The best poker tournaments. PokerStars is home to the best online poker events. Every year we run the best online tournament series in the world. We also host the best weekly tournaments, plus many more every day of the week. With a game starting every second, PokerStars is the only place to play tournament poker online. Team PokerStars Pro. 'Poker Stars, along with their flops that suck 3+ players into the mix on the flop only to create improbable and unexpected results by the river is a study in abusing algorithms to take advantage of human greed and impulsiveness.

1. Star Poker Sydney Update. Latest news about Star Poker Sydney. Getting To The Star Sydney. It’s easy to get to The Star Sydney whether you're driving, walking or using public transport.
2. PokerStars is an online poker cardroom owned by The Stars Group.It can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market.

The Stars Group Inc. (formerly known as Amaya Inc., Amaya Gaming Group Inc. and Rational Group) was a Canadian gaming and online gambling company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its shares were traded on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. It primarily operated poker, casino, and sports betting products under the PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, BetStars, and Fox Bet brands.

Stars Interactive, the online gaming division of The Stars Group, was headquartered in Onchan, Isle of Man where PokerStars had an office since 2005, almost five years after its inception.^[2] It held licences or related approvals to operate from 17 jurisdictions and offers its products and services in Europe, North America and elsewhere.^[3] In the jurisdictions where it operates, it either maintained a local licence or approval, or useed multi-jurisdictional licences issued by the Isle of Man or Malta.

On May 5, 2020, the company was sold to British gaming conglomerate Flutter Entertainment.

History[edit]

In June 2014, the company led by David Baazov agreed to buy the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, owned by Isai and Mark Scheinberg, for $4.9 billion^[4][5] borrowing $3 billion for the deal.^[6] The takeover made The Stars Group, then called Amaya, the world's biggest publicly listed online gambling company.^[7] The deal was closed on August 1, 2014,^[8] with final payment being made on May 31, 2017.^[9]

David Baazov was Amaya's CEO at that time.^[10] In March 2016, following charges by Canadian regulators with multiple securities fraud charges,^[11] he took an indefinite leave of absence,^[12] and resigned in August.^[13]

On June 6, 2018, the Court of Quebec ordered a Stay of the Proceedings brought by the Authorite Des Marches Financiers (Canada) against David Baazov. The Supreme Court of Canada states that a stay of proceedings is the 'ultimate remedy,' which prevents the court from ever adjudicating the matter.^[14] A Stay of Proceedings under Canadian law is the equivalent to a dismissal with prejudice under U.S. law.

On December 20, 2016, Baazov dropped a bid to buy the company with a 'virtually unknown' group of outside investors, one of whom denied being involved.^[15]

In December 2015, a Kentucky court ordered that Amaya pay $870 million in penalties to cover alleged losses by the state's residents who played real-money poker on the PokerStars website between 2006 and 2011.^[16]

In December 2018, the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned this $870 million judgment on the grounds that the state lacked standing to claim damages under the Loss Recovery Act, which 'was never intended to be used in this fashion.'^[17] Current CEO Rafi Ashkenazi became Interim Chief Executive Officer of The Stars Group, then Amaya, in March 2016 and then permanent Chief Executive Officer in November, 2016. On August 1, 2017, the company changed its name to The Stars Group Inc.^[18]

Retired US Army General and former Democratic Party presidential nomineeWesley Clark is a former member of the board of directors.^[19] In April 2018, the company acquired UK-focused Sky Betting & Gaming for cash and stock worth $4.7 billion.^[20]

In May 2019, Fox Sports announced a partnership with The Stars Group to develop sports betting platforms (including free-to-play, and real-money gambling in states where it is legal) for the U.S. market under the Fox Bet banner—becoming the first major U.S. sports broadcaster to introduce a co-branded sports betting platform. As part of the partnership, Fox Corporation acquired a 4.99% stake in the company for $236 million. There was also an option for Fox to acquire up to a 50% stake in The Stars Group's U.S. operations within the next 10 years.^[21][22][23]

On October 2, 2019, Flutter Entertainment announced an agreement to acquire The Stars Group for $6 billion. Fox will have the option to acquire an 18.5% stake in its U.S. subsidiary FanDuel Group in 2021.^[24][25] On December 3, 2019, The Stars Group announced it had completed its acquisition of Australian online sports betting business BetEasy^[26] after originally acquiring a majority stake in the company (then known as CrownBet) from casino operator Crown Resorts in 2018.^[27]

