Twitch's latest gambling scandal (ItsSliker accusations)

[jasonuk]

Another month, and another gambling-related scandal on Twitch.

ItsSilker has been accused by fans and streamers alike of defrauding them of potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars by begging them for money for a variety of bogus reasons. According to reports, he has since admitted he has a severe gambling addiction.

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In an emotional livestream on September 18, Sliker apologized to his fans and fellow streamers for his actions. As he broke down in tears, he refused to call himself a “victim” and promised to provide viewers with the truth.

The Twitch star claimed that it stemmed from his addiction to skins on CS:GO. However, he soon started to gamble with his money instead and things spiralled out of control.

“I used to gamble a lot of my money. Basically, all my Twitch money,” Sliker stated. “I would come across streamers and ask them if I could borrow money. I wouldn’t give them the reason obviously. Because it was gambling I would lie to them.”

In subsequent updates, it's reported that he received $100k from one of the faux-money streamers (or "fill money streamers" if you want to use their language) and rather disturbingly, was then reportedly

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immediately after the incident went public.

Naturally, the years-old debate is flaring up again - the usual suspects calling for all gambling to be banned, the usual payroll defending their misdeeds, and the honest actors in the middle will inevitably be screwed over with more rule changes in the near future.

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[The Dude]

Seems like an implosion in the making. I thought Twitch was banning all gambling related feeds?

Just goes to show what a mindless activity it is - and sadly it affects not only the gullible viewers, but some of the presenters as well.

 

[jasonuk]

Seems like an implosion in the making. I thought Twitch was banning all gambling related feeds?

Just goes to show what a mindless activity it is - and sadly it affects not only the gullible viewers, but some of the presenters as well.

Absolutely, and a very real (and real-time) example of the seedy underbelly of gambling. This had already been stewing in public for a few days before I posted, and it only got worse - the reports that faux-money streamers had given money to the addict, the attempted sponsorship deal, and in the past couple of days even allegations of bribery by the faux-money streamers to twitch employees.

The announcement from twitch (posted separately at Twitch bans Stake, Roobet and others (finally!) - Casinomeister Forum ) explains the full detail, but I'm amazed at the amount of misreporting of this in the media. It is not a total ban:

• poker, fantasy sports and sports betting are unaffected;
• slots and table games are now subject to a licensing rule - licensed in the US, or other jurisdictions that provide "sufficient consumer protection"... so I'd anticipate (we'll wait for the details) that most European countries will be included, but Curacao is obviously out.

Many were expecting the ban to be more substantial - but this seems to be a pretty healthy middle ground by cutting out almost all of the toxicity immediately (well, in 30 days), but without significant collateral damage. We will have to see what happens next of course...