PokerStars is the largest poker site in the world. It holds over two-thirds of the online market and attracts over 15,000 real-money players per day. The company has been taking bets since the end of 2001, and it offers nearly every type of poker, including Texas Hold ‘em, Stud, Razz, Omaha and more. PokerStars use a simple, yet identifiable, logo with plain and recognisable text. The most prominent feature of the PokerStars logo is a red spade with a star in the middle.
When PokerStars opened its virtual doors back in 2001, the logo made use of a wavy, handwritten-style font that replaced the ‘o’ in ‘PokerStars’ with a black spade symbol. As the platform and brand developed, the font and symbol evolved to include a red spade symbol with a white star in the middle. The spade symbol was still used in place of the ‘o’, or, in some cases, in between the words ‘Poker’ and ‘Stars’.
PokerStars made recent changes to their logo in 2016, with the aim of keeping their branding consistent across all of their sites. The logo still made use of the red spade and star. Partner company BetStars’ logo includes a similar design, instead using a red football with a star in the middle to represent sports instead of cards. PokerStars Casino makes use of a single red die with a star in the middle. This gives each company a unique identity, while offering familiarity across all sites.
The instantly-identifiable red spade of PokerStars is also used as part of the logo for associated events like the European Poker Tour and Caribbean Adventure, as well as for special online tournaments like the Sunday Million.
The PokerStars logo’s main symbol is the aforementioned red spade. This is a reference to cards in general, but the choice of suit has relevance. Spades are often thought of as the highest suit in many card games, and they hold a status of power.
The Ace of Spades (implied by the single spade on the design) is often considered the highest card of all. Symbolically, the Ace of Spades can represent spirituality, mystery, ambition or material drive. The star in the middle of the spade instantly associates the symbol with the PokerStars brand, but it could also have the connotation of ‘reaching for the stars’, or ‘becoming a star’ by playing and winning.
PokerStars use a Rotic Semi Sherif Bold font for their logo. This is a transitional serif font designed by OH Archer and published by Monotype. The logo can also be found capitalised.
The logo consists of simple colours. Black is used for the text. Red is used for the spade symbol, with a white star in the middle. Red is often associated with energy, passion, strength and power. It is a highly emotionally-charged colour that can even arouse a person’s physiology by raising their heartbeat and breathing. Red is also highly visible. It stands out and grabs attention, making it useful in many ways for a logo. Meanwhile, the colour white, which is used for the star inside the spade, can represent purity and safety. It gives a positive impression and implies trustworthiness.