Flutter Entertainment has confirmed job cuts at PokerStars as part of a broader restructuring of the brand. The reductions will affect teams in Canada, Europe, the UK and Ireland, and the company has not disclosed a final headcount.
According to NEXT.io, Flutter internally announced the redundancies on 7 July as part of a wider operational overhaul. PokerStars said it is proposing organisational changes under an ongoing transformation programme that includes integrating its online poker offering with Flutter’s leading brands and shifting to a more locally focused operating model.
The company said it has tried to limit the impact through redeployment opportunities, but the proposals will still leave roles affected. Earlier reporting by NEXT.io said Flutter had already opened a formal consultation process with more than 100 PokerStars employees, with commercial and marketing roles expected to be among the most exposed.
Timing appears to have mattered. UK Remote Gaming Duty nearly doubled to 40% in April, and rising taxation helped set the backdrop for the cuts.
PokerStars is also facing pressure from crypto-based operators and prediction market platforms. The company framed the changes as a response to an increasingly complex regulatory and competitive landscape.
Flutter’s 2025 annual report also included a $725 million impairment loss against the PokerStars trademark. In December 2023, the group said it would move away from PokerStars’ existing capital-intensive technology to improve efficiency and performance by using technology and marketing resources across the wider company.
Foreign Policy Journal reported that PokerStars has fallen behind rivals such as BetMGM Poker and WSOP Online in regulated US states. It also said Flutter has been folding PokerStars into the FanDuel platform in the US to consolidate player liquidity pools, while investors watch whether the headcount reduction helps stabilise margins in Flutter’s International division.
The restructuring comes weeks before Flutter’s planned delisting from the London Stock Exchange in August.
