ASAI Code
The ASAI Code is the Code of Standards for Advertising and Marketing Communications in Ireland, the self-regulatory rulebook drawn up by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland, which now trades as the Advertising Standards Authority. Its Section 10 sets out how gambling may be advertised, including ads for offshore operators, and it remains the main day-to-day standard for betting and casino marketing seen by Irish players.
What Section 10 of the Code requires
Section 10 covers any marketing communication that promotes a gambling product or simply the name and reputation of a gambling company, whether or not a product appears in the ad. It defines gambling broadly as gaming, betting, lotteries, bingo and amusement arcade games, and it reaches play-for-free products that point the consumer towards a play-for-money one.
Under rule 10.10, every gambling ad must carry a message encouraging responsible gambling and must direct people to a source of information about gambling and gambling responsibly.
Rule 10.12 lists what such ads should not do: suggest gambling is an escape from loneliness or depression, present it as a way to solve money problems or as a substitute for work, link it to sexual success or toughness, or treat it as a rite of passage. Claims about winning have to be factual and capable of substantiation, and neither the odds nor the prize may be exaggerated. The National Lottery sits outside Section 10, since its advertising falls under the National Lotteries Act 2013.
Where a player meets the Code
You meet the Code in the small print of every bookmaker billboard, TV spot and casino banner aimed at Ireland: the responsible gambling line and the signpost to a help resource are its rule 10.10 at work.
The Code is non-statutory, so a breach is not an offence. Advertisers agree to abide by it, and an ad the authority finds in breach must be amended or withdrawn, which is a reputational sanction rather than a fine.
Anyone can complain to the authority about a gambling ad they think breaks these rules.
ASAI Code versus the 2024 Act
The Code is often confused with the advertising rules in Part 4 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, which are law rather than industry agreement. Section 148 of the Act bans ads likely to appeal to children or encourage excessive gambling, section 146 limits social media advertising to people who follow the operator’s account, and section 149 sets prohibited broadcast hours, between 5.30am and 9pm. Those advertising provisions still await a commencement order, and until one is made they do not bind anyone.
The two will overlap rather than replace each other.
Under a partnership announced with the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, the GRAI is to handle complaints about licensees breaching statutory advertising bans, while the ASAI keeps the rest.