The sale of The Stars Group to Flutter was completed on May 5, 2020.^[28]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcd'The Stars Group'(PDF). The Stars Group. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
2. ^'PokerStars History'. 3 Oct 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
3. ^SEC.gov: United States Securities and Exchange Commission Form-10 Registration Statement
4. ^'Amaya Agrees to Acquire Rational Group for $4.9B'. Amaya Gaming. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
5. ^'Amaya Gaming In Deal To Buy PokerStars For $4.9 Billion'. Forbes. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
6. ^'David Baazov's Amaya Gaming Wins Big with Giant Online Poker Acquisition'. Jewish Business News. 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
7. ^'Canada's Amaya acquiring PokerStars owner Rational Group for $4.9bn'. Montreal News.Net. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
8. ^Wall Street Journal: Amaya Completes Acquisition of Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker
9. ^Amaya Makes Final Payment on Rational Group Deferred Purchase Price
10. ^'The King Of Online Gambling (Is 34)'. Forbes.com. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
11. ^'CEO of online gaming company Amaya faces charges', Toronto Star, March 23, 2016
12. ^'Amaya CEO David Baazov Takes Indefinite Leave Of Absence Amid Insider Trading Charges', Forbes, March 29, 2016
13. ^'Amaya CEO David Baazov officially resigns after growing an online gambling giant', Financial Post, August 12, 2016
14. ^'Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)'. International Journal of Refugee Law. 14 (1): 96–140. 2002-01-01. doi:10.1093/ijrl/14.1.96. ISSN0953-8186.
15. ^'Baazov folds on $4.1-billion Amaya bid', The Globe and Mail, December 20, 2016
16. ^'Kentucky fines PokerStar's owner $870 million to cover residents' losses'. Reuters. Reuters. 2015-12-24. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
17. ^'Kentucky Court Upends $870M PokerStars Judgment'. Courthouse News Service. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
18. ^Amaya Changes Name to The Stars Group
19. ^Bloomberg: Wesley Clark - The Penny-Stock General
20. ^'Stars Group Goes Big On Sports Betting, Acquires Sky Bet For $4.7 Billion'. Online Poker Report. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
21. ^News, Bloomberg (2019-05-08). 'Fox buys US$236M Stars Group stake to enter betting market'. BNN Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
22. ^'Fox Sports, Stars Group to offer sports betting in deal'. Las Vegas Sun. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
23. ^Sherman, Alex (8 May 2019). 'Fox Sports becomes the first big media company to put its brand on a sports betting product'. CNBC. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
24. ^Ziady, Hanna. 'Online betting merger brings Paddy Power and PokerStars together'. CNN. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
25. ^Walker, Katherine Sayre and Ian. 'FanDuel Owner Buys PokerStars in $6 Billion Deal'. WSJ. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
26. ^Allen, Brad. 'Matt Tripp to stand down as BetEasy CEO as Stars Group completes takeover'. EGR North America. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
27. ^Stensholt, John (26 February 2018). 'Crown's $150m stake in CrownBet sold to Canada's The Stars Group'. Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
28. ^'Flutter Entertainment completes merger with Stars Group'. iGaming Business. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2020-11-30.

• Online poker in Michigan
• Trusted Name
• Earn prizes inside custom chests
• Best poker software in the industry

*PokerStars MI online poker is now live in Michigan!

If you’re in Michigan and have been waiting anxiously for online poker to become available to you, the wait is now over! PokerStars launched on January 29, 2021.

In Michigan, The Stars Group secured a partnership with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Gaming Authority, granting the global gambling giant access to the state’s regulated gaming industry. With PokerStars now in Michigan, the online poker site is now live in three states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In all three states, PokerStars operates legal real-money online poker in a ring-fenced market.

What bonuses to expect from PokerStars Michigan?

PokerStars Michigan is offering a very generous welcome package for new customers. The first is a $30 free play bonus and the second is a 100% deposit bonus up to $600. More on how these two bonuses work can be found below.

How the bonus works

Pokerstars The Big Game

With the $30 free play bonus, players who deposit $20 or more using a special bonus code receive a $20 cash bonus plus $10 in tournament tickets. Players may also receive a ticket to a PokerStars MI Depositor Freeroll, which gives you a free chance to boost your bankroll right from the get-go.

The 100% deposit bonus is a welcome offer in which PokerStars will match your deposit up to $600. Deposit $100 and you can get another $100 match from PokerStars. Deposit $200 and you can get a match bonus of $200. The maximum match bonus PokerStars offers with this promotion is $600, but it doesn’t all need to be made at once, which is a good thing for those looking to space out their deposits more. With this bonus, players can make three qualifying deposits in 60 days and receive up to a maximum combined amount of $600.

With the 100% match deposit bonus, you’ll need to earn redemption points to clear the bonus money. For every 140 redemption points earned, $10 of the bonus money will be released. For every $1 that is spent on tournament fees or rake, five redemption points will be earned.

