ASA bans Poker Stars ad for portraying gambling in “socially irresponsible” way

Poker Stars has been scolded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for making a “socially irresponsible” TV advert.

The ad produced by the gambling site was aired in October 2017 and featured a rousing voiceover telling a man playing poker with his friends that “if you can bluff yourself, you can bluff anyone.”

A complaint was filed to the advertising watchdog saying that the ad portrayed gambling in a reckless way, as it implied that inexperienced players could easily win big at poker.

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Following the review, the complaint was upheld as the authority agreed that the ad promoted gambling “in the context of recklessness and in a manner that could lead to financial harm.”

The ASA also noted that: “excelling at poker required a combination of strategy, skill and luck and that, in order to regularly succeed at bluffing opponents, players would need to have an understanding of all these aspects in addition to real game experience.”

The ruling means that the ad can no longer appear on TV in its current form, and Poker Stars has been told to ensure that future adverts do not portray gambling in a socially irresponsible manner.

In its response, Poker Stars argued that the ad featured “no reference to or suggestion of any financial reward or inducement to play and no money was shown during the ad.”

The company also said that bluffing was understood to play an integral part in a poker player’s success, and was a skill “readily understood by novice players.”

It continued to say that the advert was not suggesting that poker was easy to play, although Poker Stars conceded that they had not considered that the advert may exploit newer players.