JNandez's Channel Deleted & Restored Days Later: The State of YouTube
GipsyTeam
7 September, 07:56301
Pot-Limit Omaha's leading strategist had his account deleted and restored within a week. Here's what happened to JNandez on YouTube and what it means for other content creators.
As we wrote back in May this year, YouTube is becoming a scary place for poker content creators. It started with worries about age restriction, but as of September, full-on YouTube account deletions are a reality.
The channel of JNandez (Fernando Habegger) was the most recent casualty. Fernando's channel had become a leading hub for PLO analysis and strategy, but after 10 years of creating content and over 63,000 subscribers built up, it was gone in early September. At the time, he hadn't uploaded for two months, trying to cautiously avoid any further strikes. However, an older video received a strike, and that was that. His appeal was instantly denied, even though he was playing on an approved site.
JNandez got on Twitter to ask for support, where Bobby James of CoinPoker chimed in.
A couple of days later, JNandez was back.
JNandez's Channel is Resurrected from YouTube Purgatory
Justice for the poker content creators! A couple of days after Fernando Habegger hit Twitter to search for help, his channel was restored. We don't know yet if all strikes have been lifted, or if JNandez is still uploading on thin ice, but this is still a win.
It might be a bit early to call this precedent-setting, but it's a good indicator that deleted poker channels are able to come back from the dead. Hopefully, content creators can use the same method JNandez used to restore their channels.
Fernando isn't the only content creator to be penalized by YouTube, and the list could grow longer this year.
Other Poker Channels Negatively Affected by YouTube Policies
Speak to a poker content creator these days, and they'll tell you, it's not a comfortable time to make videos.
Exactly the same thing happened to me. Had 2 strikes for streaming while playing on CoinPoker and didn’t do anything the entire summer waiting for it to expire and then out of no where I got a strike on an old stream and channel got deleted. I have been trying for 2-3 weeks to appeal with no luck.
Max Lacerda is a professional player and CEO of a Brazilian poker fund. He was accused of violating the Regulated Goods or Services Policies multiple times and lost his YouTube account.
After six years of creating poker content, I received this email on Saturday (August 2, 2025)... and in less than 10 minutes, my attempt to appeal was denied—the appeal text is pinned in the comments.
I never received a strike. I was never warned about any irregularity. At most, I had a few videos restricted to those under 18, which I always thought was valid.
Brdz, the co-host of the A-Game on YouTube, also lost a channel.
Not long ago, our streamer channel was completely taken down. It was quite sad, because it had already managed to gather quite a large audience
And recently, a hard wave of strikes began for almost any poker content on YouTube. For now, we are looking at the situation and trying to find some logic in this.
At GipsyTeam, we had one of our channels removed and had to completely rethink our approach to publishing videos. We've seen firsthand how YouTube doesn't always act predictably when it comes to laying down the laws. Upload two videos in the same place, and perhaps only one of them gets deleted. It's also impossible to truly know how many smaller creators have videos struck down or deleted, since we only hear about the biggest names.
If you need to discuss your poker content and want some insider tips on navigating the YouTube platform, we're here to chat. In fact, our dedicated support team is a great resource for lots of things, such as payment systems, high-level rakeback, and basically anything poker-related.
Inconsistent Age Restriction for Poker Content on YouTube
Strange behavior from YouTube has been going on for years.
In 2019, Jaime Staples of PartyPoker lost around 150 videos for the same reason that Max Lacerda lost his channel (YouTube's policy on Regulated Goods). A year later Jeff Boski also fell victim to the YouTube overlords, losing 99% of his videos on Christmas Eve. His content had been deemed "Harmful and Dangerous" despite it being mostly centered around advising players about the dangers of loaning money.
The GipsyTeam YouTube channels have also had to tread carefully. We've seen firsthand how YouTube doesn't always act predictably when it comes to laying down the laws. Upload two videos in the same place, and perhaps only one of them gets deleted.
Even JNandez gives us an example of this. Highlights of one of his CoinPoker session are age-restricted, while another isn't. Exactly the same video formats, with two different reactions from YouTube.
Then you'll find a channel like SethyPoker, featuring a 2-hour stream of online poker, and casino games like craps, marble race, and roulette—but no age restriction. Apparently, YouTube doesn't policy doesn't always apply.
When Nick Eastwood gave his take on YouTube's imbalanced flagging, he said that anyone who could explain why some videos are age restricted and others aren't is "a complete and utter genius."
Whether it's flagging for a policy violation, flagging for age-restriction, or deleting an account, YouTube has a way of always surprising content creators (and not always in a positive way).
What Are YouTube's Rules for Online Poker Content?
YouTube has several rules about what kind of gambling content is allowed, but that's not to say it's clear why JNandez's account was deleted.
Let's walk through the YouTube policies that affect gambling content:
Illegal or Regulated Goods or Services Policies Don't post content on YouTube if it aims to directly sell, link to, or facilitate access to any of the regulated goods and services listed below. Making the sale of these items or facilitating the use of these services possible by posting links, email, phone number or other means to contact a provider directly is not allowed.
(Listed below are things like, Explosives, Organs, Pharmaceuticals without a prescription, Human smuggling, and Online gambling sites not certified by Google).
Examples of gambling content that is not allowed on YouTube:
Facilitating access to an online gambling or sports betting site that is not approved.
Promising the viewer guaranteed returns via online gambling, regardless of whether the site is approved or not.
Examples of age-restricted content on YouTube:
Content that facilitates access to, promotes, or depicts online gambling, including content from approved sites.
So, content creators are allowed to sell, link to, or facilitate access to online poker sites, but YouTube will "only allow links to online gambling sites that meet local legal requirements." On top of that, the domain of a poker site a creator promotes or links to must be "certified by Google Ads." And, on top of that, the creator shouldn't promise guaranteed returns. Even then, age-restriction is basically guaranteed (based on YouTube's example above), since a poker channel regularly promotes and depicts the game.
Under Google's Ads Policy, the tech giant notes that approved online poker/gambling companies must:
Only target approved countries,
Have a landing page that displays information about responsible gambling
Never target minors.
So, those are the rules, but even following them isn't a surefire way to stay on YouTube's good side.
GipsyTeam will continue to update you with any new developments, and hopefully we'll see a more clearly defined rulebook for poker content creators in the near future.
