Pokerstars was indicted by the US government on April 15th, 2025 and since that date US residents have not been able to play at Poker Stars. After the indictment and losing their domain pokerstars, PokerStars reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice that would allow provide them with their domain back, however they had to agree to no longer service US customers.
Poker players in the US are greeted with the following message when they arrive at pokerstars:
20 April 2025 – On 15 April 2025, PokerStars ceased providing real-money poker to residents of the United States and related territories. REal money play and deposits by US residents are strictly prohibited.
An agreement has been reached with the US Department of Justice to allow United States PokerStars customers to cashout their funds. PokerStars will work diligently to expedite those withdrawals. All PokerStars players deposits are completely safe.
Players from the United States can continue to play on our site for play money only. New players who wish to create an accounts will need to do so using our play-money-only software available at pokerstars.
PokerStars also provides US players with an FAQ section (pokerstars/usaplayers/faq/) to answer questions about withdrawals and balances.
What about changing my address and IP?
Many US players are asking whether they can simply mask their IP or use an address from another country, like a friends place in Canada. Unfortunately PokerStars has invested greatly (not just post Black Friday) in the latest state of the art security and fraud systems that are sure to catch players trying to hide the fact that they are American’s.
What are my options?
You essentially have three options:
- Move to another country. Yes we are serious and there are actually some high stakes poker players who have taken this drastic step.
- Quit Poker
- Find another poker room. We recommend Lock Poker which has quickly become one of the top new rooms for US players.
We wish all US poker players good luck, and just be glad that you don’t have money sitting on Full Tilt (and if you do, fingers crossed that the sale goes through soon).
