How to Quit Poker: Close Accounts and Stop Playing for Money
Start with the next game you might join. Leave the current table, put a restriction on the account you use, and cancel the next invitation or entry. A poker desktop client, a mobile app and a regular cash game each need their own action.
Leave the table when you can and stop joining new hands, tables or tournaments.
Check who operates your poker account. Use its official self-exclusion route or ask support to restrict or close the account.
Ask support what will happen to cash balances, pending withdrawals, tournament entries and records. Do not play again to clear a balance.
Remove poker clients and saved logins. Cancel your next cash game or tournament plan, and ask a venue about exclusion if you play in person.
Standalone PokerStars: The PokerStars closure guide sends closure requests to Support through Contact Us. For self-exclusion, the guide lists Tools > Responsible Gaming > Exclude Me From Playing on desktop, and Account > Responsible Gaming Settings > Exclude Me From Playing on mobile. Check the terms shown for your account before confirming. The guide says ordinary closure can be followed by a request to reopen.
PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel: If your app or account terms use this name, use FanDuel's self-exclusion instructions. Open Responsible Gaming or User Tools, choose Self-Exclusion, and read the terms before submitting. FanDuel says the control applies to eligible products and that menus and terms depend on the product and jurisdiction. For example, the New Jersey terms identify FanDuel as the poker operator and direct closure requests to Customer Service. Ask support to confirm which poker, casino or sportsbook accounts your restriction covers.
Another client or skin: Look at the operator name in the app's account terms or a past account email. Contact that operator through its own Help or Responsible Gaming page. Ask about scope before relying on a restriction to cover another skin on the same network. For a state-regulated program, use the self-exclusion finder and check whether online poker is in scope.
Cash balance or withdrawal: save the amount and reference you already have. Ask support for the withdrawal procedure if you cannot sign in.
Prepaid entry, ticket or satellite seat: ask whether it can be canceled or refunded. Standalone PokerStars says entries for tournaments that have not started are unregistered during closure. Do not assume that every ticket is cashable or that another operator uses the same rule.
Active play: PokerStars says its ordinary closure cannot be processed while you are active in a game. Contact support if you need help stopping access; there is no need to enter a new game to settle the account.
Statements: keep copies you may need outside the client, or request them through support. If collecting them means opening a lobby that makes it hard to leave, ask support to handle the request instead.
Tell the organizer you are out of the next game and ask to be removed from invitations, seat lists and group chats. You can keep it short: "I'm taking poker off my calendar. Please don't save me a seat or send me game invites." Settle any outstanding arrangements away from the table where possible.
For a casino or cardroom, ask whether a venue or local program covers the poker room. For example, California's program covers licensed cardrooms, with separate arrangements needed for tribal venues. An official venue program does not manage a private game's guest list.
Remove poker clients from each computer as well as your phone. Delete saved installers, shortcuts and lobby bookmarks after saving needed records. Mute the table alerts, tournament calendars and streams that send you back to a lobby. When poker is part of a regular evening with friends, make a different plan for the same time and tell them before the invitations go out.