Advantages of playing online poker at PokerStars MI

• Global online gaming leader: PokerStars is a global gaming leader, and it all started with the company’s flagship online poker product. Over the years, PokerStars online poker has only gotten better. Whether it be software, available games, or safety and security of the platform, there is a reason that PokerStars is the leading online poker platform in the world.
• Casino, poker, and sports betting all in one: PokerStars online poker is within the portfolio of The Stars Group. That portfolio also includes online casino and sports betting (FOX Bet). With all three legal in Michigan, players to have access to all three verticals under one roof. This is an extremely convenient part of PokerStars’ offering in Michigan.
• Great user-friendly software: As we’ve already stated, PokerStars is a global gaming leader and you can’t be a leader without leading software. PokerStars’ online poker software is the best in the world. It’s very user-friendly, intuitive, and allows for a wide variety of games to be offered.
• Safety and security: As part of PokerStars’ leading software is top-notch safety and security. PokerStars leads the way in this regard and players can confidently feel safe and secure with PokerStars through everything from game integrity to banking.

Which software platforms are available for PokerStars Michigan?

PokerStars online poker is available in Michigan via two software platforms. Those are desktop and mobile, and mobile will be available for iOS and Android devices.

Desktop software

The PokerStars desktop platform can be accessed via download to your desktop from the PokerStars MI website. Within the client, players will be able to find all of their favorite cash games, tournaments, and more. Players can also bounce between PokerStars Casino and FOX Bet for sports betting, so all three are under one roof.

One good thing about the PokerStars desktop client is that it automatically issues updates so the software is always the latest available.

Mobile software

With the PokerStars MI mobile app, players get everything they find on the desktop client but in a mobile version that can be taken anywhere within state lines. Much of the digital world is going mobile-first and PokerStars definitely understands that, which is why the company’s mobile products are top of the line.

Whether you have an iOS or Android device, PokerStars has a mobile product available for you. The mobile platform utilizes geolocation technology to determine a player’s location. If the location is not within Michigan state lines, the player won’t be able to play PokerStars online poker, and this also goes for playing PokerStars MI Casino or sports betting at FOX Bet in Michigan.

PokerStars MI game selection

When it comes to online poker, PokerStars is often the first brand people think of, which means that’s where people go to play online poker when PokerStars is available in their region. With the brand providing legal online poker in Michigan, we can expect the site to gain a significant portion of the market share and have a wide variety of games running around the clock.

Cash games

PokerStars MI has cash games running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Limits start as low as $0.01/$0.02 and go much higher. There are different types of limits available, too, including games with no-limit, pot-limit, and limit betting.

Play Poker Stars online, free

One of the best things about cash games is that players can come and go as they please, unlike a tournament or sit-n-go where players are locked into playing until they bust out or win. Whether you have five minutes or five hours, cash games allow players to sit in on the action and get up whenever they would like to do so.

Cash games may also be referred to as “ring games,” but the two phrases go hand in hand.

Tournaments

PokerStars is widely known for its robust multi-table tournament offering, which includes daily tournaments that run on a regular schedule and bigger tournament series that take place at various time periods throughout the year.

Like cash games, PokerStars has levels of tournaments available for everyone, including freerolls that can offer prizes without an entry fee. On a daily basis, we can expect to see PokerStars MI offer daily tournaments with big prize pool guarantees, such as $5,000, $10,000, and even $15,000. On Sundays, which is online poker’s biggest day of the week, we can expect PokerStars MI to offer even larger events.

PokerStars is well known for its big tournament series. In New Jersey, there is the PokerStars NJCOOP, which is the New Jersey Championship of Online Poker. In Pennsylvania, there is the PokerStars PACOOP, which is the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker. Don’t be surprised to see a PokerStars Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) soon after the site goes live, which will include a wide variety of tournaments and juicy guarantees.

Sit-n-gos and Spin & Gos

For those that like the tournament style of poker but don’t want to play for long hours against hundreds if not thousands of opponents, then sit-n-gos could be right up your alley. Sit-n-gos, which are often referred to as “SNGs” for short, are single-table tournaments available on-demand rather than on a schedule. Just like other poker tournaments, SNGs start players with a set amount of chips and play until a winner is crowned.

Spin & Gos are PokerStars’ turbo jackpot SNG offering. When players enter, a random draw determines the prize pool that is being played for and prizes can range from 2x to 1,000x the buy-in. Spin & Gos have become very popular due to their fast play and jackpot offering, but they are more gimmicky than regular SNGs.

