{"id":74419,"date":"2018-04-04T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T17:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=74419"},"modified":"2018-04-04T08:26:25","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T15:26:25","slug":"pokerstars-ad-banned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/","title":{"rendered":"PokerStars Ad Banned for Painting Recklessly Skewed Picture of Bluffing in Poker"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad spot for online poker giant PokerStars for implying that reckless bluffing can be a financially rewarding strategy for amateur players. The Advertising Authority said it felt the spot oversimplified the game in a way that might exploit inexperienced players.<\/p>\n

\"PokerStars
\u201cIf you can bluff yourself, you can bluff anybody,\u201d claimed PokerStars in a recent TV spot in the UK, but the country\u2019s advertising watchdog disagreed. The ASA banned the ad in its current form, saying its message was reckless. (Image: PokerStars)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The commercial depicted a Texas hold\u2019em home game in which the protagonist, a nerdy everyman, is dealt 8-3 off-suit, the second-worst hand possible.<\/p>\n

“And there you are, the very moment when bluffing is your only way to win,\u201d begins a voiceover. \u201cBut think, think of all those lies you managed to convince yourself with: think about this pull-up bar that\u2019s still waiting for you to get back in shape; this desk that you were supposed to put up \u2018next Sunday\u2019 for the past three years\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bluffing \u2018Part of the Game\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The narrator\u2019s speech builds into a rousing crescendo as he lists more examples of small, everyday self-delusions before concluding, \u201cAlways remember, if you can bluff yourself, you can bluff anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the player moves all his chips into the middle and takes down the pot, the tagline \u201cPokerStars: You are already a great poker player\u201d appears on the screen.<\/p>\n

Defending the spot, Pokerstars noted that it did not explicitly show real money being bet or won, and that bluffing was \u2018not a reckless act in itself\u2019 because it is an intrinsic part of poker.<\/p>\n

Financial Harm<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the ASA disagreed, saying \u201cthe ad would be interpreted by viewers to mean that they could make large winnings by making big \u2018all in\u2019 bluffs based solely on their experience of bluffing in real life without any experience of playing poker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

While the ASA appreciated that bluffing was a normal dynamic of the game, the ad\u2019s message that bluffing could be successfully executed without a full understanding of strategy was reckless and \u201ccould lead to financial harm,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The decision comes at a time when gambling advertising<\/a> is coming under closer scrutiny in the UK<\/a>. The AGA\u2019s sister organization, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), recently published a new set of standards for the gambling industry following numerous complaints about deceptive promotional offers.<\/p>\n

It comes at a time, too, when a dearth of new recreational players embracing the game means that online poker operators are rebalancing their rewards schemes and promotions to target more amateur players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad spot for online poker giant PokerStars for implying that reckless bluffing can be a financially rewarding strategy for amateur players. The Advertising Authority said it felt the spot oversimplified the game in a way that might exploit inexperienced players. The commercial depicted a Texas hold\u2019em home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":74421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPokerStars Ad Banned for Painting Recklessly Skewed Picture of Bluffing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UK\u2019s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a PokerStars TV commercial for oversimplifying the game in a way that might cause financial harm to inexperienced players.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PokerStars Ad Banned for Painting Recklessly Skewed Picture of Bluffing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK\u2019s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a PokerStars TV commercial for oversimplifying the game in a way that might cause financial harm to inexperienced players.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-04T17:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-04T15:26:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/psAd.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/\",\"name\":\"PokerStars Ad Banned for Painting Recklessly Skewed Picture of Bluffing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/psAd.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-04T17:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-04T15:26:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"The UK\u2019s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a PokerStars TV commercial for oversimplifying the game in a way that might cause financial harm to inexperienced players.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-ad-banned\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/psAd.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/psAd.jpg\",\"width\":1366,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"\u201cIf you can bluff yourself, you can bluff anybody,\u201d claimed PokerStars in a recent TV spot in the UK, but the country\u2019s advertising watchdog disagreed, saying its message was reckless and banning it in its current form. 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