Twitch Bans Crypto Casinos: What’s the Reason?

Twitch is considered the world’s largest streaming platform and hosts hundreds of broadcasts in different categories every day. As it is known, one of these categories was “gambling”: until now, broadcasters playing on online Casino sites shared their experiences with their followers via live streams. Recently, however, Twitch announced that it had banned the gambling category. So, what exactly does this mean? Why did Twitch take this decision, and will it no longer be possible to stream live from casino sites like spincity? Below, we answer these questions.

Let’s Take a Look at Twitch’s Decision

On September 21, Twitch made an announcement on its social media account, stating:

• We now prohibit streams from unlicensed casino sites in the United States (or countries with adequate consumer protection) that feature slots, roulette, and dice games.
• Sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker streams will not be affected by this ban.
• This new policy will take effect from October 18.

As a matter of fact, this does not mean that gambling streams are completely banned. If a casino site is licensed in the US, it can still be used for streaming. New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are the only US states where online casinos are legal. However, casinos in these states are well below global standards and only allow residents within their own state to become members.

This means that almost no streamer will choose them for their live streams. In other words, even though technically it is not completely banned, in practice, gambling broadcasts may have come to an end. But Twitch’s decision isn’t due to the “potential dangers of gambling” as one might think: there’s a much more complex story behind the scenes.

Twitch Gambling Drama

Gambling was one of Twitch’s most popular categories and was among the platform’s major sources of income. Over the years, Twitch has never considered banning this category, even though there have been some complaints. However, that changed with the “ItsSliker” scandal, a former “Team Liquid” member.

ItsSliker was originally a CSGO streamer and was a professional esports player. However, he was also a gambler and frequently made casino streams on his Twitch channel. He spent incredible money on these streams and often lost. After a while, it was revealed that he actually collected the money from his followers and friends: ItsSliker had managed to get close to $200,000 in “donations”, claiming that his bank account had been frozen and he was struggling financially. He manipulated his followers and other streamers by lying: although technically a scam, there was no legal sanction as the money was sent as a donation.

After this scandal came to light, Twitch did not make any policy changes regarding gambling. In fact, we can say that it was not interested in the scandal in general. However, some popular streamers felt that this situation should change. A couple of streamers with millions of followers, such as Pokimane, Mizkif, and Devin Nash, have declared that they will go on strike during the holiday if the gambling category is not banned. (Holiday is the period with the highest ad revenue.)

In addition, a video appeared on social media showing ItsSliker giving away thousands of dollars worth of “bits” to Twitch employees. The scandal was growing, and Twitch could no longer afford to remain silent. First, it closed the subscription feature of ItsSliker’s account and then made the statement we mentioned above. Most people think that this policy change was forced, and they are not wrong: Twitch had to ban gambling in order to not lose its most popular streamers. 

What Will Happen Now?

You can understand from the statement itself that this is a forced ban. Twitch seems to avoid being precise and restricts the ban to slots, roulette, and dice games. But there is much more at an online casino than that: blackjack, baccarat, keno, bingo, game shows, Andar Bahar, Teen Patti… we could go on and on, but you know what we mean. It’s not even clear what exactly is meant by dice games: does it mean traditional games like craps, or does it include multiplier dice games played on the blockchain? Can a streamer who only plays blackjack and baccarat still stream from any casino site?

None of these questions have a clear answer, and it would be a mistake to think that a company the size of Twitch would act so unprofessional. Therefore, this decision looks like a band-aid solution to calm the community. It does not look like a decision that will be implemented very strictly in the long run. Moreover, it is not implemented even now: when we were preparing this article, it was December 15, so it had been almost two months since October 18. However, nearly two dozen channels were broadcasting live in Twitch’s “virtual casino” category, and all of them were playing slot games. In other words, Twitch is not enforcing this ban even at this time.

Disclaimer:

• As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman and Sikkim, prohibit gambling
• Land-based casinos are legalized, with certain guidelines, in Goa and Daman, as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976  
• Land-based casinos, Online gambling and E-gaming (games of chance) are legalized in Sikkim under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009
• Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the same here
• Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in a licensed premise in select states. Kindly refer to the 1996 Judgement by the Supreme Court Of India here and for more information
• This article does not endorse or express the views of Qrius and/or any of its staff.