On 1 September, it became legal under the new Gambling Act for bookies and casinos to advertise on television.
While in the past they have been allowed to advertise in the newspapers, now they can start promoting themselves on TV.
But, like the alcohol industry, they need to make sure their ads do not appeal to children or associate the product with seduction or enhanced attractiveness.
First out of the stalls is Ladbrokes, which has launched what it claims is the first television ad for a bookmaker.
Part of a £5m campaign, it debuted during half-time of the Manchester United v Roma Champions League match on 2 October.
Ex-footballers Ally McCoist, Ian Wright, Lee Dixon and Chris Kamara play workmen having a cuppa in a greasy spoon, baiting each other over their football teams' prospects this season and challenging one another to put their money where their mouth is by putting a bet on.
The ad ends with the cafe's cook, TV sports presenter Jimmy Hill, muttering about young people knowing nothing these days and the tag line: "Everyone's got an opinion. What's yours worth?"
In the days since the ad launched, we've already seen an effect on Ladbrokes' BrandIndex scores - its buzz rating has crept up three points from -3, and slightly more so among men, the target audience for the ad, among whom it had risen by four points. Ladbrokes' recommend and customer satisfaction scores have also risen.
It is still early days for gambling advertising on television. There can be little doubt that, if Ladbrokes' first foray into TV ads is deemed a success, it will soon be joined by rivals such as William Hill and Paddy Power.
For its first attempt though, Ladbrokes seems to have a winner on its hands.
METHODOLOGY
YouGov's BrandIndex is a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors, measured on a seven-point profile, with data delivered on the next day.
YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday, more than half a million interviews per year.
This means you can spot trends as soon as they happen, not when it's too late. Respondents are drawn from an online panel of more than 130,000.
The score is the net rating: people are asked to identify the brands to which they have a positive response, and then those to which they have a negative response, to whatever is the prompt measure.
The net score is the positive minus the negative.
The seven measures that make the complete profile are below.
Each is taken independently - in any one survey, any individual respondent is asked about only one measure for the sector, not all seven. Therefore, none of the readings influence each other within the survey.
1. Buzz
2. General impression
3. Quality
4. Value
5. Satisfaction
6. Recommend
7. Corporate reputation
In addition, we supply an index score.
www.brandindex.com.