Flutter Entertainment has announced redundancies across its PokerStars division as part of a sweeping operational restructuring affecting staff worldwide.
The cuts will impact employees across PokerStars’ global hubs, including teams based in Canada, Europe, the UK, and Ireland, though exact numbers remain unknown at this stage.
A PokerStars spokesperson confirmed the development, stating: “PokerStars can confirm that it is proposing a number of organisational changes as part of its ongoing transformation programme, which includes integrating its online poker offering with Flutter’s leading brands to better serve customers.”
The spokesperson added that the changes reflect a shift toward a more locally focused operating model in response to an increasingly complex regulatory and competitive landscape.
The company acknowledged the human cost of the restructuring, with the spokesperson noting: “While we have sought to minimise the impact on colleagues, including through opportunities for redeployment, the proposals will unfortunately result in a number of roles being affected.”
The company stated it is communicating directly with those affected and will provide support throughout the process, including opportunities for redeployment where possible.
The restructuring follows a period of significant financial headwinds for Flutter, including the UK Remote Gaming Duty nearly doubling to 40% in April, placing added pressure on its operations.
Flutter’s 2025 annual report also recorded a $725 million impairment loss on the PokerStars trademark, following a strategic review aimed at maximising the brand’s assets through group-wide technology and marketing leverage.
In that report, Flutter stated: “A decision was made in December 2023 to move away from the existing capital intensive PokerStars technology in order to improve efficiency and performance of the business by leveraging technology and marketing resources across the group, thereby unlocking synergies with other Flutter brands.”
The redundancies are not the first round of job cuts tied to this transformation, as a formal consultation process involving over 100 PokerStars employees was previously reported, with commercial and marketing roles among the most affected.
Online poker more broadly has struggled to recapture the heights of the mid-2000s boom, a period that ended sharply when the US clamped down on grey market platforms, including through executive arrests.
The vertical has since faced mounting challenges from AI disruption and cheating, while newer threats from crypto operators and prediction markets continue to erode its competitive position globally.
