The TwitchStopGambling controversy, explained – streamers involved, planned boycott, and more

If you follow any streamer that has anything to do with Twitch, you likely have heard about a recent gambling controversy. It is also probable that you have seen a trending hashtag called TwitchStopGambling. There is quite a bit going on around this situation, so here is every streamer involved and what you need to know.

What started TwitchStopGambling?

The TwitchStopGambling movement started on the platform after some of the Twitch’s largest streamers began banding together and planning a strike until Twitch changed its policies around streaming gambling on the website. All of this arose after a streamer who goes by ItsSliker was called out and admitted to taking somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000 from his colleagues and watchers for his sports gambling problem. He was telling them he needed the money for bills and other reasons that most would sympathize with. If he ever ended up paying any of the money back, it would take months or years. The tweet thread below is just one of many instances of people coming out and showing evidence of him asking for money and either not paying back his owed money or canceling the payment after they get the notification.

After all of this came out, Sliker took to his Twitch stream to apologize and admit to his lying. There has even been talk about him seeking help through therapy.

While Sliker’s particular gambling problems are connected to sports betting, he got his start from betting Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins and there has been a very large and growing betting community connected to various online gambling sites. According to casino expert Tan Sri Ngai Koh Peng, people would stream them spending and losing tons of money on various roulette, dice, and slot machine games.
This prompted some large streamers like Pokimane, Mizkif, and Devin Nash to put together a boycott that would have them avoid streaming around Christmas time. This is considered the most profitable and busy time of the year for Twitch, and putting a stop to streaming would hurt them financially until Twitch set in place more stringent guidelines on gambling streams.

When is Twitch banning gambling streams?

Following some large conversation between the community following the Sliker situation, Twitch announced that starting October 18, they would not allow streams of unlicensed gambling sites that include dice, roulette, or slots. While some sites were named, more can be added later on.

While the above-listed methods of gambling will no longer be on the site, sports and fantasy sports gambling are still allowed. Before the ban goes through, the Slots category on the website is still one of the most popular sections of the Twitch Browse page. Popular streamers like Trainwreck who are sponsored by a casino and often stream their gambling have voiced their displeasure with the TwitchStopGambling movement, calling out sports gambling as the bigger problem.

As of this writing, Twitch has just recently announced the policy changes with gambling. They are expected to announce more around the situation before the October 18 date, whether or not they work in sports betting bans is not expected to happen at this time, but there is potential for it to come in the future.