To look back at the history of PokerStars is to reflect on modern poker as a whole. Because without PokerStars–that iconic red spade–the poker world we know and love today would be a very different place.

As we continue to celebrate its milestone anniversary with the massive PokerStars Anniversary Series, let’s look back at the 25 moments that defined not just PokerStars, but modern poker itself.

The following list is presented in chronological order.

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This year, we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of PokerStars with a special online series awarding millions in prizes. Learn more about PokerStars Anniversary Series here.

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1. First real money game on PokerStars

Electronic and online poker existed throughout the nineties, but it wasn’t until PokerStars launched in 2001–with the first real money game taking place on December 12–that everything took a significant step forward. PokerStars had the best software, offered Omaha and stud variants in addition to hold’em, and players could upload their own personal avatars. The first account holder on PokerStars? That title goes to a Swedish player, Oskar “pokermaniac” Hornell.

2. First tournament on PokerStars 

After a brief period of Play Money-only games, the first real tournament ever run on PokerStars took place in December 2001. It was an $11 buy-in with $100,000 guaranteed, and its success not only led to the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) the following year, but also to the weekly Sunday Storm tournament we still love today.

3. First World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 

It took a while for online poker to be embraced by the poker community at large. Many veterans of live “brick-and-mortar” poker games were sceptical, and some considered it not “real poker”. That attitude began to shift in 2002 with the first WCOOP series, adding prestige and the online game’s first sought-after title. Here’s a look at the first batch of online poker world champs:

Learn more about the launch of WCOOP here.

4. Chris Moneymaker wins 2003 WSOP in a PokerStars patch

The year 2003 wasn’t just a significant one in PokerStars history; it was a turning point for poker. When Chris Moneymaker qualified for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) via an online satellite on PokerStars, there was a seismic shift not only in attitudes (“If an accountant can beat the pros and win millions, maybe I can too!”) but also in the way online poker was viewed–as a legitimate skill, a training ground, and an excellent qualifying route. Moneymaker wore the PokerStars patch proudly en route to winning $2.5 million, and the game would never be the same.

Read more about Moneymaker’s 2003 win here

5. Three World Champions in three years (Moneymaker, Hachem, Raymer)

We immediately saw players follow in Moneymaker’s footsteps. The following year, 2005, Greg Raymer turned out to be one of those new “Moneymakers.” He, too, won a Main Event seat online at PokerStars before going on to win the big one for a $5 million first prize (notice how the prize had doubled in 12 months–the boom in full effect). Moneymaker, Raymer, and the following year’s champion Joe Hachem would thereafter form the core of Team PokerStars as the poker boom kept on boomin’ through the mid-to-late 2000s.

6. Launch of the European Poker Tour (EPT)

The European Poker Tour (EPT) was launched in 2004, changing the poker landscape far beyond the geographical boundaries suggested by its name. In those early days, it brought together an old guard of European poker with the innovative young guns from across the world who were behind poker’s incredible boom. It eventually became the world’s pre-eminent poker tour, offering many a first taste of live, brick-and-mortar poker to the hundreds of thousands of players who had learned the game online. It played a huge part in creating global poker superstars, while raising the bar on what players could expect from a live poker experience. In many ways, it has still never been bettered.

7. Sundays transformed by Sunday Million

Since 2006, the Sunday Million tournament has been a permanent fixture on online poker players’ schedules and a frequent focus of the Sunday grind. A whopping $1 million guaranteed prize pool every week–that might seem normal these days, but back then, it was jaw-dropping. For much of the tournament’s existence, PokerStars has also marked the Sunday Million’s birthday with a special anniversary tournament, and in 2026, it’ll be the 20th Anniversary of this iconic event, so stay tuned for info on that. But before that, let’s go through the Sunday Million timeline, right from where it first began…

READ: The Sunday Million timeline

8. Victoria Coren Mitchell becomes first female EPT champ (and first two-time champ)

Victoria Coren Mitchell became the first woman to win an event on the European Poker Tour when she took down EPT London in 2006 for $941,513. While great for the game, her result wasn’t surprising; she’d been grinding poker for years, after all, and was a skilled player. But Coren Mitchell really set the world alight when she became the first person to ever win two EPT titles. Her victory at EPT San Remo for $660,947 in 2014 was surprising, not because of who won but for how long it took someone to do it. We’d seen close calls before–Mike McDonald came very close indeed–but it felt like a weight was lifted when she became the sole member of the two-time club.

9. Introducing the Red Spade

PokerStars’ legendary red spade icon was launched in 2007 and remains the company’s iconic brand to this day. It’s adorned the sleeves of countless pros during their biggest moments. It’s been spotted in UFC octagons, on F1 cars, and on ice hockey rinks. And, most importantly, it’s there on your computer or mobile device whenever you fancy a game.

