Ten days after PokerStars switched off its international poker site for Albertans, the company has told them it is coming back. PokerStars on FanDuel sent players a notice on Friday, October 23, saying its desktop client and mobile apps for Alberta’s regulated market would arrive shortly, Pokerfuse reported. No launch date was given.

The move matters beyond Alberta. When the room opens, PokerStars on FanDuel will be the second poker operator, after 888, dealing cards to regulated players in both Ontario and Alberta. That would give the two provinces two operators able to benefit from any agreement to combine their player pools.

From “No Sign” to “Coming Shortly”

The announcement is a quick turnaround. When Alberta’s three-month grace period for offshore sites ended on Tuesday, October 13, PokerStars blocked Alberta players and gave no date for a return. Poker Industry PRO wrote at the time that any return would come under the FanDuel brand, but that there was “no sign it will do so soon,” as we reported in our story on the Alberta launch.

FanDuel already runs casino and sports betting in Alberta. As in Ontario, poker players will need new accounts, and old PokerStars accounts will not be migrated, according to Pokerfuse. Players can open a FanDuel account through the casino site now.

Who deals poker where

  • 888: Live in Ontario and, since October 13, in Alberta, with separate pools.
  • PokerStars on FanDuel: Live in Ontario; Alberta launch announced, no date.
  • GGPoker: Ontario’s largest room; registered in Alberta in August, no launch.
  • BetMGM, partypoker, bwin: Ontario rooms; no Alberta poker launch announced.

Expect Alberta-Only Tables

Pokerfuse expects the new room to open with Alberta-only tables, as 888 did. Alberta rules currently require a segregated pool, and 888’s spokesperson said on launch day that Alberta players would move to “a separated pool (only Alberta, not with Ontario),” Poker Industry PRO reported. Pokerfuse read the wording of the PokerStars notice as a sign the operator will not wait for a pooling deal before launching.

Alberta has fewer than five million residents, and a small, closed pool will struggle to support large tournaments or a wide spread of cash games around the clock. That is the case GGPoker owner NSUS made last week, when its managing director said the Alberta player base does not justify a launch and dismissed a two-province pool as too small, as we reported. Two of Ontario’s best-known rooms are now betting otherwise.

The Pooling Question

The Alberta iGaming Corporation recently told Poker Industry PRO that it is “actively looking at shared liquidity pools within Canada,” according to Pokerfuse. Pooling between provinces does not depend on the Supreme Court case, which concerns Ontario’s plan to share tables with players abroad. Interprovincial pooling is allowed under the Criminal Code as long as each province consents, Casino.com noted.

Talks between the two provinces on a memorandum of understanding were first reported in May, as covered in our earlier report. No agreement has been announced. With 888 and PokerStars on FanDuel both soon running parallel rooms on each side of the border, the practical case for linking them grows. The international case remains with the Supreme Court, which reserved its decision after the October 7 hearing.

What Changes in Ontario

Nothing yet. PokerStars on FanDuel Ontario and 888poker Ontario continue to run Ontario-only tables for players physically located in the province. If a pooling agreement is signed, those two rooms would be the first in a position to connect players across the two provinces. Our Alberta launch tracker follows each operator, and the shared liquidity timeline sets out the legal history.

Reporting draws on Pokerfuse (Ivan Potocki, October 23, 2026), which reported the content of PokerStars on FanDuel’s notice to Alberta players, Poker Industry PRO, Casino.com, Casino.org and prior OntarioPoker.com coverage. OntarioPoker.com has not seen the notice itself. The illustration is AI-generated for editorial purposes. Online poker in Ontario is limited to players aged 19 or over who are physically located in the province. Free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day from ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600.