So get this, I never even thought about gambling until I saw some of my favorite Twitch streamers hitting it big—or so it seemed. You know, chilling at home, scrolling through, and there’s Enneric Chabot, 26, just like me, getting pulled into this whole new world of online betting weblink.

Not too long ago, this guy Chabot started tuning into streams of Felix “xQc” Lengyel. You might've heard of him, the ex-Overwatch pro turned Twitch sensation, pulling crowds of over 25,000 viewers. And in 2021, xQc flipped the script and went from gaming to flipping cards in online blackjack. I mean, who wouldn't be curious, right?

Chabot, who's like your everyday dude working at a hospital in Quebec, found this switch super entertaining. I get it; it's kind of mesmerizing. Then he spots this promo code xQc drops for Stake.com, calling itself this big shot crypto casino. You got classic casino stuff there—slots, blackjack, you name it—but with crypto. So, Chabot thinks, “Why not?” and jumps into the slots world. Starts small, just a buck per bet. But man, did it go south fast cnn.

He admits, “I just started losing and losing,” and man, I felt that. He blew through about 40 grand, his whole savings, then doubled down with bank loans, and poof! That money's gone too. Ends up declaring bankruptcy.

Despite the spiral, Chabot can't help but feel that watching these Twitch streamers play made him feel included, like he was part of the gang. And it's not like he was alone. Twitch has slots as its seventh most-watched category, beating out Fortnite, if you can believe it. Some streamers are banking over a mil a month just to show their gambling spree. Wild, right?

The numbers are nuts. xQc, sitting on 11 million followers, admitted to betting a whopping $119 million on Stake. Can't even imagine. And Stake? They're rolling in it, with a Curacao license and a sketchy address, but staff chilling in Europe.

In the US, betting with crypto is a no-go, but it's cool in other places. There are ways around it, though. VPNs and crypto make it kinda doable in the States. Stake claims it’s on top of it, trying to keep it legit, but you know how it goes.

Twitch is scratching its head over this gambling thing. They’ve pulled back on letting streamers share links and codes to betting sites, trying to dodge scams and sketchy vibes. They say they're all about safety and even have resources for gambling addicts.

After a break, xQc's back at it, drawing crowds of 70,000 just watching him press “spin” on slot games. The bets? Ridiculously high. Saw him blow $164k in seconds. And it's not just gamers; even Drake's in on it, betting millions while thousands watch. It’s a whole spectacle cbc.

Turns out, celeb endorsements work. People like Vaibhav Kumar from India got hooked after watching streamers on Twitch throw cash on bets. But after a while, it hits you that these streamers aren’t really losing like the rest of us. Their losses are just a drop in the bucket.

It's a pattern, you know? Young gamers get the taste of betting from in-game items gambling, then transition to crypto casinos. Jakub, just a teen, got caught up in it, and now he's logging in daily, sinking in 50 bucks at a time, mostly ending up in the red.

The big-name streamers, they've been making bank from gambling sponsors. It's huge on Twitch, but it's got folks worried, especially when it starts to look like gambling’s their main gig.

Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo, another big Twitch name, got a $19 million offer to gamble on stream. He dabbled but pulled back, feeling it was wrong, especially after seeing underage fans getting into it.

US regulators are all tensed up about offshore gambling, and crypto’s making it even fuzzier. Alex Costello from the American Gaming Association points out how these sites target the young crowd, with most Twitch viewers being teens and young adults.

Look, there's this petition asking Twitch's advertisers to rethink their stance because of the gambling streams. Nobody wants the youth getting trapped in this cycle.

Rinaudo and others think Twitch should step up and cut off the oxygen to these offshore gambling promos. But as long as big money talks, streamers will keep cashing in those checks from sites like Stake gamblinginsider.

“Streamers are going to gamble 12, 14, 16, 22 or 38 hours a day, because they’re getting paid to do it,” he said. Can't say I blame them, but you gotta wonder where it’s all heading, right?

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