10. Daniel Negreanu becomes the face of PokerStars

In June 2007, at the WSOP, Daniel Negreanu announced himself as the newest member of a growing team – an assembly of the best players from around the world known as PokerStars Team Pro. His arrival was big news, and his sponsorship with Team Pro is one of the most important signings the company has ever made. By the time he left in May 2019, Negreanu had six WSOP bracelets to his name and had earned his place in the Poker Hall of Fame. A passionate and engaging ambassador, there’s simply no doubt as to the impact he had on the PokerStars brand.

11. Future superstars born online

Back in 2008, Mike McDonald and Jason Mercier both won EPT Main Events after qualifying through online PokerStars satellites, emerging from relative obscurity after years of grinding online poker. Mercier later said his breakthrough came when he pursued Supernova Elite on PokerStars in 2007 while juggling school and part-time jobs, while McDonald honed his game as a teenager before learning from former PCA champion Steve Paul-Ambrose, whose guidance helped launch his successful transition from online to live poker. By 2009, a "PokerStars Qualifier" was no longer thought of as a "fish". Often, it was quite the opposite.

12. Live poker reaches new heights

Some of the largest prizes ever awarded outside the World Series of Poker were dished out at PokerStars events in 2008, with both the PCA and EPT Monte Carlo Main Events producing record numbers and monster prize pools. The trend continued in 2009, 1,347 and the prize pool hit $12.6 million. Canadian player Poorya Nazari came first for the fairly ridiculous sum of $3 million – the biggest payout in PCA history to date. EPT Monte Carlo followed a similar pattern when Pieter de Korver from the Netherlands won the biggest EPT payout in history: €2.3 million.

13. SCOOP adds further prestige to online poker

Even after 18 years, the Spring Championship of Online Poker remains one of the most anticipated moments in the global poker calendar. To date, the prestigious series has received more than 145 million entries and awarded more than $1.5 billion in prizes.

But it all started back in 2009 with a first wave of champions that included PokerStars Ambassador Jason "jakoon1985" Koon, reigning WSOP Main Event champ Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, as well as Andrew "RunThisTable" Lichtenberger, Matt "MCMATTO" Affleck, Tobias "PokerNoob999" Reinkemeier, James "Andy McLEOD" Obst, Benny "toweliestar" Spindler, and the first two-time champ, Terrence "Unassigned" Chan, who won two limit hold'em events on the same night.

14. The unmasking of Isildur1

For a while, it seemed like nobody could beat "Isildur1", the mysterious online force who turned a $2,000 deposit into $2 million in just three weeks of playing and then took on the game’s greatest players like Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius–often simultaneously–in some of the biggest poker games ever witnessed. But who was this poker genius? Isildur1's identity remained a mystery until he was unveiled as a PokerStars Team Pro at the PCA in January 2011. His name? Viktor Blom.

READ MORE IN: 2011: Isildur1 and the nosebleed cash games

15. PokerStars sets Guinness World Record with largest-ever online tournament

We broke records in 2011, hosting the first-ever 200,000-player tournament on December 4, 2011, setting a Guinness World Record in the process. The $1 buy-in event was capped at 200,000 entries and sold out hours in advance, with Russia's "sokoluk1991" taking it down for $40,258 after a deal.

16. Greatest Main Event final table ever

We're used to seeing incredible line-ups in invite-only cash games and special televised sit & gos (like the one hosted at EPT Monte Carlo). But that’s why what happened at the €10,000 buy-in EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo back in 2013 was so special. 

The tournament wasn’t a high roller in which only the elite and wealthy do battle. It wasn’t an invite-only super high roller designed for TV audiences. It was a regular, open poker event, chock-full of PokerStars online qualifiers, mid-stakes grinders taking a shot, and the best of the best looking to etch their name into EPT history. 

And yet the final table looked exactly like one we’d expect to see in a high roller. Moreover, it contained four of the top PokerStars Team Pros of the time, two of whom were on the verge of becoming the first-ever two-time EPT champion:

Seat 1 – Jake Cody, Team PokerStars Pro, United Kingdom
Seat 2 – Jason Mercier, Team PokerStars Pro, United States
Seat 3 – Andrew Pantling, Canada
Seat 4 – Grant Levy, Australia
Seat 5 – Steve O’Dwyer, Ireland
Seat 6 – Daniel Negreanu, Team PokerStars Pro, Canada
Seat 7 – Noah Schwartz, United States
Seat 8 – Johnny Lodden, Team PokerStars Pro, Norway

The tournament overall was wildly entertaining. There were 531 entries with €1.2 million awaiting the winner. The likes of Phil Ivey took part, and even the bubble boy–Freddy Deeb–was a High Stakes Poker legend.

