Online gaming giant Poker Stars has been given a ticking off by the advertising watchdog for a ’socially irresponsible’ television advert.

The Isle of Man based company fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority.

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

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

The ad, seen on October 26, 2017, included a voice-over 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.

’Like the pull-up bar waiting for you to get back in-shape, that book you’re definitely going to read, your parents never ever had sex. Use that talent because if you can bluff yourself, you can bluff anyone.

’Pokerstars, you’re already a great poker player’.

A complainant challenged whether the ad exploited inexperienced poker players by suggesting that they could easily excel at the game and make large winnings.

The ASA challenged whether the advert portrayed gambling in the context of recklessness.

response

Stars Interactive Ltd trading as Pokerstars, based at Douglas Bay Complex, King Edward Road, Onchan, said the ad showed a man playing a friendly game of poker at home with a small group of friends and was intended to reflect a small, relaxed environment. They said there was no reference to or suggestion of any financial reward or inducement to play and no money was shown during the ad.

When the voice-over stated that bluffing was the only way to win it was only in reference to the hand that the player had and was not meant to relate to every hand in the game. They considered that did not equate to or suggest a financial reward of any kind in relation to winning and that the chips used were indicative of tracking a players progress and not representative of money.

They further said that the ad was very different in content, tone and style to an ad which suggested consumers could win lots of money.

They said that the phrase "great poker player" meant a person who was very good at poker and that the humour in the ad was meant to show the main protagonist as an individual in possession of one of the skills necessary to play poker and how it was used in other aspects of their life.

They also said that bluffing was commonly understood to play an integral part in a poker player’s success and was a skill readily understood by novice players. They considered that bluffing was an integral part of other card and board games and that many people would be proficient in the skill prior to playing poker. Further, they considered that bluffing an opponent was making a calculated and skilled decision.

They referenced an American court case which they said stated that bluffing was an integral element of the game of poker. They therefore considered that the ad did not portray gambling in the context of recklessness because bluffing was not a reckless act in itself and was inherent in all card games as well as many other sports, games and competitive endeavours.

assessment

In its assessment, the ASA considered that consumers would interpret the ad to mean that if they could bluff through the real life experiences shown in the ad, for example convincing themselves they would use a pull-up bar, then they would already be a "great poker player" and could excel at the game.

The ASA said in its judgment: ’We considered that the real life scenarios depicted in the ad gave the impression a player could win at poker based on an ability to bluff in these circumstances and that this was further emphasised by the opening line "Here you are, the moment when bluffing is the only way to win" and the line "use that talent because if you can bluff yourself you can bluff anyone".

’Further, there was no money shown in the ad, nor any value attributed to the chips used on the table.

’At the end of the ad the player was shown going "all in", on a bluff, risking all his chips on the basis that he could win by bluffing.

’Although it was not clear the amount, or if any, money was to be won in the game shown in the ad, we noted that the service that was being advertised included playing for money and that this would emphasise the interpretation that money was being played for in the game shown on screen.

’We considered the ad would be interpreted by viewers to mean that they could make large winnings by making big ’all in’ bluffs based solely on their experience of bluffing in real life without any experience of playing poker.

’We considered that the ad suggested that players could excel at poker without any previous experience of the game. This, therefore, portrayed gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible.’

The authority concluded that the ad portrayed gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible and in the context of recklessness and therefore was in breach of the Code.

The authority said the ad ’must not appear again in its current form. ’We told Stars Interactive Ltd t/a Poker Stars to ensure in the future their ads did not portray gambling in a socially irresponsible manner or in the context of recklessness.’