ASA pulls PokerStars ad for promoting bluffing strategies in poker.
This year, the UK has been cracking down on its internet gambling licencees like never before. Following an investigation that unveiled massive incidents of irresponsible behavior, major operators are facing penalties left and right. The worlds largest online poker room, PokerStars, has had no issues with the UK Gambling Commission as a result of the investigation. However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is another matter. Earlier this month, the ASA upheld a decision that PokerStars had launched an inappropriate ad campaign. They say a television ad, which aired in October 2017, promoted bluffing as an effective poker strategy, “exploited inexperienced” players and encouraged “recklessness”. PokerStars Ad Promotes Bluffing Strategies for PokerThe commercial shows a hand of poker being played in which the active player is holding one of the worst possible poker hands, 8-3 off-suit. In the background, a voice-over – presumably the player’s conscience – speaks: “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”. The ASA complaint challenges two key issues with the advertisement. First, they argue that “the ad exploited inexperienced poker players by suggesting that they could easily excel at the game and make large winnings.” Second, the ASA challenges, “whether the ad portrayed gambling in the context of recklessness.” |  Professional Poker Player Expert at Bluffing Strategies |
PokerStars responded to the complaint by defending the ad. It reflects a “friendly game of poker at home” in a “small, relaxed environment”. The company says “there was no reference to or suggestion of any financial reward or inducement to play and no money was shown during the ad”.
Furthermore, PokerStars attests that the voice-over’s suggestion that “bluffing was the only way to win was only in reference to the hand that the player had and was not meant to relate to every hand in the game”.
The ASA disagreed. In upholding the ruling against PokerStars, the authority decided:
“…consumers would interpret the ad to mean that if they could bluff through the real life experiences shown in the ad… then they would already be a “great poker player” and could excel at the game”.
Is Bluffing an Effective Poker Strategy?
PokerStars – and just about any professional poker player in the world – agrees that yes, bluffing is effective. However, as they would also testify, it is not something to be used recklessly, and should be reserved for the right moments. The frequency of which a player bluffs can greatly determine the maneuver’s success on the felt.
According to the ASA’s report, PokerStars claimed, “bluffing was commonly understood to play an integral part in a poker player’s success and was a skill readily understood by novice players”. PokerStars considers bluffing to be “an integral part of other card and board games and that many people would be proficient in the skill prior to playing poker”.
The company referenced a court case in the US in which bluffing was deemed “an integral element of the game of poker”. Thus the advertisement “did not portray gambling in the context of recklessness because bluffing was not a reckless act in itself”.
There are effective bluffing strategies for poker, as the game’s greatest players will attest. But as far as the ASA is concerned, there’s no place for it in the advertisement industry.