But was this the best final table ever?

Read more about it here.

17. Poker community gives back

As an industry leader in iGaming, PokerStars has long been involved in raising money for charitable causes, both pioneering its own campaigns and matching the generosity of players’ donations.

Back in 2016, PokerStars Ambassadors (and the PokerStars Blog) went to Ghana with Right To Play. PokerStars' partnership with Right To Play dates back to 2014 and continues to this day. The charity develops games to teach and empower children around the world.

Efforts to raise funds for worthy causes haven't stopped. At EPT Monte Carlo in 2026, the spectacular €100,000 High Roller for One Drop raised €228,000 for the One Drop Foundation, with three per cent of each buy-in going to the hugely worthwhile cause, whose aim is to “create a sustainable future with safe water for all”.

Here, we look at the ways the poker community has given back in times of need.

18. The PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC)

When PokerStars announced the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) in December 2017, it launched what would become the biggest promotion in poker history. Scheduled for January 2019 in The Bahamas, the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship featured a massive $25,000 buy-in—higher than most major events on the global poker calendar—but with an unprecedented twist: 300 players would receive free entry.

Those players earned a coveted Platinum Pass, a metal card granting not only a seat in the tournament but also travel and hospitality in The Bahamas. Crucially, PokerStars wanted many of these winners to be everyday players rather than elite pros. By covering roughly $8 million in buy-ins, the company aimed to create a one-of-a-kind event where amateurs and enthusiasts could compete on poker’s biggest stage against the world’s best.

Then came the event itself. When registration closed, there were 1,039 players (and no re-entries; this was a freezeout). That meant a total prize pool of close to $26.5 million, and a winner’s prize of $4.1 million, plus another $1 million added by PokerStars. All of the top six would become millionaires.

That made the PSPC the biggest tournament at that price point ever held, anywhere.

Read more about the year poker players across the world spent hunting for Platinum Passes, and a trip to the PSPC.

19. Poker in a pandemic

It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year that did not go as anyone planned. For most of us, 2020 was like being dealt a nice pair of queens and seeing a flop come A-K-3. Soon, we had to put aside whatever visions we had for the year and take a different approach.

The threat posed by the COVID-19 outbreak was officially declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Soon we were all “folding,” so to speak. We sat tight and waited for vaccines to be developed. It would take most of the year before the first one appeared.

PokerStars' live event calendar was cancelled, and that meant a shift of focus. Online poker filled a need in 2020, and the game exploded. There was the usual line-up of online tournament series in 2020, with SCOOP, WCOOP and the Micromillions events all drawing big fields as usual. Meanwhile, new series appeared online during the year as well. The first BSOP Online series debuted in April. The first-ever Summer Series followed in June. Then came the first Stadium Series during July and August.

PokerStars Home games also boomed, with many using them as a way to socialise with friends while stuck at home. Playing poker online became one way many were able to remain together while staying apart.

20. Veldhuis breaks Twitch records

In May 2020, former PokerStars Ambassador Lex Veldhuis’ Twitch channel became the most-viewed channel on the entire Twitch platform. This was unheard of for a poker stream at the time. The event he was streaming was the $10K Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event. The stakes were super high, with more than a million for first. And the viewers flocked in their thousands, with 58,799 people tuning in at once.

21. The return of the NAPT

Poker fans in North America had waited more than a decade for the return of the North American Poker Tour (NAPT), so when PokerStars announced its comeback in 2023, the reaction was huge. First launched in 2010, the tour vanished after the “Black Friday” crackdown on online poker in the U.S., and many assumed it was gone for good. Its return felt like more than just another stop on the live circuit. It was a reminder of the poker boom years and a sign that PokerStars was properly back on the American live scene.

The revived NAPT took place at Resorts World Las Vegas in November 2023 and marked PokerStars’ first major U.S. live festival since 2011.

22. The Big Game comes back

Iconic poker TV show The Big Game ran for two seasons in 2010 and 2011, becoming a firm fan favourite. So in 2023, when it was announced the show would be back with a bang after a 12-year hiatus, the poker world rejoiced. Loose cannons, high-stakes action, and big-name celebrities? What's not to love?

23. EPT Paris becomes instant phenomenon

It's hard to believe the EPT had never stopped in Paris before 2023. The event drew massive fields in its debut and became one of the tour's hottest destinations (in popularity, not weather) almost immediately. But it was poker legend Barny Boatman's 2024 Main Event win that cemented Paris as a special stop on the EPT, as he became the oldest EPT champ ever.

