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Betting Bots: The Problem With Gambling Channels on Twitch

Online casinos have been known to use unique and creative advertising campaigns over the years. However, the rise of game streaming on platforms like Twitch has created a new market for online casinos to consider.

Why Market on Twitch?

The way it works is as follows: online gambling sites contact various popular Twitch streamers and offer them large sums to play their casino games live. This practice has become so common that Twitch has a section of its website dedicated to casino streams.

These advertisements function differently than virtually any other avenue of promotion, as these streams can go on for multiple hours. It allows for a wider variety of viewers than traditional advertisements and hooks customers by associating a particular website with a well-respected figure.

Many Twitch streamers have reaped massive profits from casino promotions. Some are offered upwards of $35,000 an hour, with additional gambling funds included. For this reason, it is common to see streams frequent several thousand-dollar bids.

Although Twitch streamers are obligated to inform their viewers of any sponsorships or promotional material, casino streamers are not required to say where they got their gambling money from.

Casino Critics

Some critics of Twitch gambling argue that such high bets are unrealistic for most Twitch viewers. This becomes especially complicated when considering how much of Twitch’s platform is consumed by minors.

Several oppositionists have even called for the dissolution of gambling channels on Twitch altogether. Others are less concerned for the individual consequences of gambling but fear that the growing industry may cause catastrophe site-wide.

This issue is gaining traction with the growing presence of automated casino streams. Several of the site’s users have flocked to Twitter over concerns associated with bot channels.

While Twitch has made the effort to ban these channels as quickly as possible, many of these groups are able to take their sponsorship money and repeat the play the next day. This practice effectively hurts the website’s algorithm and, by proxy, the human streamers.

Ethical Electronic Gambling

Ethical consumption is nearly impossible. Because legal online casinos are already so scarce, these streamers offer a gauge for the legitimacy of a given site.

While regulation could help Twitch stars adhere to moral methods of promotion, an outright ban would just hurt the little guys. A better approach would be for Twitch to develop a stronger algorithm to identify and remove fake gambling channels before they go live.

For many gamblers in the United States, offshore online casinos are the only option for accessing Vegas-style games like slots. Since legitimacy is hard to read on Twitch, our website has an abundance of resources for you to browse and use.