I just stumbled across a thread on casinomeister more or less portraying casino streamers as having these amazing deals, just fucking around having lobster and caviar for breakfast and cashing out every day.
I understand that there’s a lot of bitter people out there who maybe just don’t like to see other succeed or maybe likely have lost a lot of money and sort of put the blame on us as we might be the face outwards thinking we’re representatives of the casino. Some probably genuinly believe we even work for the casino which is not true. Anyone can sign up to an affiliate program and start promoting a casino. There’s really not much more to it.
There’s also a chance that these people out of ignorance confuse us legitimate streamers with the fake streamers. Let’s make things clear: the fake streamers don’t risk a single cent of their own money. We all know that Multilotto (stay the hell away from them) endorse fake streamers on Twitch and have been doing so for a long time now. It’s harmful to all of us running the risk of not only dragging all streamers in the dirt but the industry itself. So a big fuck you to them. They’re nothing but scammers and assholes and I hope they go bankrupt for lying and cheating their customers.
Now, I can only speak for myself but I am also very close to some of the other streamers and can see that they are very much going through the same thing as me. Many of them battling a much rougher slippery slope.
Let me start of by saying that yes, the bigger streamers such as LetsGiveItASpin and Nickslots likely make decent money streaming (I don’t know for sure, but I’m taking a wild guess). A very limited amount of casino streamers, maybe even only as few as 3-4 of the legitimate streamers, can probably make a living out of this. Obviously not everyone have what it takes and they got to where they are today fair and square and because people enjoy their streams so hats off! But I’m very sure it wasn’t all just one happy walk in the park to get there and it likely involved some risk taking and very hard work. These guys started from scratch on Twitch, just like myself, and with passion for streaming, entertaining, gambling and being good at it they are where they are. I respect that very much. But let’s remember that even for them there are no guarantees as slots can be cold and earnings on the negative.
If you think that streaming casino in general is a piece of cake then you are greatly mistaken. As much fun as it is, it takes hard work and you even run the risk of burning out both mentally and financially.
There is NO safety in this business. There is NO guarantee of income. A cold streak can bring a streamer to his knees just like with any other player. If affiliate earnings are bad (which they most often seem to be for many of us) then it can be a total disaster and even if earnings are good they might only be enough to cover some of the losses and pay some bills. There’s also another factor – the more you earn, the more you seem to step up your game, going more crazy with bets and gambling. Chances are we’ll never reach a state of harmony and balance.
I was lucky to have a good start in my streaming career. Not with affiliate earnings but with slots. Yes we do get deposit bonuses more or less whenever we need and I guess you could say it gives us an edge, but when streaming day in and day out it quickly goes up and down. A cold streak for 2 weeks for a streamer may be like a 2 month cold streak for a regular player.
My lucky start did put me in the safe zone for a long time and enabled me to dedicate myself to streaming. A 4 reel Wild Desire and a 8163x wild line on Dead or Alive made sure I had a buffert for streaming. Going in to this I was even prepared to use my savings to fund my casino streaming hobby with the hope of making some of it back with affiliate earnings (obviously no guarantees whatsoever).
A few months in and I’m still doing alright. I’ve been lucky to have some affiliate earnings to reinvest into my stream and I still have money as a buffert, but currently on a cold streak where I cannot seem to hit anything decent at all I’ve noticed how very fast the money is draining and I’m starting to worry again (yes, this does involve a lot of worrying, at least for me). Now, I do have a part time job on the side that brings in some extra dough and it’s not like I’m going bankrupt, but what worries me is that I run the risk of eventually losing my buffert and having to give up streaming. That is the reality. Plenty of streamers have had to give up and more will follow.
Some of my fellow streamers for various reason don’t have jobs and put all their hope into streaming. Some of them take great risks and it’s no joke. Sure, they are not forced to do this but they decided to try and make a living out of it and they are willing to take the risk to make it work out. It’s really not that different from say a musician going all in to make a career. I’ve been a musician all my life so I know. This is the reality of show business which this very much qualifies as.
