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All Gambling Banned to be Banned on Twitch? New Rules in Place From October

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

Will The Gambling Community Finally Go Busto?

Gambling has been a contentious subject on Twitch ever since it was introduced to the platform. Many people disagreed with promoting gambling to an often underage audience, but until now, nothing has been done about it. That all changed on Sept. 20, when Twitch announced that, as of Oct. 18, they would enact rules pertaining to gambling streams, effectively banning them from the platform. But how did we get here, what was the final nail in the coffin, and what impact will this have on poker streams?

Gambling and “Gambling”

This is by no means the first gambling controversy that’s happened on Twitch, with the platform having a long, contentious history of gambling streams. For years people have streamed themselves playing classic casino games such as online slots and roulette, genres that have proven to be extremely popular on the platform. So much so that even Drake got in on the action with his own roulette live streams that saw him gambling hundreds of thousands of dollars in front of tens of thousands of people.

However, not everyone was OK with the promotion of gambling on a platform that was, let’s face it, not very stringent on age restrictions. While certain streams are flagged for mature audiences, nothing much stands in the way of people accessing the content, so impressionable young minds are being exposed to the world of gambling in an environment where only the positives are on display. The games are even designed to look like video games, making them even more appealing to young players.

What made things worse was the incentive for streamers to sign people up to their chosen site using affiliate links. They would, intentionally or otherwise, paint a picture of gambling as being this shortcut to making thousands of dollars, and because the sites often backed them, they didn’t care about losing money. This caused prominent streamers to question the morals of people who accepted these sponsorship deals, and even call for Twitch to ban gambling streams back in 2021.

While streaming recognized casino games can be segregated into a gambling section, the more nefarious goings on were happening in video game streams. Games like CS:GO have a mechanic called “weapon skins” that change the appearance of your weapon in the game. These skins have a real money value, with the most expensive being worth thousands of dollars, and can be sold in Valve’s marketplace.

Due to the real-world value of these skins, people started using them for gambling purposes, which quickly led to the rise of CS:GO slot machines. In these games, players could bet with the skins they own for the chance to win a better one. It was gambling in all but name, and the best part was that there were no age restrictions, as CS:GO skins aren’t technically legal currency!

As you can imagine, these games caused a large amount of controversy, which came to a head in 2016 when two popular YouTubers were found to be making videos promoting a site they owned without disclosing that information in the videos. This led to mass speculation as to the legitimacy of their site, as the YouTubers somehow managed to be on the right side of variance every time. This type of “gambling” content was huge across multiple platforms, and while Twitch has tried to react to the controversies as they’ve come, many people still feel like they’re not doing enough.

Twitch Boycott

The straw that seemingly broke the camel’s back happened only a few days ago when a Twitch streamer named Abraham “ItsSliker” Mohammed admitted to scamming his fans and other content creators out of hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund his CS:GO gambling addiction. 

ItsSliker canvassed funds from his fans and other streamers by claiming that his bank account was locked and that he needed money so that his credit score wouldn’t be affected. However, in his recent live stream, he confessed that this had been a ruse and that the funds had been used for gambling on CS:GO. While ItsSliker said on his stream that he intended to pay back the money he scammed, this revelation has shocked many in the Twitch community.

The reaction to this has been understandably fierce, as many of the platform’s most popular streamers have come out in opposition to these events being allowed to happen unchecked. Many feel that these types of streams are manipulative to their viewers, particularly younger ones, and paint an inauthentic picture of gambling, as many gambling streamers are sponsored by their sites and therefore are financially incentivized to sell it to their audience.

Prominent streamers like Pokimane, Devin Nash, and Mizkif all condemned Twitch’s inclusion of gambling on their platform. There were even rumours that 10-20 of the platform’s largest content creators would strike during Christmas week, the week where advertising is the most lucrative. It seems like these threats, and the general public outcry, has made Twitch react, as they released a statement outlining their intentions.

What They’re Banning

While the initial reaction is that “OMG, Twitch is banning all forms of gambling, RIP the gambling streams,” the actual statement is a lot more nuanced. The key phrase to focus on is “slots, roulette, or dice games that aren’t licensed either in the US or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient customer protection. These sites will include Stake.com, Rollbit.com, Duelbits.com, and Roobet.com.” which suggests that they aren’t going to be as dictatorial as some may believe.

The message does not say that all forms of slots, roulette, and dice games will be banned on Twitch; it says that games that aren’t licensed in jurisdictions that provide customer protection will be banned. It seems like the focus of Twitch is to ban the platforming of unregulated sites, which is definitely a positive step, regardless of your personal views on gambling.

This news has been positively received by the Twitch community, with many of the big names that initially expressed their desire to see gambling banned from the platform supporting the decision.

Is Poker Affected?

For the time being, no. Twitch was very clear in their statement that they’re going to allow websites that focus on sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker, so it seems like the higher-ups at Twitch group poker with skill-based gambling games rather than pure games of chance. This came to the relief of many prominent poker streamers, who were understandably concerned that they were going to have to make a platform change within a very short space of time!

This is definitely a good sign for the future. With the steps they’ve made in de-platforming unregulated sites, I can guarantee that it won’t be the last gambling controversy we see on Twitch. As the call comes for tighter restrictions as to what can be shown, the fact that poker has not been lumped in with these other games is a positive and could see it spared in the future.

But who knows what will happen down the line? If Twitch decides to double down on its restrictive gambling policies, poker streamers could be left with no option but to fold and ask for a table change.

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