The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has chosen to reverse its previous decision to uphold complaints filed against the Ladbucks reward programme launched by Ladbrokes, believing the term is “unlikely” to be of strong appeal to minors.
“As the central creative of the ads was a stylised token, we assessed whether characteristics of the ads, specifically the Ladbuck name and token, would be reminiscent of the tokens used in Fortnite and Roblox in a way that meant they were of strong appeal to under-18s,” the AGA stated within its ruling.
“As part of that assessment, we assessed the likelihood of the Ladbuck being viewed only as a generic depiction of a token or whether the ads created an obvious comparison with the specific online game tokens used in Fortnite and Roblox. We first considered that the word Ladbuck, in isolation, was unlikely to draw obvious comparisons with the online currencies V-Bucks and Robux.
“Despite having some similar features, we considered that poker-chip styling primarily reflected long-established gambling conventions, which was adult-oriented. Further, bespoke coin-style tokens were also widely used to illustrate rewards and loyalty schemes in adult-facing sectors, so the use of a stylised token was not specific to children’s gaming.”
The two complaints had originally argued the term “Ladbucks” would strongly appeal to minors and those ineligible to take part in gambling activity, as well as breached BCAP and CAP Code.
Despite having previously upheld the complaints, the ASA now ruled any similar features found within the LadBucks token were “generic” and “did not invite an obvious comparison” with fellow gaming-related currency.
Ladbucks were tokens which could be collected by players and redeemed for limited time offers within the Ladbucks Store or Arcade. Ladbrokes ran a television advertisement for the new rewards programme on 17 December 2024 which eventually resulted in the complaints being filed.
On 8 April, the ASA upheld a complaint against Skill On Net, trading as Gecko Play, over a paid-for Instagram advertisement that was found to breach gambling advertising rules.
The ad, seen on 1 February 2026, featured a stand-up comedian delivering a routine comparing gambling to eating pistachios.
In its ruling, the ASA concluded that the analogy would likely be interpreted as portraying gambling as compulsive and difficult to stop. It also found that the reference to seeking a “good one even more” after a loss could be understood as encouraging further betting in an attempt to recover losses.
The ASA concluded that a Betway ad featuring racing star Lewis Hamilton was 'irresponsible and breached the [CAP] Code’ during December 2025
