Online poker advertisements have become severely restricted. Even with more “lenient” guidelines released by the UK Advertising Standards Authority, the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising, your options are limited.
Let’s just look back at all of the alcohol and cigarette advertisements. Granted, you can’t get away with cigarette ads anymore, but you can with alcohol. All alcohol-related adverts imply that by drinking, you will have sex, you will have friends, and your life will rock.
Look at Levi jeans commercials…they’re all about taking them off of someone else. All advertisements essentially give you the false impression that by using this product, your life will get better, you will be successful, and people will like you. It’s an ad, it’s meant to exaggerate reality a little.
However, with internet poker advertisements, you can’t give the impression that someone’s confidence will be boosted, or that gambling can help relieve a tense situation or time in one’s life. The advertisements may not show their subject playing alone…
Well, you can’t rightly have someone sitting next to you helping you play poker online, can you? Wouldn’t that be cheating??
Last I read anything about a poker advertisement, it was taken down because the poker player got rich gambling, and therefore had confidence. What the hell are you supposed to advertise if it’s not that you can make some money playing poker?
It’s one ad after another too, with these people. An Eric Catona ad was recently taken down because it featured a medieval king with the straplines “Bet to forget” and “Click or regret.”

Partouche Betting's ads linked through to a website with a number of "King Eric" films where Cantona told punters: "Europe kicked you out of the Euro, who cares?" Cantona also said: "Bet to forget" and "To bet or not to bet? There is no question."