Mixed games are coming back to regulated US online poker. PokerStars on FanDuel is preparing to introduce non-Hold'em formats to its US platform, with 8-Game expected to be the first variant to arrive — potentially this month or next.
When it launches, PokerStars on FanDuel will become the only operator in the regulated US online poker market offering mixed games. No other licensed US room currently spreads them.
Five Months Without Stud, Razz or Draw
When PokerStars migrated US players to the new FanDuel platform earlier this year, a PokerStars representative confirmed on Discord that mixed games would be part of the new offering. No timeline was given.
Five months later they still are not there. They are also absent from the September Dynasty Series, which begins this week.
Their absence from that schedule should not be read as abandonment. Pokerfuse reports that non-Hold'em games are indeed coming, with 8-Game first and H.O.R.S.E., Stud and Razz following.
The delay most likely comes down to regulatory approval and rollout logistics rather than technical capability. FanDuel runs its poker on Playtech's iPoker platform, which already supports mixed rotations — the iPoker dot-com network began spreading 8-Game, H.O.R.S.E. and 2-7 Triple Draw earlier this year, with more formats in testing. The technology works. Each US state gaming regulator has to sign off on each game variant separately, and that process is slow by design.
What US Players Lost
Before the platform switch, US and Ontario players had access to a broad spread of non-Hold'em and Omaha variants through the classic PokerStars client, which supports more game types than any other software in the market. Moving to the new platform meant removing them.
For a small but committed group of players, that removal was significant. Mixed-game players are not casual dabblers — they are typically experienced players who have deliberately moved away from No-Limit Hold'em because the games are softer, the edges are larger and the skill set is broader. Taking away their format does not convert them into Hold'em players; it takes them offline, or offshore.
Our Omaha guide covers the most accessible step outside Hold'em, and Hold'em vs Omaha explains why the strategic gap between them is wider than the rule differences suggest.
Mixed Games Are Growing — Just Not Online
The odd thing about the online scarcity is that live mixed-game interest has been rising steadily.
The Festival, one of Europe's best-known mid-stakes series, has made mixed games a defining feature of its stops. Robbie Strazynski's Mixed Games Festival has grown consistently in the United States, introducing new players to formats beyond Hold'em. PokerStars itself has increased the number of mixed-game events on the European Poker Tour, and several non-Hold'em tournaments at this year's WSOP drew larger fields than in previous editions.
Online availability has not followed. On the international dot-com market, PokerStars and iPoker are among the very few operators spreading mixed action. Some offshore rooms offer the variants, but without the regulatory framework that licensed players expect. Clubs Poker, the leading sweepstakes site, carries an unusually wide selection including formats as obscure as Badeucy and Badacey.
GGPoker — the largest room in the world — still does not offer mixed games at all, though there has been speculation it may eventually add them. No confirmation has been given.
Why the Gap Exists
The commercial explanation is straightforward: mixed games generate a fraction of the rake that No-Limit Hold'em does, per table and per hour. They run at lower volumes, they attract fewer recreational players, and they require separate development, testing and regulatory approval for each variant.
The counterargument is retention. Mixed-game players tend to be high-volume, long-tenured customers who have stayed with the game for years or decades. They also tend to be the players who evangelise poker to others. Losing them costs more than the rake spreadsheet shows.
There is also a straightforward competitive case. If PokerStars on FanDuel becomes the only licensed US room with 8-Game and H.O.R.S.E., it owns a category outright in a market where the major operators otherwise offer near-identical products. In a US market generating roughly $100 million a year in online poker revenue across all states, category ownership is a meaningful edge.
The September Dynasty Series
While mixed games wait, PokerStars on FanDuel players have the September Dynasty Series, running September 12–28 simultaneously on the US platform and in Ontario.
The US edition features $3.5 million in guarantees across 100 tournaments. Headline events:
- $300 Main Event — $350,000 guaranteed, the largest on the schedule
- $1,500 High Roller Main — $200,000 guaranteed
- $50 Mini Main — $75,000 guaranteed
The Storm and Dynasty events headline the first two Sundays, each carrying at least $100,000 in guaranteed prize money, and several other tournaments carry six-figure guarantees. PokerStars staples including Super Tuesday, Thursday Thrill, Supersonic, Monday Mystery and the Royale tournaments are all on the schedule.
Ontario players have 61 events, with guarantees not yet announced.
For players weighing which US room to use for series volume, our US poker sites rankings compare the current regulated options, and our tournaments hub covers structure and format differences across the major series.
What This Means for Players
Mixed games are where the soft money is. This is the most practical takeaway. The average opponent in a Razz or Stud Hi-Lo game is substantially weaker relative to the game's theoretical optimum than the average opponent in No-Limit Hold'em, because study resources are thinner and fewer players have put in serious work. If 8-Game arrives on a regulated US platform, the early months will be the softest they ever are.
Learn one variant at a time. 8-Game rotates through eight formats, which is intimidating from a standing start. Most successful mixed-game players learned Omaha Hi-Lo or Stud first, got comfortable, then added variants. Our Omaha and poker hand rankings guides cover the foundations — particularly important for split-pot and lowball games where the hand-reading rules invert.
Regulatory delay is normal, not a red flag. Each game variant requires separate approval in each state. If 8-Game slips past October, that is bureaucracy rather than a change of plan.
If you can't wait, alternatives exist. International players have PokerStars and iPoker dot-com. US players wanting mixed action in the meantime can look at the sweepstakes route, or at the offshore rooms covered in our safe poker sites guide — with the caveat that regulatory protections differ substantially, which is exactly why that guide exists.
If PokerStars follows through, 8-Game will be the first step toward restoring something US players had and lost — and the first meaningful product differentiation in the regulated US market since it opened.