Negreanu Has Beef With YouTube's Anti-Poker Stance
Poker content creators have long had a contentious relationship with YouTube, which they claim uses unclear rules and biased decisions to target poker-related channels. Now, one of the biggest voices in the game, Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu, has joined the chorus of YouTubers criticizing the company for its unfair treatment of poker content.
What Did Negreanu Have to Say?
Speaking of the WSOP Online series, Daniel revealed that he streams this series every year but that this year, all his streams were age-restricted by YouTube, leading to a 75% drop in average viewership. Negreanu shared this information in a post on X:
Negreanu stated flat-out, “YouTube truly has a clear objective to destroy poker content.” While it may be easy to dismiss this as overblown hyperbole, there are other poker content creators who echo this view.
Brad Owen's Case
Brad Owen is a poker vlogger with more than $1.2 million in live tournament winnings, and he is co-owner of The Lodge poker club in Texas. Brad has been showcasing his poker sessions, including hand analysis, on YouTube for about 10 years.
Despite his longevity on the platform and the fact that his account had more than three-quarters of a million subscribers, Owen was not immune to arbitrary decisions from YouTube. On Sept. 26, Brad shared the following unexpected news with his fans:
It later turned out that not only was the “Brad Owen Clips” account specifically removed, but the ban also applied to all of Owen's other channels and content. No warnings or strikes were given to Brad before the “nuclear option” of a total ban was implemented.
After raising a fuss on social media amongst his fans, Brad posted an update in which YouTube reversed its earlier decision. Although admitting that “sometimes we make mistakes,” YouTube provided no further clarification as to why Brad Owen's channel was subject to any penalties in first place.
Fernando Habegger Affected
Another prominent poker players who has encountered trouble with YouTube is Fernando “JNandez” Habegger, a well-known online PLO expert, and instructor at several training sites. In early September, his YouTube account received its third strike within 90 days, which warranted account termination according to the YouTube rules.
Habegger had actually been acting cautiously to avoid such a fate. He had not uploaded any content for around two months, waiting for his existing strikes to expire after 90 days before risking a third. However, his strategy failed when an old video received a strike, bringing him to a total of three strikes and causing his account to be banned.
Fernando appealed, but it was instantly denied. However, he found out about a link he could use to get into a live chat with an actual human being at YouTube. This proved to be the right thing to do as his account was restored a few days later.
Many Others Targeted
Space doesn't permit us to go into intricate detail regarding every poker-related channel that YouTube has taken punitive action against. Nevertheless, we can give a quick rundown of a few of the more prominent of them.
Poker player and backer Alexandro Tricarico had a similar situation to JNandez where a third strike on old content led him into trouble. Nick Eastwood, of 888poker's Stream Team, saw his videos marked “not suitable for advertising,” preventing him from monetizing them. Popular streamers Ben “Spraggy” Spragg and Benjamin “Bencb” Rolle were banned from YouTube for a week for the vague offense of “promoting unregulated goods.”
New YouTube Rules to Blame?
Though there have been instances of YouTube making life difficult for its poker-playing userbase in prior years, the persecution of poker-related content seemed to kick into high gear only after March 2005. This is when new rules about gambling went into effect at YouTube.
In a statement dated March 4, 2025, Google – the parent company of YouTube –explained the changes, which were to go into effect March 19. We have quoted a summary of the changes below:
• Under our existing policies relating to illegal or regulated goods or services, we don’t allow any method of directing viewers to gambling sites or applications that are not certified by Google. This now includes URLs, links embedded in images or text, visual displays (incl. logos) or verbal references. Please note that content promising guaranteed returns may be removed regardless of whether the online gambling site or application has been approved by Google.
• Content that does not violate our Community Guidelines but still features depictions or promotions of online casino sites or apps may be age-restricted. This means that online gambling content (excluding online sports betting and depictions of in-person gambling) won’t be viewable to signed-out users or users under 18.
The problem is that many of the targeted videos don't break either of these rules. Some of the poker content that allegedly promotes illegal gambling take place either at licensed cardrooms inside physical casinos or at regulated online poker sites. Some of the age-restricted content doesn't have anything to do with online gambling but rather features major live poker tournaments or high-stakes cash games.
Many observers contend that YouTube is using automated tools to flag content for violations of the rules. This would not be so bad if such decisions were then routinely reviewed for accuracy by a human being, but this doesn't seem to be how it works. Again, this wouldn't cause so much controversy if the automated system were restricted to just giving warnings, but in reality, it seems that it can hand out severe penalties, like permanent bans.
While the most popular poker video makers have been successful in appealing these decisions, we cannot say with confidence that smaller channels have been so fortunate. It could be that the next generation of poker streamers and video creators are being smothered in their metaphorical cribs before they can grow to a self-sustaining level.
Workarounds
Whenever big corporations or overzealous governments implement restrictions limiting the freedom of regular individuals, there generally emerge tricks and techniques for circumventing these limitations. For example, many poker players are able to access online poker rooms that have had their IP addresses added to blacklists by changing their DNS settings.
However, there's little that individuals can do to protect themselves from YouTube blocking their videos. The rules are not clear to begin with, and they are enforced sporadically and often without any solid reasons being given. Once videos are blocked or channels banned, it's too late to really do anything about it except appeal and hope for the best.
Therefore, the best strategies to take are foresighted ones that aim to reduce dependence on the YouTube platform. Every video maker ought to keep backups of all their content so that they can quickly redeploy their work elsewhere in case there are any issues with YouTube. It's also useful to host videos on secondary platforms. Many have made a full or partial move to Twitch.tv, and Rumble appears to be gaining popularity as well.
Join a Site That Supports Streamers
Many online poker sites provide wonderful places to play the game, and some of them recognize the importance of streamers and other content creators in promoting the game. ACRPoker is a fine example. Not only does it host a plethora of cash games and tournaments with massive guarantees, but it also has its own team of streamers called ACR Stormers, which operates on Twitch.
When you make a new account with ACR Poker, you can get a free $10 with no deposit required through the use of our exclusive ACR Poker bonus code PRB10FREE. Then when you're ready to make a deposit, you can redeem a 100% up to $2,000 bonus. Later on, if you should decide to start streaming your games, know well that ACR Poker will support you and might even add you to their official stream team.
If you want to read up a bit more on the site first before signing up, check out this frequently updated ACR Poker review.
Oct. 11, 2025 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief