, Swedish cross-country skier Marcus Hellner, quantitative analyst and author of the 'Chen Formula' for Texas Hold'em Bill Chen,[57] Brazilian auto racer and race team owner Gualter Salles and French rugby union international Sébastien Chabal.

The decision is thought to have been made after recent pressure from the country's banking regulator on financial institutions demanding they stop processing online gambling transactions.

[62] In July 2016, PokerStars stopped offering real money games to players who are physically located in, or have a registered address in, Slovenia.

[65] On April 15, 2011, the Department of Justice seized the .com internet addresses of the three online gambling sites,[66] a total of five URLs: Pokerstars.com, Fulltiltpoker.com, Absolutepoker.com, Ultimatebet.com and UB.com.

On August 9, 2012, PokerStars paid $225 million to the United States Department of Justice, consummating the asset transfer of Full Tilt Poker.