Pokimane is against the rise of gambling on Twitch

The multibillion dollar gambling industry has a presence on all possible platforms and a good example of this is its availability on live stream platforms like Twitch. 

Gambling is a popular category on Twitch and big-name live streamers like Felix “xQc” Lengyel have contributed to its rise in viewership by speaking in its favor. However, there are quite a few critics as well. One streamer who has been vocal is Imane “Pokimane” Anys.

Gambling on Twitch

Twitch already has gambling as a category on it. Viewers can find pokies, casino games, and poker elements within it. Among the games available are live games like Crazy Time from Evolution Gaming or Cash Bandits 3, a Real Time Gaming pokie! There are poker tournaments and other events conducted regularly as well. 

It is all about spreading the news about these games and events and the casinos that offer them, and that is where the hotshot live streamers come in: they stream sections of games and tournaments live for their followers to view. This gives the streamer views and increases traffic and memberships for the sites that they stream about.

Gambling has always polarized people and this is the case with the Twitch situation as well. For some streamers like xQc, gambling is cool. For some like Pokimane, it just isn’t something they would do or promote. And then there are others like Charles “MoistCr1TiKaL” White Jr., who think it is dangerous. These people are all influencers and that status is what Pokimane says empowers her to say no.

Pokimane’s stance on promoting gambling on Twitch

Pokimane already has a net worth in the millions and she could add to it significantly by live streaming gambling on Twitch. However, it is the one thing that she says she will “never do.” That decision is based on conscience and personal belief.

In a recent live stream where the theme was rampant gambling and its presence on Twitch, Pokimane spoke her mind on the subject and gave us the proverbial 2 cents. 

“I have a really hard time telling people what to do, whether to gamble on stream… to do this or that. I personally have always had such a guilty conscience; when I started streaming, I just crossed out the categories of gambling, of alcohol/drinking, drugs, obviously, anything of the sort,” Pokimane explained. 

Pokimane added that she “sleeps easy” at night knowing that gambling sponsors are not on her stream. 

This isn’t the first time she has said no to supporting gambling on Twitch. In the past, she has turned down fan pleas asking her to live stream gambling on Twitch. 

What other live streamers say

That view is the diametric opposite of what xQc says. Defending the surge in gambling streams on Twitch, xQc, who recently was part of a blackjack stream with Esfand, Chance Sodapoppin’ Morris, and a few others, says the odds of winning when playing poker or blackjack on a live stream were almost the same as finding rare cards in a Pokémon TCG pack. 

That is where another popular streamer, MoistCr1TiKaL, jumps in with a completely divergent view. According to him, gambling streams are harmful given the fact that there could be impressionable teenagers viewing them. Whatever the views and opinions, one cannot deny the fact that gambling has been increasingly gaining popularity on Twitch and is likely to stay on as a hot trend.

Of course, there is the easy way out of all this. Just sign up with a good ol’ online casino and play your favorite free online pokies there in the practice mode. You get to have fun and also avoid gambling problems! Of course, you don’t win  but then gambling is supposed to be for fun, anyway!

Who is Pokimane?

Pokimane is a popular Twitch streamer. She is one of the 10 biggest live streamers on the platform and the most-followed woman streamer there. Pokimane is also  a digital content creator who streams content from video games, including her favorite League of Legends.

In 2017 she won the Shorty Award for Best Twitch Streamer of the Year. There was good reasoning behind that award. She garnered a fan base of 450,000 followers that year, automatically breaking into the list of top 100 Twitch live streamers.  Her popularity continued to grow and in 2018, she was selected to be one of 15 ambassadors for the TwitchCon event that year.

As of the end of April 2021, she has a massive count of followers – 7.6 million – making her the 6th most followed user on Twitch. In 2021, her name was also featured as an honoree in the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 under the “Games” category. 

Gambling isn’t necessarily wrong. It is for an individual to choose to gamble, or to stay away. However, for an influential live streamer to influence someone else into making that decision in favor of gambling. That is tricky ground to tread on. And it gets downright nasty when you consider the possibility of teenagers or even underage youngsters at the receiving end of the streams. The final choice lies with each individual streamer for the time being.