PokerStars Home Games

PokerStars Home Games is the site’s private poker club offering, where players can set up private games to play against others, both for real money and for play money. With PokerStars Home Games, users can set the game types and limits for what is available in the club, or they can schedule tournaments with other players in the same club. The customization options are plentiful and many players have transitioned their live home games to online with PokerStars Home Games.

The Star Poker Tournaments

What will traffic be like for PokerStars MI?

PokerStars is now the first online poker platform available in Michigan, which gives the operator a great leg up on the competition. Michigan has a population of nearly 10 million, which is between the populations of Pennsylvania (12.8 million) and New Jersey (8.9 million), so it’s likely we’ll see the same sort of traffic we’re seeing from PokerStars PA and PokerStars NJ.

That means PokerStars MI should have anywhere from 250-1,000 players on at a given time and tournaments should attract hundreds of players on a regular basis with the biggest events drawing more than 1,000. With this much traffic, PokerStars MI should have no problem running games around the clock.

PokerStars MI loyalty program

PokerStars has the Stars Rewards loyalty program. Players earn rewards points for playing real-money online poker and those points can lead to personalized rewards from PokerStars. The rewards come in the form of PokerStars Chests and when you play enough to unlock a Chest at a certain level, you’ll be able to open the Chest to reveal the reward. The Chests contain rewards that are catered to your poker play.

With the Chests, players can win StarsCoin, which is PokerStars’ online currency that can be used in the PokerStars Rewards store.

There are a couple of negatives with the program, though. The Stars Rewards program is a little tricky to understand at first. That said, once players get the hang of it it’s pretty simple to follow. Another knock is that the rewards received aren’t going to blow you out of the water most of the time. Every once in a while you might get a very big reward, but that won’t happen most of the time. Still, some rewards, no matter how decent they are, are better than no rewards.

What kind of banking options are available at PokerStars MI?

Can't Log In To Pokerstars

PokerStars provides a wide variety of banking options across its verticals, and online poker should fall right in line. Depositing and withdrawing funds is easy and secure with PokerStars, as these are areas of the platform where great emphasis is placed.

Let’s take a look at the banking options we expect to see with PokerStars MI online poker:

• Instant eChecks
• Credit/debit card (Visa and MasterCard)
• PayNearMe
• Stars Transfer (Online Bill Pay)
• Skrill

As PokerStars is partnered with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan, players are able to deposit and withdraw cash at Odawa Casino, with locations in Petoskey and Mackinaw City.

Of course, because PokerStars MI just launched in the Wolverine State, we’ll need to wait and see exactly which cashiering options are available.

Customer support

If you’re in need of customer support, PokerStars has help available through Live Chat and Email. On the desktop/browser platform and mobile apps, you’ll find the contact information in your player account, located under the “Help” or “Support” section.

The Live Chat option will likely lead to a faster response than going through email, so keep that in mind. Live Chat representatives are frequently available to assist.

More about Odawa Casino and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

As we’ve mentioned, The Stars Group is partnered with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians owns and operates two brick-and-mortar venues in Michigan, Odawa Casino Petoskey in Petoskey, Michigan, and Odawa Casino Mackinaw in Mackinaw City, Michigan.

Opened in 2007, Odawa Casino Petoskey boasts 50,000 square feet of gaming space that includes nearly 1,000 slots, dozens of table games, a high-limit gaming area, and a live poker room. Odawa Casino Mackinaw, opened in 2016, is smaller at 6,100 square feet of gaming space and features 220 gaming machines.

Conclusion

Although PokerStars is commonly seen as a global brand, the site is expected to make a big splash in the regional Michigan market. PokerStars has an incredible amount of experience with its online poker product, which includes being one of the most veteran operators in the U.S. regulated online poker space.

In New Jersey, PokerStars launched after competitors WSOP and partypoker but quickly made up ground. In Pennsylvania, PokerStars was the only operator with online poker for quite some time. With the head start it got, plus the knowledge of what it learned from launching in NJ, PokerStars has been very successful in Pennsylvania and should be very hard to overtake for market share. Having launched regulated online poker in two different states before Michigan, PokerStars MI rolled out just days after online gambling went live.

As we’ve come to expect from PokerStars in other regions of the U.S. and across the globe, the standard is high because PokerStars is the one who sets the standard. We have high expectations for PokerStars MI online poker and players should, too. Expect good traffic, a wide variety of games for all levels, and plenty of big tournaments to be won.

The Star Poker Rake

PokerStars MI Verdict

• Software
• Traffic
• Loyalty Program
• Deposit Bonus

The Star Poker Gold Coast

With amazing software, tons of banking options and the first to go live in MI, PokerStars is on its way to dominating another US market. Whether cash games, tournaments or sit n gos are your game of choice, you cant go wrong with PokerStars.