The past week has been a roller coaster for Twitch and its gambling community. Let’s briefly break down the timeline.
Streamer Sliker admitted on his stream that he had a gambling addiction betting on CS:GO games. Furthermore, he had solicited $200,000 from the Twitch community under false pretenses to fund his gambling problems.
The Sunday after Sliker’s reveal, major streamers like Imane “Pokiman” Anys, Mathew “Mizkif” Rinaudo, and Devin Nash united to discuss the gambling issue on Twitch. Some of the concerns were the access it provides to its young audience and the “cheapening” of the site in the eyes of legitimate advertisers. Eventually, the idea of a week-long Twitch ban over Christman week was seen as a real option.
On Tuesday, Twitch tweeted out a statement with new gambling rules. In short, they would not allow slots, roulette, or dice games not sanctioned and protected by local governments. Twitch also explained they will be expanding their new gambling rules over the next few weeks. One issue with Twitch’s new stance is it exempts “websites that focus on sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker.” Sliker’s addiction involved sports betting.
There is much more to discuss on this issue, including the world of gambling streamers, Twitch’s stakes in the practice, and the lack of standards across the industry as a whole. For more information, check out Arstechnica and Kotaku‘s articles on the subject.
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