ShareA ban on regulated gambling on Twitch has gone into effect and it looks like they might have missed a trick when drawing up the new rules.
Following weeks of backlash over a scandal involving UK-based streamer Abraham Jehad âSlikerâ Mohammed, Twitch decided to switch its stance on rules pertaining to gambling on stream.
Sliker uploaded a confession video admitting that he had lied to his followers and fellow content creators when soliciting more than $300,000 in donations which ultimately ended up feeding his gambling habit.
After seeing this statement in a year that has seen the number of streamers playing casino games and slots rise dramatically, a group of top streamers demanded a stronger stance from Twitch for the protection of its members.
The group included names such as Imane 'Pokimane' Anys, Matthew 'Mizkif' Rinaudo, and Devin Nash, who threatened an organised strike during the Christmas period.
Twitch eventually relented and made the changes, fortunately choosing to target unregulated gambling sites and leaving online poker alone.
As you might expect, not everybody was happy with this. None more so than Tyler âTrainwreckâ Niknam who recently told how he earned an eye-watering $360 million in 16 months from his sponsor who is now banned from Twitch.
âto be clear, the people scapegoating SLOTS, BJ & ROULETTE and not blaming the individual, are the real problem. on top of that, SLIKER WAS A SPORTS BETTING ADDICT, THE ONE TYPE OF GAMBLING THAT IS NORMALIZED & THAT I DONT HEAR A SINGLE ONE OF YOU CLOUT GOBLIN FUCKS TALKING ABOUTâ
âWITH THAT SAID, the STREAMERS & VIEWERS who sell a false reality should be banned, people who gate keep giveaways through codes that require you to gamble should be banned, people who hide all losses and only show wins should be banned, things like this are predatoryâ
Twitch updated its rules to include the following:
We do not allow the following sites or associated domains:
- stake.com
- rollbit.com
- duelbits.com
- roobet.com
And added streamers can no longer share links or affiliate codes to these sites and all affiliated domains, noting three ways to receive a channel strike:
- Share a referral code to a slots site with your chat
- Include a banner with a link to online roulette games
- Verbally refer your chat to a site containing dice games
Did the Changes Work?
Although traffic for this kind of casino website dropped a whopping 97% overnight following the ban, some canny streamers have claimed that they found a workaround that falls squarely within the rules as they are written.German Twitch streamer Scurrows tweeted a suggestion for content creators to swerve around the new rules by not showing exactly what site they are playing on.
The text translates as:
âI took a closer look at Twitch's new gambling rule and I came to the following conclusion: Therefore, when a streamer is playing a casino and the casino's name is visible in the image, it is not clear which site they are playing on. As long as no URL can be seen, it is not possible to say with certainty whether this streamer is breaking the rules. http://Stake.com /
@Stake for example is forbidden. http://Stake.Us or http://Stake.Uk are allowed. But as a spectator you don't know where the player is playing.â
This may be true for now, but we can be sure that the Amazon-owned platform wonât allow the spirit of its new stance to be avoided by streamers who wish to carry on as before.
