Twitch bows to pressure and bans content from unlicensed gambling sites

Content streaming platform Twitch has announced that it is to prohibit streams of gambling sites that include slots, roulette or dice games and that aren’t licensed in the US or “other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection”. Notice of the ban, which comes into effect from 18 October, singled out crypto gambling sites Stake.com, Rollbit.com, Duelbits.com and Roobet.com as brands that will not be allowed to be streamed. In the statement posted on social media, Twitch stated that it will continue to allow sites “that focus on” sports betting, fantasy sports and poker. The company said it will share specifics on the updates to its gambling policy “very soon” to ensure that “everyone is clear on our new rules”. News of a carveout for poker will be a relief to poker streamers and the leading operators, including PokerStars which has amassed more than 300,000 followers on its Twitch channel. Twitch, which has been owned by Amazon since 2014, was under increasing pressure to crack down on gambling streams after it was discovered streamer Abraham ‘Sliker’ Mohammed lied to content creators and fans in order to borrow a total of $200,000 to fund his gambling habit.

The issue of gambling on @Twitch should have resolved months ago with a platform wide ban. I left Twitch over this issue and still feel the exact same as eight months ago when I originally took that stand. Gambling is horrible for the platform. Get rid of it.

— Devin (@DevinNash) September 18, 2022

As a result of the controversy, high-profile streamers took to social media calling for gambling content to be banned and they threatened to pull the plug on their channels in a coordinated “strike”. A tweet on 18 September by Twitch streamer Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys asking her followers if gambling should be banned has so far generated 314,000 likes. Last night, a popular casino streamer known as ‘Roshtein’ told his audience of 33,000 watching him play slots live on Stake.com that he wasn’t worried about the ban but was “curious” to see how Twitch enforces it. Other prominent casino streamers such as Trainwreckstv and AdinRoss have 8.6 million followers between them. A Trainwreckstv slots stream from last week has garnered 1.6 million views. StreamElements, a platform for livestreaming Twitch, YouTube and Facebook gaming, told GamesIndustry.biz yesterday that its slots category had grown from 31 million hours watched in April 2022 to over 50 million hours in August. However, casino streamers have been criticised in the past for encouraging reckless gambling during sessions which can last hours. It also isn’t clear if they are betting their own money or with funds given to them by the site. While Twitch’s ban points to sites not licensed in the US or “other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection”, the likes of Stake.com and Duelbits.com are licensed in the UK through white-label deals with Isle of Man-based TGP Europe. TGP Europe is how many of the Asia-centric betting brands are able to gain access to the UK market and secure shirt deals with Premier League clubs. For instance, Stake.com is the primary sponsor of Merseyside club Everton and Championship side Watford.

An update on gambling on Twitch. pic.twitter.com/lckNTY9Edo

— Twitch (@Twitch) September 20, 2022

The other two crypto gambling sites Twitch referenced – Rollbit.com and Roobet.com – aren’t licensed by the UK Gambling Commission nor by any US state regulator. According to Roobet.com’s website, it is the brand name of Raw Entertainment, while Rollbit.com is a brand name of Bull Gaming. Both companies are registered in Curaçao. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s Chris Grove wrote in a tweet that Twitch’s decision is a “big move that will have a material impact on the named sites and others like them”.