Twitch Gambling
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Gambling On Twitch: Casino, Poker and Giveaways In this article we are going to take a look at the complex topic “Gambling on Twitch”. On the one hand there is the representation of gambling in the stream via games at an online casino. A new Twitch Chat bot with point system, live betting and website support! The bot is in some kind of a beta test, but you can already register and test the bot. The bot is able to do the following things: Give every viewer every X minutes a fixed point quantity, defined by you; The point name can be chosen by yourself. What you need to know about Twitch. Twitch is a live streaming platform geared towards gamers that launched in 2011. Since then, it has amassed millions of users, with a total of 3.8 million.
A big problem with online gambling and its representation on Twitch is that online casinos generally have a rather bad reputation. It is often referred to as rip-off if, for example, betting with play money means that winnings are significantly higher and more frequent than if you play the same games with real money. However, there are also reputable online casinos. How you are able to recognize these can easily be explained with the following infographic (German):
Online gambling is a controversial issue. This is due to the above-mentioned bad image and business practices of dubious online casinos, but also due to the risk of gambling addiction. A viewer could think that it is possible to earn money quickly and easily there and could get addicted to gambling. In 2016 it was a big scandal when James “Phantoml0rd” Varga was banned from Twitch because of his involvement in the gambling site “CSGOShuffle” and advertisement on his channel.
At first, he denied any connection to the site, but claimed to have been sponsored by them. But this is a violation of Twitch’s terms of use, which forbid unlabeled advertising. Recently it was found out that “Phantoml0rd” not only advertised for the platform, but also ran it together with a French programmer, gambled with the profits of the site and had his chances calculated in advance. This type of betting manipulation is fraud and you can go to jail for that in the USA as well as in Germany.
Guidelines on Twitch
How gambling is regulated on Twitch
However, an online casino has a certain gaming component. For this reason, Twitch didn’t want to completely ban the streaming of such content. Since it is foreseeable that many streamers will broadcast this content with an advertising order, there are now some rules and guidelines streamers have to stick to.
Streams are now only allowed to show 30 minutes of gambling at a time. This does not affect the actual streaming time, but refers to the entire stream. This means that after 30 minutes of online casino it should be played “normally” for some time before switching back to gambling. This should prevent channels on Twitch from being used as advertising platform for so-called “gamble sites”. This kind of advertising is very popular right now. Online casinos are actively looking for streamers to promote their product on their channel, giving the casino additional income and new customers.
Raffle & Giveaways
What to keep in mind for Twitch raffles
Now let’s talk about something completely different: Raffles and Giveaways on Twitch. A raffle can also be defined as gambling. Therefore, there are also certain rules for these rewards. It is for example forbidden to make the viewer pay for his participation in the competition. A paid raffle is only allowed to take place with a valid license for online gambling. Since most streamers don’t have such a license, no money should be collected for participation in raffles.
This also includes increasing the chances of winning for subscribers or donators. A legal limbo is the participation in a competition with a virtual currency, which is distributed by a bot due to the time spent in the stream. Subscribers usually receive more of these points for their time and can therefore more frequently buy a ticket for the raffle. This is legal but not always accepted by the users...
Conclusion
You should be careful when displaying gambling in the stream, as well as when organizing your own gambling and raffles. There are a lot of things to consider, so you should do some research on the topic before your first stream. Check Twitch’s terms of use and the legal situation in your home country. For more information on streaming please have a look at our large streaming guide.
Sources:
Twitch Poker Tv
Twitch – Players are only allowed to show limited gambling (German Link): http://www.playnation.de/spiele-news/twitch/streamer-duerfen-nur-noch-begrenzt-gluecksspiele-zeigen-id65463.html
CS: GO Gambling – Twitch bans streaming star Phantoml0rd (German Link): http://www.gamestar.de/artikel/csgo-gluecksspiel-twitch-bannt-streaming-star-phantoml0rd,3276004.html
Giveaway Rules Clarification: https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/3b0m43/giveaway_rules_clarification/
E-Commerce & Content
I am our housekeeper, wherever I can help, I stand by with help and advice =)Figures show 4.4 million gaming fans watched thousands of Arabic-language Twitch streams in 2020 across the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Numbers soared to 556,391 views in May as millions stayed home due to strict Covid-19 social distancing rules, stats from Twitch reveal.
The video site – which allows users to broadcast their gameplay live to fans around the world – recorded a total of 252,850 active streams throughout the year from countries across the region.
During March, Twitch streams in Arabic increased by 95.3 per cent year-on-year and 36.9 per cent compared to the previous month, while in April the yearly increase was 109.9 per cent.
Following a slowing in viewers as lockdown restrictions eased at the end of summer, the figures are once again on the rise with 436,291 gaming fans tuning in during November, followed by 572,143 in December.
The figures point to a gaming surge across the Middle East, with many of the top players coming from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
Read: Playing for keeps: How the GCC is developing its esports industry
The MENA region has the fastest growing online gaming population in the world, increasing at 25 per cent year-on-year.
“The latest Twitch viewership figures show that the Middle East gaming market is growing at an unprecedented rate,” said Musab Abdulla, Technology and Innovation director at Bahrain Economic Development Board. “Not only are we attracting the attention of major global developers and events like the Blast Pro Series, but the ecosystem has spawned its secondary viewership market as millions tune in to watch their favourite gamers stream live online.”
“Arabic gaming is a substantial untapped growth market. Of all the games in the world, only four percent are available in the Arabic language despite 20 per cent of all gamers living in the Middle East. Now, with countries across the region seeking to attract international talent and entrepreneurs as part of ongoing diversification efforts, this market has massive growth potential,” he added.
In the Middle East, GCC nations are seeking to woo game developers with dedicated digital policies and access to advanced digital infrastructure.
Twitch Casino Bot
In Bahrain, international and local game developers and gamers can benefit from Amazon Web Services’ first data centre region in the Middle East and Africa – and develop localised content for more than 400 million consumers across the Arabic-speaking MENA market.