Twitch Bans Affiliate Links for Gambling

14/08/2021 | Categories: News | Published by: BTCGOSU | Last updated: 14/08/2021

If you aren’t aware, there has been a lot of noise around streamers playing with sponsored funds and faking big wins. A lot of streamers have contracts with casinos such that they will get a huge amount of funds to play with and persuade viewers by showing off their big wins. These funds are usually “play only” such that the streamer cannot withdraw them, but is able to play slots. Please note that there are various business models of course with the result still being the same, streamers playing with huge amounts that are not actually “real.”

Lots of anti-gambling advocates and viewers complained about the same issue and finally, Twitch has taken action against it. Until further notice, streamers are not allowed to share affiliate links or codes for Roulette, Dice and Slots games.

What’s the root of the problem?

Many known streamers are playing with sponsored funds from a casino. To understand it, you can think of play money being depicted as real money by streamers. Of course, there is usually no harm in doing so unless you hide it from the audience. These streamers are faking huge jackpot wins and profits because they are always being funded back by the casino behind the scenes. This has been criticized heavily by viewers and even some twitch personalities like Pokimane, one of the most famous Twitch streamers.

The idea behind these fake wins is to attract viewers and create a false sense of winning in their minds. If you are watching a streamer win $1,000,000 wouldn’t that tempt you to at least try the casino or the slot at least once? Of course, you will be tempted. That is exactly what they are trying to do, show off some big wins that aren’t even real money and get some players to deposit real funds.

Who are some of the big names doing it?

Note: Before you read further, please note that we are not accusing anyone of cheating but just interpreting the data and facts available on the internet.

Roshtein

It’s hard to overlook Ismael “Roshtein” Swartz when it comes to online slots streamers and big wins. One of the most vocal players who doesn’t shy away from shouting and running around his room, sometimes with his mate, after he nets a huge win. No doubt, if someone wins a million dollars with a $100 spin they would freak out.

The problem starts when you do some maths. The usual bet amount per spin for Roshtein is $100 and slots usually carry a higher house edge (around 5% on average) which means he would be losing millions of dollars each month if he was using his real funds. It’s not sustainable for even the richest gamblers.

To make matters worse, you are immediately banned from the stream if you ask in chat whether he is using his own funds or sponsored funds.

Casinorobot

The most suspicious thing about this streamer is that he only plays at a relatively lesser-known casino, Dunder. Not just that, you would hardly see any emotions from him when he is losing thousands of bucks during his gameplay. Of course, for a millionaire, it’s entirely possible but Casinorobot is a teenager living with his mom and surely a teenager shouldn’t be able to afford a few thousand bucks for his entertainment daily.

There are many screenshots all over the internet where suspicious and fraudulent cooperation between Casinorobot and casinos can be seen.

We can list many such streamers but let’s not forget the point of this article, the latest ban by Twitch and why the move was crucial.

How does the ban impact streamers?

The Amazon-owned company Twitch has been a huge source of income for both the casinos and affiliates over the years. Any streamer who is indulged in any such illegal activities of faking wins and playing with sponsored balances does it for the sole purpose of bagging some players under their downline. As Twitch bans the sharing of affiliate links & codes on stream, it will certainly discourage these fake streamers from doing so.

The official statement from Twitch reads as follows:

“To prevent harm and scams created by questionable gambling services that sponsor content on Twitch, we will prohibit sharing links and/or referral codes to sites that offer slots, roulette, or dice games. We will continue to monitor gambling-related content and update our approach as needed. To give you time to remove this content from your channel, enforcement will be delayed until August 17, 2021.”

As evident from the statement, streamers have been given time to remove such content and make themselves aware of this move.

Our Assessment and Conclusion

It was about time something was done about these fake streamers. We at BTCGOSU take pride in listing casinos and keeping the process absolutely transparent. The naive audience is not aware of how a streamer is able to play with a million dollars all the time. We are really glad that Twitch has taken such a stern but important step towards controlling these fake streamers. It will be important to see how these fake streamers react now. Will they continue streaming? If the funds were real and they actually used to play with their own money, they shouldn’t have too many problems.

Please let us know how you feel about this move by Twitch and don’t forget to tell us some fake streamers you might have come across.