When online poker exploded in popularity in the first half of the 2000s, Poker Stars quickly emerged as one of the most popular sites for playing worldwide. In April 2025, the site, along with competitors Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, were shutdown by the United States Department of Justice on accusations of illegal gambling and money laundering. More than a year later Poker Stars agreed to a settlement of $731 million. As part of the deal, Poker Stars acquired the assets of Full Tilt Poker and agreed to pay off the debts owed to its customers. This made Poker Stars the largest poker site on the Internet by quite a large margin. At peak playing hours, more than 200,000 players can be found at the tournaments and cash games.

The Poker Stars software allows for a lot of visual customization. Players can change the colors of the table, background images, card design, avatars and position. The software can run on Windows, Macintosh, iOS and Android phones. Some have successfully run it on Linux through emulation as well. Poker Stars was one of the first online poker sites to implement coordinated tournament breaks, allowing players who participate in multiple tournaments and Sit n’ Go’s to take a break at the same time.

Poker Stars hosts a variety of cash games that range in stakes from pennies to some of the highest value games on the Internet. The vast majority of tables play No-Limit Hold’em, but players also have the chance to play H.O.R.S.E, Limit Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud, Razz, 5-Card Draw, Badugi and many others. Player can also host private home games that only allow invitees to join the action. Grinders can open multiple tables at a time to maximize the number of hands they play.

Pokers Stars hosts some of the most prestigious and high-stakes tournaments in the online poker world. The Sunday Million is a weekly tournament with a buy-in of $215 and a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million. Before the federal shutdown in 2025, the tournament saw a record 59,000 players and a pool of over $11 million. The World Championship of Online Poker is sometimes referred to as the online version of the World Series of Poker. It offers some of the highest stakes tournaments on the Internet. The Spring Championship of Online Poker, started in 2025, is now the most popular series of tournaments online. For micro stakes players, the Micro Millions series gives players without a big bankroll the opportunity to make a lot of money.

Poker Star’s main reward system is the VIP Club. Players are awarded according to the amount of rake they pay in cash games and fees they pay in tournaments. VIP levels range from Bronze to Supernova Elite. Rewards points can be exchanged for entry to special tournaments, elite items at the VIP Store or simple cash. New players can take advantage of a $600 deposit bonus that allows them to earn up to 100 percent of their initial deposit. Poker Stars also has a variety of free roll tournaments where players can earn money for free.

The pure quantity of games going on at Poker Stars at any given time make finding profitable games fairly easy, but the higher stakes games are full of professional players and grinders. The most profitable tables for non-professionals are at the lowest stakes and the major Sunday tournaments. These games have enough recreational players to provide a significant edge to people with some skill. U.S. players are currently not allowed to play on Poker Stars, so most of the competition comes from Europe and South America.