So to sit there and judge and think that it all comes so easy for us and that we can just sit back and relax while getting massage from the casinos who willingly throws money at us is just stupid and ignorant. It’s nothing like that. We aint worth shit to the casino if we don’t generate numbers. This business is brutal. There’s not even any guarantees that viewers will stick by your side as they might drop off one by one to support some other rising star instead.
I know guys who have been through hell with this. People who have been through very dark times. I myself just the other night had a bit of a breakdown after ripping yet another bullet while starting to doubt my possibility to keep this show going. I can’t even imagine having to give up on this passion of mine and not being able to keep my show going, to entertain my crowd that I have grown so emotionally close to.
I try to be honest and open about all of this but I can’t take responsibility for what other people do. My channel is 18+ so viewers are grown people who can make their own decisions. I try to make people aware of the bad sides but ultimately I’m not perfect nor is any of the other streamers. Yes, there will be drunk streams, there will be stupid bets at times and whatnot but it’s life! We’re people, we do stupid stuff all the time. If you’re sensitive to life then don’t watch. Lock yourself in your happy bubble and tell yourself it’s all good. And please don’t judge! You have no idea what I’m going through or any of the other streamers.
There’s some heavy competition out there but I respect most of my competition on Twitch because I know they are hard working, honest streamers and good people who took risks to get where they are. They don’t have to apologize for anything and you really can’t blame the casinos either. In the end it’s up to you if you want to watch or not and you have to take it for what it is – entertainment.
Love
Daniel
brutal truth, thank you for this article, I sure hope that a lot of people will read this…
Thank you! I appreciate the kind words. I felt this article was very important to write. Probably not all will agree with me but hopefully it gives some perspective.
Nice article. I think what causes problems in the community is that many viewers don’t understand how things work. Many would even need a serious reality check or gambling therapy. They don’t seem to understand that casinos aren’t in business to giveaway money to the players. They don’t understand that streamers, especially the big ones, are using their affiliates income to feed the slots. So they get their smaller bonus offers and try to gamble like the streamers they follow and then rip and wonder why. They think it’s all rigged and bullshit etc. Rtp system and how casinos make their money seems to be something very hard to understand for a lot of people.
What’s pisses me off personally is how some big streamers will always win, like every farking day of the week, it’s a big win after another, it’s thousands and thousands and thousands cashed out every day. They show their friend on his phone gambling and winning thousands too, it’s like everyone in the universe is making thousands and this is just impossible. When i see that i feel cheated so hard and im thinking about all the other viewers that are probably betting their house and cars trying to get their share of the dream… this will most likely end badly for most of them. If you pay attention, (ive spent way too much time on twitch past few months), the small streamers will have ups and downs, more downs than ups which is totally normal and how it is supposed to be. But the second you move up the ladder to the bigger ones, it’s just win win win win win. One i won’t name will win everyday, and the day he doesnt win, will come in with an offstream huge mega insane big win that puts him up for the day again. All this BS is very dangerous for the gullible watcher that seriously thinks he’s gonna make a living out of playing slots.
So in the end, what we should see while watching streamers is the swings of a normal gambling life. It should be clear that it’s a losing thing and not a career opportunity (gambling not streaming). Watching streamers should give us the hypes when they win but also show us the downswings to remind us of the reality of gambling and the dangers of it. Watching small streamers will do exactly just that, it will show the thrills of winnings and the sadness of losing and having to slow down on streams while money comes back in the pockets. The big streamers that always win are dangerous for everyone, they create a false sense of “winning all the time is possible and doable!” and that will most likely cause a shitload of problems for many people.
Anyway it doesn’t take a master in maths to understand that gambling isn’t a way to make a living. Let’s take a person that deposit 100$ through an affiliate link… that casino will pay 30-35$ back to the streamer, than keep the remaining 60-65$ to pay for the casino, the site, the staff, the bank fees, the marketing etc. After all these expenses the casino will also take a solid chunk of it as profits. It doesn’t leave much to return to the player, so thinking about cashing out regularly is simply impossible. On this sorry for the big wall of text. I just needed to express how i feel about this. Thank you.