The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) didn’t fool around when it called out the bluff advertisement of online poker site PokerStars.
On Wednesday, the ASA banned a controversial PokerStars advertisement, which it said implied that inexperienced players could easily excel at the game by bluffing.
The advertising watchdog zeroed in on the narrator’s script which said: “Here you are, the moment when bluffing is the only way to win, you’re freaking out kiddo, but think about all those times you bluffed yourself… Use that talent because if you can bluff yourself, you can bluff anyone.”
After it aired in October, the ad watchdog said it received numerous complaints that PokerStars was exploiting new poker players by making them believe that they could rake in large jackpots through bluffing, just like the guy in the advertisement.
In response, PokerStars insisted that the ads were compliant in that they did not explicitly show money either won or wagered by the characters.
PokerStars also said bluffing was ‘not a reckless act in itself’ since “it was an integral part of other card and board games and that many people would be proficient in the skill prior to playing poker.”
In upholding the complaints, the ASA said that the message that bluffing should be attempted without any experience of playing poker or any understanding of poker strategy portrayed gambling behavior to be reckless.
“As the ad only showed the player being able to bluff in real life, non-poker related circumstances, and did not imply that they had any other experience of the game, we considered that the ad suggested that players could excel at poker without any previous experience of the game. This, therefore, portrayed gambling behavior that was socially irresponsible,” the ASA stated in its ruling.
