ASA Raps Pokerstars’ Knuckles
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Apr 6, 2018
TV Ad ruled as portraying gambling behaviour in a socially irresponsible manner
The UK Advertising Standards Authority has ruled a breach in advertising codes regarding a PokerStars TV advertisement that broadcast in October 2017.
A complainant challenged whether the ad, which centered around a home poker game and a conversation on ‘bluffing’, exploited inexperienced poker players by suggesting that they could easily excel at the game and make large winnings, while the ASA challenged whether the ad portrayed gambling in the context of recklessness.
In its ruling, the ASA said: “We considered that the real life scenarios depicted in the ad gave the impression that a player could win at poker based on an ability to bluff in these circumstances.”
“We 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 ad may not appear in its current form again.
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
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