What is the PokerStars Network? David Lappin explains shared liquidity and external partners.

PokerStars Ambassador David Lappin explains how the PokerStars Network (PSN) addresses the fragmentation problem in online poker by sharing liquidity and external partners, encompassing global, regional, and North American liquidity pools.

According to PokerStars ambassador David Lappin, online poker has been fragmented for the past decade due to regulatory barriers and a closed market. PokerStars believes it has found the answer.

Having just discussed EPT Barcelona's record-breaking numbers and operational adjustments, Lappin is now unveiling the company's latest structural reform: the PokerStars Network (PSN). This initiative aims to unite the fragmented player pools across Flutter's global landscape and address the timeless truth of online poker: liquidity is king.

The first step in PokerStars' online journey

Due to differing attitudes towards poker in various countries, PokerStars and its parent company Flutter have decided to withdraw from certain regions in recent years, resulting in a blow to liquidity. The PokerStars Network (PSN) model aims to remedy this by operating flexibly in different legal environments.

“It’s no secret that poker has become more fragmented over the past few years, maybe even a decade,” Lappin said. “Closed regions across Europe, the loss of online poker in the US, and then Australia. All of this has made PokerStars more complicated in different ways, whether it’s the different regulatory systems or the different tax frameworks the company has.”

Lappin stated that PSN is the first step in this journey, which will change the way UK players enjoy online poker, bringing greater liquidity and hopefully larger guaranteed prizes. More players should lead to fuller tables, larger tournament prize pools, shorter wait times, and a wider variety of bets. PSN is not a completely new concept, but a new model designed to unite a fragmented player base under a unified regulatory framework.

The network model is not only applicable to the UK.

Depending on local laws, PSN is deployed in different settings:

Global .Com pool: Brings together players from licensed international markets, including UK brands such as Betfair, Paddy Power and Skybet.
Shared regional pools: pools that are legally permitted in markets, such as the Southern European liquidity pools in France, Spain, and Portugal.
North American Shared Liquidity: Partnering with PokerStars to exclusively connect players in states such as Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania on FanDuel.
Closed Markets: Operating a single market closed pool in strictly segregated jurisdictions (such as Italy, along with SNAI and Sisal).

"If you can create a network pattern that allows companies in the Flutter family to join from where PokerStars isn't, and essentially bring the liquidity back together, it's almost like putting the pieces of a puzzle back together and getting everyone back under one roof, which is very important," Lappin explained.

Liquidity is King

Lappin reiterated that from a player's perspective, liquidity remains the bottom line. "Everyone knows that," he said. "Players want to go where the biggest games are. With PSN, we hope that gaming will grow as a result in the coming years, bringing some rebound."

Crucially, this proposal offers flexibility to participating partners. Operators can integrate through a white-label "Access" model or choose to directly franchise the PokerStars brand based on their local market interests. This flexibility allows external Tier 1 brands to retain their local operations while gaining direct access to global liquidity pools, where regulations permit.

"Predicting the future may not be my job, but I think it's extremely important," Lappin concluded. "There's huge potential here, and this is a very important step in bringing poker players from all these different countries back under the same umbrella."

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