Progress lost

Over the past year, Twitch’s online slot gambling community has reached new heights, ultimately carving out its place in the top ten most watched categories per month. Now, a ban on unregulated casinos has not only stunted that growth but sent it flying backwards.

from 80,949 at 11.59pm on Tuesday to 3,225 at 7am on Wednesday

Twitch introduced a ban on crypto casinos including Stake, Roobet, Duelbits, and Rollbit on Tuesday, resulting in an eye-watering decrease in viewer figures. In a short stint between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, slot viewers dropped more than 97%. The number fell from 80,949 at 11.59pm on Tuesday to 3,225 at 7am on Wednesday.

Twitter account @thepnuk expressed his pleasure in seeing the drop earlier Wednesday morning:

As a result of the ban, high profile Twitch gamblers such as Trainwreck, Roshtein, and Xposed have had to end their slot streaming for now. They all used unregulated casino sites to stream their high stakes gambling antics to their combined 3.7 million followers.

Going out with a bang

On Monday, Trainwreck, real name Tyler Niknam, went live on Twitch in what he deemed the “LAST GAMBLING STREAM ON TWITCH.” As usual, the Arkansan played on Stake slots for real money with spins worth thousands of dollars. That stream has now been viewed more than 2 million times.

a stream with global rap superstar Drake

Going out in style, Roshtein decided to organize a stream with global rap superstar Drake this week. The pair played on roulette on Stake – a session in which Drake secured $12m+ from one spin. Drake is no stranger to the Twitch community having also linked up with Trainwreck recently. Roshtein took to Twitter to share an image of him with the Canadian rapper this week:

Similarly, 26-year-old streamer Xposed also took to Twitter earlier this week to share a link to his “Last Slot Stream on Twitch.” His final stint of unregulated casino gambling racked up a modest 47,000+ views. At the end of the stream, he thanked his viewers for finding him on Twitch, adding: “I hope to see you follow me wherever I go.”

The polarized response

Of course, as you can expect from influencers, Twitch’s gambling community has not remained quiet in its disapproval of the ban. Posting from Canada after his meetup with Drake, Roshtein took to Twitter on Tuesday to question whether the Amazon-owned platform had made the right decision:

Trainwreck, meanwhile, was very quick to condemn the ban upon its announcement earlier this month. In a scathing Twitter rant, Niknam described Twitch as “corrupt” for its “inconsistent” policies regarding online casino and sports betting.

On the other side of the fence, some have welcomed the ban with open arms. Content creator Pokimane was one of the main advocates for the measure. She helped to spread the #TwitchStopGambling hashtag earlier this month. Other popular streamers such as Hasan Piker and Asmongold have also backed the ban.