In Balatro, the Ante is the boss's health and chips are the amount of damage done to a boss. The poker hands are just attacks done to the boss's health. They use poker terms because it's inspired by card games, not because there's gambling.

Yahtzee uses "valid poker hands" and dice for scoring too. They sell that in toy stores.

So then explain why games with actual real money gambling aren't rated 18+, is gambling "imagery" with no gambling really that much worse than having actual gambling?

It's literally not.

These games not only have poker in the name, they are literally casino sims, and you play against other players:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/384180/Prominence_Poker/

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP2070-CUSA01104_00-UPUREPOKER000001/

Both pegi 12. Your argument is flawed.

Balatro doesn't have anything like gambling. There's no betting. You don't even have an opponent. The chips are only points, and the goal is to get as high a score as you can. The rules vary wildly from poker in ways that could never work with multiple players, let alone with real cards. It just looks like poker at the start and that description helps give you an initial idea of how to play.