Pokerstars.net
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Online poker |
| Founder | Isai Scheinberg and Mark Scheinberg |
| Headquarters | Isle of Man |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Parent | Amaya Inc. (2014–present) |
| Website | pokerstars |
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world; it can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
A PokerStars.com online satellite tournament produced the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion, Chris Moneymaker. As the first person to become a world champion by qualifying at an online poker site, Moneymaker's 2003 win was an important factor in catalyzing the poker boom of the mid-2000s. The press has called this the "Moneymaker effect."
PokerStars launched its beta play-money-only site on September 11, 2001. The company began offering real money wagering on December 12, 2001. PokerStars was originally a Costa Rican company, Rational Enterprises, which was majority owned by the Israeli Scheinberg family. The company was subsequently moved to Onchan, Isle of Man. The move was driven by the establishment of a 0% corporate tax rate and the removal of rules barring companies from accepting casino and poker bets from the United States of America. PokerStars holds its licence with the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission and also holds government licences in Denmark, France, Belgium, Italy, Estonia and Spain. On February 10, 2012, PokerStars acquired a European Union license granted by the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Commission.
While privately owned, PokerStars had been the subject of financial media speculation regarding a possible initial public offering or merger with a publicly listed company. Analysts estimated its market value would have been approximately $2 billion (US) in 2006, which would have made the company one of the world's largest privately held gambling companies. PokerStars overtook PartyPoker as the world's largest online poker room at after the U.S. Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Many sites, including PartyPoker, immediately suspended business with U.S. gamblers, while others, including PokerStars, did not.
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