is twitch the new best thing for casinos?

Watch Live Gambling via Twitch

Since its launch in 2011, Twitch has become one of the most popular online streaming services. Initially, Twitch focused mainly on gamers, which can stream their gameplay directly through the platform and can make use of all kinds of possibilities for communication with the viewers. From classic retro games like Super Mario to the latest first-person shooters like Apex Legends, on Twitch it is broadcast around the clock by thousands of different streamers from all over the world.

Over the years, many more different categories have been added in addition to gaming. From live music and painting to talk shows and live makeup tutorials, the most diverse categories and channels can be found on this global platform. Online gambling has also been well represented at Twitch for some years now. There are a lot of streamers that focus purely on online gambling and everything that goes with it, and some of these streamers also earn a nice penny with that! Curious? We do! That’s why we’ve made a few selections about casino streaming and online gambling via Twitch for you!

Twitch in a nutshell

Twitch has been in existence since 2011 and is a subsidiary of Amazon. Twitch mainly focuses on live streaming of the most diverse video games and e-sports competitions, but it also broadcasts all kinds of other creative content. Every month, more than 2 million broadcasters are active on Twitch, and the platform attracts around 15 million unique visitors every day. In terms of live streaming of games, Twitch is, therefore, a bit larger than the competing platform YouTube Gaming.

Twitch also works with a so-called partner program, with which popular streamers can earn income. These revenues come partly from advertisements and sponsors but are also generated by subscriptions. Viewers can subscribe to popular streamers for a small fee and receive some exclusive extras in exchange. In 2017, Twitch also launched an affiliate program, which made it possible for the smaller channels to generate income. This is done by means of ‘bits’, a digital currency that is used on Twitch, among other things, to give a kind of tip as a sign of appreciation to streamers.

The Emergence of Online Casino Streaming on Twitch

Online casinos are a huge part of the online gaming industry, and therefore, online gambling has been well represented at Twitch in recent years. A few years ago, streaming casino content via Twitch was still quite unexplored territory, but today it has become big business. The main reason? Online casinos are all too aware that Twitch is the pre-eminent channel for online marketing activities. In 2015, CasinoTwitcher was one of the first streamers of casino content. He was supported in this by the online casino Casumo, which provided him with play credit and sponsorship. This state of affairs was, of course, quickly picked up by many other online casinos and affiliates, so the ball started to roll. One channel after the other was established and so this latest form of casino streaming soon took off.

An Example of Today

Today, for example, the category of slots on Twitch is dominated by a handful of streamers and the competition is fierce. It’s no surprise, of course, that streaming casino content on Twitch is strongly business-oriented, so it’s certainly not free of all kinds of controversy. Links to unlicensed online casinos, playing with fake money, gambling with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and artificially increasing viewing figures by so-called bots; these are all things that have caused quite a stir. Many gambling organizations, such as the UK Gambling Commission, have already expressed their concerns about these issues. Twitch attracts a very large young audience, because games like Fortnite, Overwatch and League of Legends have a large young fan base on the platform. With a single click of the mouse, young viewers will find themselves on a casino content channel that is actually only suitable for adult players and is often full of advertising and bonuses for online casinos.

Regulations are still a bit of a Struggle

In terms of regulation, there is still a lot of ground to be gained, but for the time being, Twitch is not yet really taking the lead in this area. Of course a lot of shadowy channels and accounts have been removed and banned, but for now, it’s still a bit of a struggle. In addition, Twitch is not exactly known for its high degree of transparency and regulation. On the one hand, it is conceivable that Twitch will further restrict or prohibit casino streaming, but on the other hand, this will allow streamers to move to other and new streaming services, with the online casino industry as a major lender in the background. So the most obvious thing to do seems to be stricter control and better regulation, but that too is a largely unexplored legal area. One thing is clear: casino streaming is a huge and growing business and has long since taken its place in the online world.

Poker, Slots and other casino games look at Twitch.

Before the advent of casino streaming on Twitch (and YouTube), casino gaming enthusiasts gathered and found themselves mainly on various online forums, where they could exchange tips for the casino, experiences and the like. Twitch also offers these possibilities because of the extensive chat functionalities, and the big advantage is that viewers can communicate with each other in real time. It can be very entertaining and even instructive to watch how famous streamers play poker, for example and what strategies they use to do so. Twitch is also the perfect platform to discover new and classic slots from numerous developers because there are several streamers that focus purely on video slots and online slots.

On Twitch you’ll also find a lot of new and unknown games. Many developers work with streamers, and therefore these streamers are often paid to showcase newer games through their channel. For example, are you curious about a new slot, or do you want to see how a popular NetEnt slot machine plays? With a simple search on Twitch, you can find a wealth of information about certain games, mostly in the form of previously broadcast streams.

At the time of writing, the poker and slots channels are particularly popular for casino streaming on Twitch. If you scroll through the content on these channels, you will encounter some names of streamers very often. These are the biggest casino streamers, and these people make their money largely from streaming, sponsorship agreements, and affiliate marketing through Twitch and their other social media channels. These players have often been active for a long time and have been able to gather a large number of followers, allowing them to make real money with it.

Our conclusion

Whether you like to watch live photo editing, a game of CounterStrike or live poker and slots, Twitch offers you the opportunity to get a good idea about how a certain game or program works, while you can communicate with fellow viewers and the streamer itself. Twitch has made an undeniable contribution to the wonderful world of live streaming and will continue to do so for some time to come. The big question is how and if Twitch will further facilitate the streaming of gambling games. In any case, we will keep you informed of new developments in this area!