'Reckless' PokerStars TV Ad Banned

The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency has recently banned one of PokerStars 2017 series of “You’re already a great poker player” adverts, for violations of the BCAP legislation which I’m sure you’re all intimately familiar with. 

This was off that back of a single complaint that alleged that the advert – which we can only show you in French because, as previously established, it got banned in English – would exploit “inexperienced poker players by suggesting that they could easily excel at the game” and “portrayed gambling in the context of recklessness.”

You can watch the ad below and decide for yourself. 

For those who can’t recall their GCSE French the voiceover translates as:

“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”.

This particular ban may have come as a surprise to PokerStars, but it is not the first time they’ve had an advert pulled. Though usually it looks like they were actively challenging the censors as in this blood-boltered classic:

The decision to ban the Bluff advert smells of nanny state interference, and while gambling addiction is a serious issue one can’t help but wonder if the individual who watched that advert and unironically thought, ‘I also tricked myself into ignoring my parents sex life, I am Stu Ungar reincarnated’ should probably have control of their finances, and any sharp objects, taken away from them.

I’ll just leave you with one last ad from when banned videos were Full Tilt darkest secret.