Adsense and Poker

(ASA please clarify this)

[darkyl]

Are poker websites still considered off limits for Adsense?

I'm talking about sites that contain informative content about poker, not poker platforms.

I'm asking this because I see tons of Google Ads about poker in the serps.

Are poker sites allowed (or tolerated) now?

[incrediBILL]

Don't confuse Google Ads in the SERPs with AdSense, two different beasts.

Everything you need to know about this topic is answered here:
[google.com...]

Sites with Google ads may not include or link to:
* Gambling or casino-related content

Is poker Gambling?

[wyweb]

Is poker Gambling?

If there's real money on the table, yeah.

I love playing cards.

[caribguy]

Let's muddy the waters a bit ;)
From a 2009 article, based on a report in the New Scientist.

courts in Pennsylvania, Colorado and South Carolina have all ruled this year that poker is a game of skill

[abcnews.go.com...]

[wyweb]

@caribguy

courts in Pennsylvania, Colorado and South Carolina have all ruled this year that poker is a game of skill

Yeah. No problem with that. It is skill and I've won my fair share of pots.

But if you're talking about real money, and I don't care where you are.. in Vegas, online, your best friends garage, it's still gambling.

It is actually the prefect definition for the word "gambling."

You're putting something out there of value on the table and you may lose it.

That's gambling all day long brother....

[AdSenseAdvisor]

Confirming IncrediBill's earlier post:

Sites with Google ads may not include or link to gambling or casino-related content.

To un-muddy the water, poker is considered gambling by Google's standards :).

ASA.

[Lame_Wolf]

To un-muddy the water, poker is considered gambling by Google's standards

Ya wanna bet on that ? :)

[darkyl]

Asa, thanks a lot for the clarification.

[john28uk]

Another question for ASA regarding this, is this a company policy or a US law, if it’s the latter here in the UK and many other countries we don’t pander to the Christian right and have a free choice of gaming or not, could Google not allow poker ads etc in these countries, I would have thought stopping certain ads via IP would be easy enough.

[wyweb]

@john28uk

is this a company policy or a US law

It's company policy. There's no US law against gambling.

Well, strike that. It depends on where you're at.

We have cities in the US that were built on gambling.

Vegas, Ocean Springs, Atlantic City.

Gambling there is not only legal, it's encouraged.

[wheel]

we don’t pander to the Christian right

Don't tie distaste for gambling with the Christian right. It's got nothing to do with it. I've a friend who's a big poker player who's the poster boy for the Christian right.

Where I am, lots of people detest gambling because of it's inherent predatory nature for many people. And there's no Christian right around here.

[wyweb]

Where I am, lots of people detest gambling because of it's inherent predatory nature for many people. And there's no Christian right around here.

Where I am also.

[incrediBILL]

AdSense is supposed to be "family friendly" and gambling has never been considered family friendly unless you consider having children a "gamble" but that's a different thread.

Neither politics or religion are WebmasterWorld friendly, so before this drifts into ideological areas it shouldn't, and since all questions have been asked and answered, we're done.