Professional poker player Fernando “JNandez” Habegger has seen his long-running YouTube channel taken down after receiving a third strike from the platform. The takedown comes despite the pot-limit Omaha expert avoiding uploading new content for more than two months to protect the channel.
Habegger, the Head Coach and Founder of PLO Mastermind, has been creating poker content for over a decade. He’s known for his PLO coaching videos on YouTube, and has built a sizable following at roughly 63,000 subscribers before the social video platform’s enforcement wiped the channel.
JNandez shared the news on social media, seeking answers on how to resolve the issue. He voiced frustration that the strike stemmed from an old video and maintained that he had followed YouTube’s policies, noting that he was playing on regulated sites such as CoinPoker, a poker site he represents as an ambassador.
Concerning for Poker Content Creators
This JNandez incident highlights growing concerns among poker content creators about their future on YouTube. Earlier this year, a new policy update tightened restrictions around gambling-related content, particularly with regard to ad eligibility and monetization.
Fellow poker content creator Kevin Martin, a GGPoker ambassador, went as far as to say that creators are “cooked.”
Martin’s fears stem from YouTube’s policy limiting poker content to viewers 18 and older. He explained the impact in a post, writing: “Now on YouTube any online poker video is automatically age-restricted to 18+. This kills the content as viewers need to be logged into their YouTube accounts to watch the video (most are not). The YouTube algorithm then stops recommending your video even if it was crushing.”
Martin’s thread on X drew concern from fellow poker players, creators, and fans. Chess champion and poker content creator Alexandra Botez even noted that some of her short-form YouTube videos had been “age-gated.”
For JNandez, the takedown is a sting, and it remains unclear if he will be able to recover his account, though several people online have offered him support and avenues to try. But the removal of his channel raises the question of whether poker creators will continue to face even bigger challenges on YouTube going forward.
Are Poker Content Creators ‘Cooked’ Due to YouTube Age Restriction Policy?
