Poker has been selling things on television for more than 50 years. The best poker adverts include GEICO's spot with Kenny Rogers, Carl's Jr.'s deal with Phil Hellmuth, Alka-Seltzer's 1972 pastrami classic, the M&M'S strip poker gag and Rakuten's Super Bowl ad with Hannah Waddingham, all built on one idea: a card table is a stage.
Brands keep coming back to the game because the drama is legible without explanation. Nobody needs the rules to follow a stare-down, a big raise or a bluff that goes wrong. Add a punchline and you have 30 seconds of television.
Here's the countdown, with every advert available to watch.
1 – Kenny Rogers Deals Himself In for GEICO
What's it like to play poker with Kenny Rogers? GEICO built an advert around the question, and the answer is that the country legend can't stop singing.
Rogers sits down at a home game and starts belting out lines from "The Gambler", his 1978 hit and the song that tied him to the game for the rest of his career. His fellow players look thoroughly unimpressed, which is the joke.
The spot picked up plenty of praise for GEICO, and it works because the casting does the heavy lifting. One recognisable face at a poker table is enough to carry the whole idea.
2 – Phil Hellmuth Orders a Thickburger
Phil Hellmuth has repped plenty of brands, and in 2014 he sat down for Carl's Jr. The chain put the most decorated bracelet winner in World Series of Poker history in front of a Texas Barbecue Thickburger: a Black Angus patty stacked with smoked brisket, crispy jalapeno, onion strings and American cheese, available in one-third and one-half pound versions.
The Poker Brat doesn't say a word. He wears the usual black shirt, dark sunglasses and PH cap, then bites in.
The casting made sense. Hellmuth has eaten at the table during play on PokerGO's High Stakes Duel, so a burger in front of him reads as documentary footage.
3 – Alka-Seltzer Can’t Stomach the Game
An upset stomach ruins a home game faster than a bad beat. Alka-Seltzer built its 1972 advert on exactly that, dropping a player who has eaten badly into a friendly game of poker.
"I can take losing," he says. "I can't take the pastrami."
One glass later he's back in the action, which is the entire pitch. It's the oldest advert on this list and still one of the tightest, with the product solving the problem in under 30 seconds.
4 – M&M’S Plays Strip Poker
M&M'S went mildly risque in 2007 with four friends playing strip poker by the pool, joined by two of the brand's characters, one plain and one peanut.
The red M&M turns over the winner, and his opponent refuses to pay up.
"I don't want to show my peanut in public," the nut says.
It's a fair objection. Neither character is wearing enough for strip poker to end well.
5 – A Nice Draw for the World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour partnered with TrueScribe in 2017, inviting players and fans to submit their own poker stories for a shot at a WPT Main Event seat. TrueScribe produces whiteboard animation, so the advert is drawn on screen as it unfolds.
The late Mike Sexton narrates, and the artwork includes a sketch of the commentator at his microphone.
It's the most unusual piece of work on the list, and the only one where the visuals carry more weight than the dialogue.
6 – The Advert That Was Too Racy for TV
Not every poker advert makes it to air. This one, built around the invitation to "feel young again" and a twist in the closing seconds, was judged too racy for television and found its audience on YouTube instead.
It's short and silly, and the payoff only lands once, so go in cold.
7 – Halloween Hold’em With Spectrum TV
Spectrum TV filled a poker table with monsters: a ventriloquist's dummy, a werewolf, a mummy and a vampire, all squeezed around the same felt.
The argument starts when a remark about the host's television service lands as a personal insult. The set can't pause, rewind or fast-forward, and there's no Showtime, which for this table is the last straw.
The host gets told, in no uncertain terms, to change provider.
8 – A Winning Night With Wendy’s
A new face joins a table of mobsters and makes the mistake of praising Wendy's new salad. Suspicion follows immediately.
"Salads don't taste good," one of them says. Another wants to know whether the kid is wearing a wire.
He gets tossed out like 9-2 offsuit, and then the advert delivers a twist suggesting the table read him correctly all along.
9 – Rakuten Raises With High Heels
Poker reached the 2022 Super Bowl courtesy of Rakuten. Hannah Waddingham, fresh from Ted Lasso, sits in a high-stakes game and starts betting the things she bought through the shopping app.
High heels go into the pot. So does a robot vacuum. Two opponents keep raising, and whoever wins is going to need more wardrobe space.
The poker itself is nonsense. As advertising, it put the game in front of the biggest television audience of the year.
10 – Dunkin’ and the Breakfast Sandwich Shootout
Dunkin' closes the countdown with a player who scoops the pot and a breakfast sandwich in the same hand. Her opponent has come prepared, producing a second sandwich with a triumphant "Boom."
Losing the pot barely registers when the 2-for-$5 deal is that good.
Why Do Brands Keep Putting Poker in Adverts?
Poker hands advertisers a ready-made scene: a table, a group of characters, money in the middle and a reason for everyone to lie to each other. Viewers don't need to know poker hand rankings to follow any of it.
The game also carries useful associations. Nerve, luck and a bit of glamour attach themselves to whatever is being sold, which is how the same setup ends up promoting insurance, indigestion tablets and burgers.
It's cheap to shoot, too. One room, one table, five actors and a punchline.
Key Takeaways
- Poker adverts go back at least as far as Alka-Seltzer's 1972 spot and are still being made today
- Brands use the table because the drama reads instantly, with no rules to explain
- Real players sell credibility, from Kenny Rogers for GEICO to Phil Hellmuth for Carl's Jr.
- The comedy almost always comes from the characters, not the cards
- Accuracy is optional, and most of these adverts get the poker wrong on purpose
