PokerStars has admitted to breaching advertising regulations in the United Kingdom following a complaint against a post on the company’s Instagram account.

The posted video was seen on Instagram on 23 December 2024 and prompted a complaint that it condoned or encouraged gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible.

The video showed two players in a casino, with one telling the other: “Can you believe that? I invested £100 and five minutes later, [bleep]”.

The video then showed the two competing on separate slot machines, playing ‘The Big Bass Bonanza’ game. “Mate, I’ve just won £185 on one spin,” said the winning player. He was then shown winning another £100, prompting his friend to ask: “Are you just pressing the button? Are you doing anything? Give me some tips here”.

The winning player was then shown blowing on his finger before pressing the button and winning more money. “You gotta heat your finger up,” he said, as the screen showed a total win of £662.50. The other player’s screen showed a win of £240.

The video concluded with the high-winning player stating: “Can you believe that? I invested £100 and five minutes later, £240 because of my skill at slots”.

Following the complaint, Stars Interactive acknowledged that the ad did not comply with the CAP Code, which states that marketing communications for gambling must not portray, condone or encourage gambling behaviour that is socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said in its ruling that the portrayal of a player consistently winning large sums of money in a short period of time created a false sense of guaranteed success.

“We considered that the claim that playing slots was an investment, together with the portrayal of easy and repetitive wins, gave the impression that the decision to gamble had been taken lightly and was therefore likely to encourage some consumers to participate repetitively,” the ASA explained. “For those reasons, we concluded that the ad portrayed, condoned and encouraged gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible and could lead to harm, and therefore breached the Code.”

The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form and warned Stars Interactive against trivialising gambling in its advertisements and presenting gambling as a type of investment.