Read more about Boatman's win here.

24. PokerStars launches PokerStars Open

A new era of live poker in Europe began in 2025 with the launch of the PokerStars Open, an exciting new tour consolidating PokerStars’ popular and prestigious regional tours under one dynamic banner. The PokerStars Open combines the best elements of the former regional tours UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), Eureka Poker Tour, Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT), and France Poker Series (FPS) to create a schedule of unmissable events across some of Europe’s most vibrant destinations. 

Here's a look at all the Open Main Event winners so far:

Adrian-Sorel State (Romania) – €363,000 (Campione, March 2025)
Jon Kyte (Norway) – €340,000 (Monte Carlo, May 2025)
Jean-Vincent Lehut (France) – €238,000 (Namur, May 2025)
Manuel Ferrari (Italy) – €206,300 (Malaga, June 2025)
Alexis Nicolai (France) – €772,000 (Barcelona, August 2025)
Scott Margereson (UK) – €423,700 (Malta, October 2025)
Tuan Le (United Kingdom) – £149,200 (Manchester, October 2025)
Julian Bogdanov (Bulgaria) – €398,135 (Prague, December 2025)
Paul François Tedeschi (France) - €195,700 (Cannes, December 2025)
Elvir Nuhiu (Switzerland) - €200,640 (Campione, January 2026)
Patrik Demus (Hungary) - €551,090 (Paris, February 2026)
Joris Ruijs (Netherlands) - €317,398 (Monte Carlo, May 2026)

25. Live League shakes up PokerStars events

The PokerStars Live League launched in 2025, adding even more excitement to the European live events schedule. The idea was simple: players earn points throughout the year, and compete across three leader boards (one for each buy-in tier) to win thousands in PokerStars Live buy-ins, as well as a chance to become a PokerStars Ambassador.

That role went to David Lappin, while the winners of the inaugural Live League tables were as follows:

HIGH

All tournaments with a buy-in of €/£/$5,000 and above

• First place: 4 x EPT Main Event and 4 x EPT High Roller buy-ins – worth €62,400
• Second place: 4 x EPT Main Event buy-ins – worth €21,200  
• Third place: 2 x EPT Main Event buy-ins – worth €10,600

1. Enrico Camosci (Italy) 4.025pts
2. Klemens Roiter (Austria) 3,778
3. Aleks Ponakovs (Latvia) 2,040
4. Jesse Lonis (USA) 1,755
5. Christopher Nguyen (Austria) 1,628

Italy’s Enrico Camosci pipped Klemens Roiter at the post to top the High board, earning himself four EPT Main Event and four EPT High Roller buy-ins.

MEDIUM

All tournaments with a buy-in of €/£/$1,000 to €/£/$4,999

• First place: 4 x EPT Main Event and 4 x PS Open Main Event buy-ins – worth €25,600
• Second place: 6 x PS Open Main Event buy-ins – worth €6,600
• Third place: 3 x PS Open Main Event buy-ins worth €3,300

1. Gerard Rubiralta (Spain) 3,499 pts
2. Petre Ionescu (Romania) 2,804
3. Kenny Hallaert (Belgium) 2,793
4. Jon Kyte (Norway) 2,468
5. Robert Bull (UK) 2,439

Spain’s Gerard Rubiralta dominated the Medium board in 2025. “I always like these kinds of rankings, leader boards, things like that,” Rubiralta told us in Malta. “I enjoy it a lot. It’s an extra motivation to play and for me it’s great. It’s about consistency, which is very important. These kinds of leaderboards are a proof of consistency.”

Rubiralta picked up €25,600 in tournament buy-ins for his league win.

Check out the full interview with Rubiralta here.

LOW

All tournaments with a buy-in equal to or less than €/£/$999

• First place: 10 x PS Open Main Event and 10 x Cup buy-ins – worth €15,000
• Second place: 10 x PS Open Cup buy-ins – worth €4,000
• Third place: 5 x PS Open Cup buy-ins – worth €2,000

1. Steinn Du Karlsson (Iceland) 1,146 pts
2. Andreas Froehli (Switzerland) 1,053
3. David Docherty (UK) 1,028
4. Soraya Estrada (Spain) 953
5. Gerard Carbo (Spain) 656

Long-time leader Steinn Du Karlsson of Iceland topped the Low, winning a €15,000 package that includes 10 x PS Open Main Event buy-ins and 10 x Cup buy-ins.

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This year, we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of PokerStars with a special online series awarding millions in prizes. Learn more about PokerStars Anniversary Series here.

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