Guide To Casino Streaming

‘Streaming‘ is when people put their video game play on a live stream, allowing other people to watch them play in real time. Streaming became popular in the early 2010s, first on dedicated streaming site Twitch, and later, on YouTube. The most popular streamers reach huge audience numbers by combining their excellent playing skills with funny commentary. While most streamers started doing it as a hobby, many have managed to turn it into a successful career.

‘Casino streaming‘ is the same thing, but with casino games instead of video games. People will stream their online casino gameplay to their audience, allowing them to see whether they’re winning or losing. Casino streaming allows people to enjoy the thrill of gambling, the pleasure of winning (and the disappointment of losing), without risking their own money. Now, since a lot of casino games are games of chance, it may sound a lot less exciting than video game streaming. But the appeal in many casino streamers lies in the fact that they think they’ve managed to crack the system to earn big wins. Whether they’ve really done so or not is up for debate – but that’s entertainment!

This wouldn’t have been possible without a platform like YouTube, established in 2004. Major gaming channels on that website soon started doing live-streams as a better, more direct way of connecting with their audiences. It also made it easier to show users how to play a game from A to Z, without the risk of editing out something important in post-production. Streaming proved highly popular, with thousands of viewers at a time logging in and keep track of the stream.

YouTube is untouchable in terms of users and number of channels, but it was Twitch that exploded live streaming, and as a result, casino streaming. Twitch was created a full 7 years after YouTube, in 2011, but it quickly found its niche in gaming live-streamers. Now it has over 100,000,000 unique visitors every month and 1.8 million streamers who’ve formed a community just to be able to talk about games. It works perfectly – gamers can show off their skills, and their viewers can learn from said skills.

It’s easy to see how live-streaming soon took over the casino world as well. Casino streaming allows experienced players who’ve spent hours playing slot games to share their knowledge with other passionate players. The fact that the stakes are much higher when you’re watching a casino streaming channel versus a normal streaming channel heightens the excitement. When there’s a lot of money on the line, everything becomes double the risk and double the fun.

Eventually, major online casinos started to pick up on how successful casino streaming was becoming. They started to endorse or sponsor certain streamers, which not only pushed the industry further but opened up all new ways of advertising. In no time at all, casino streaming has become mega popular and mega successful because of the players behind it, and the casinos behind the players.

Casino streamers are usually players who have a lot of experience under their belts. These are people who have racked up hours on hours of playing a specific slot, and who believe that they have cracked the ‘code’ on how it works. That’s right, they’ve played so many slots for so long that they’ve worked out the algorithm of specific slots, and know when a slot is due to ‘cash-out’.

Now, we’d normally say that the idea that a slot is ‘due’ to cash-out is pure fiction. Online slots operate on the basis of an RNG (Random Number Generator), so you never know what the next spin will bring.

But just like some poker players have ‘tells’ so that you can recognise that they’re bluffing, casino streamers believe that certain slots have ‘tells’ that indicate that they’re about to hit the big time. These streamers are confident enough in these tells to bet big sums, and record their adventures by streaming it through their channel.

Realistically, big wins are few and far between – certainly not enough to keep food on the table. So how do casino streamers make money the rest of the time? Besides having another full-time job away from the slots, here are the most popular and effective ways.

Donations from fans

According to a Deloitte report published in 2018, the primary revenue model for the live streaming market is likely to be tips from fans. Many live platforms, including Twitch and Youtube, have built fan donation systems right into their interface.

Ads during live stream

Many casino streamers run pre-roll and mid-roll ads. The revenue is calculated based on the total number of people who see the ad.

Pay per view/subscriptions

Subscriptions are scheduled monthly donations, which give the streamer’s most dedicated fans access to content which is unavailable to the public. This kind of content has to be pretty special to make it worth maintaining the subscription, so streamers have to work extra hard to keep them satisfied.

Affiliate programs

The majority of casino streamers are affiliated with a casino – which mean they receive a share of all the profits from their referred players. Think of it as working on commission. This allows them to keep playing more than a regular player and remain in profit.

Brand deals and sponsorships

Most streamers dream of striking a sponsorship or brand deal. Profits can vary drastically based on the brand that chooses to sponsor the streamer, the size of their following, and more factors.

Selling merchandise

And finally, if the streamer has created a sizeable enough audience, they may also consider selling their own custom-made merchandise. Dedicated fans will be happy to represent their brand out in the world.

Curious about casino streaming? Have a taster – we’ve picked out a few examples of streaming videos featuring epic wins below. This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg, and you’ll find thousands of other videos just by casting your eye around Twitch and YouTube.

When you watch enough hours of casino streaming, you can quickly start to convince yourself that you can make a lot of money quickly, just by playing slots. This is a tempting trap to fall into, especially if you’re going through a difficult financial patch. But please keep in mind that these people are professionals with other revenue streams who often spend considerable sums of money before they successfully hit the jackpot.

The vast majority of slots will not pay out CA$10,000 on one spin. Always play online slot games responsibly, and never bet more than you can afford to lose. For more on responsible gaming, click here.