Twitch streamer Tyler “Trainwrecks” Niknam has become one of the most-subscribed content creators on Twitch after hosting a $1 million giveaway.
On January 1, Trainwrecks decided to give away $1 million after winning a $10 million prize from gambling on stream. Viewers entered to win a portion of the money by posting “21” in the chat along with their Bitcoin wallet address. Some of the winners were his friends, including $35,000 going to a childhood friend of Trainwrecks.
Trainwrecks giveaway stream peaked at over 70,000 viewers. He also gained over 21,000 subscribers in that one single day. That brought Trainwrecks from around 30,000 subscriptions to 51,000, skyrocketing him to a new place among the top 10 most-subbed streamers on Twitch.
Trainwrecks has become very popular over the past few years despite ongoing controversy. Most recently, Trainwrecks was criticized for his gambling on stream. He gambles a large amount of money online, and some viewers have gone so far as to call it a gambling habit. Trainwrecks tells his viewers not to gamble, but there is no denying that his young viewers are impressionable and may be influenced towards gambling, especially after seeing Trainwrecks win millions of dollars from his gambling exploits.
Other streamers like Felix “xQc” Lengyel, who used to gamble on stream themselves, have spoken out against gambling on stream. Twitch has also banned gambling-related links and codes, but the site still allows streamers to gamble during live broadcasts so long as they aren’t providing promotional links or codes to their viewers.
After his $1 million giveaway, Trainwrecks reportedly won another $1 million while continuing to gamble online.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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