The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has banned a Betfair advertisement on the basis that the online casino poker gambling company was targeting advertisements toward underage gamblers. Betfair has acknowledged that the advertisements were not intended for the UK market and has willingly pulled all ads that feature Annette Obrestad without fighting the ASA for the ruling. The current concern rising in the market though is the fear that the damage has already been done and yet there have been no repercussions for Betfair’s very blatant and obvious mistake on this online casino poker advertising campaign.

Other online casinos and internet poker gambling companies have made mistakes in the past several years following the slightly imprecise and interpretable policies in place as a part of the 2005 UK Gambling Act. But the difference in this case is the fact that Betfair knew that the advertisements were grossly unacceptable for use in the UK market and that they violated CAP Code because of the clear and blatant age issue with Annette Obrestad as the spokesperson.

The ASA has only given Betfair a mild slap on the wrist and asked that the ads featuring Obrestad be completely pulled. With the damage already done though, and the ad has already obtained a lot of widespread visibility in the market and exposure before the ASA got involved, some of the online casino gambling community are asking for harsher punishments for internet gambling companies that clearly violate advertising standards. At this point the situation is likely a moot point but perhaps in the coming years the ASA will develop more stringent standards regarding repercussions for companies running inappropriate adverts in the UK.