IS GAMBLING RIGGED?!

Summary

The transcript explores issues surrounding online gambling, sponsorships, and platform manipulation. The speaker critiques the prevalence of gambling sponsors and affiliate codes, noting how streamers often promote gambling for financial gain despite not supporting it. There's frustration with platforms like Twitch and Kick, where viewbots and manipulated numbers are common, affecting credibility with advertisers. The speaker also discusses the complexities of RTP (Return to Player) in slot machines, comparing online and real-world casino machines, questioning the fairness of algorithms, and advocating for more transparency in gaming odds.

Takeaways

• 😀 Streamers are accepting gambling-related sponsorships, but some have mixed feelings about promoting them when they don't personally believe in gambling.
• 😀 Many streamers struggle with the dilemma of accepting sponsorships purely for the money versus promoting products they actually support.
• 😀 The issue with affiliate codes in gambling sponsorships is that streamers who promote them can’t warn others about the risks, as they are incentivized to encourage gambling.
• 😀 There’s frustration with platforms, like Twitch, that allow viewbots to thrive without taking significant action against them, as viewbots boost advertising numbers.
• 😀 Some streamers want to clean up platforms by eradicating viewbots and other forms of manipulation, but they face opposition from platform competitors who benefit from inflated viewer counts.
• 😀 Many platforms, including Twitch, are aware of the issue with viewbots but continue to ignore it, as it helps their advertising metrics and numbers.
• 😀 The challenge with addressing viewbotting is that competitors don't align on solutions, making progress difficult.
• 😀 The concept of a 'global seed' in gambling is discussed, but the speaker doesn’t believe it exists, as their gambling results don’t align with such a model.
• 😀 Despite using specific gambling seeds, the speaker finds their results inconsistent, and even when changing accounts, they still experience poor outcomes.
• 😀 The speaker wishes that gambling machines were fully randomized, not deterministic based on predetermined seeds, as it would ensure fairness and transparency.
• 😀 The RTP (Return to Player) rate for slots in casinos is often much lower than advertised, especially in land-based casinos, with the average RTP being around 80%, which could mislead players.

Q & A

What is the primary issue discussed regarding streamers and gambling sponsorships?

The issue revolves around streamers taking gambling sponsorships purely for financial gain, without any personal belief or interest in the gambling products they promote. This creates a conflict, as they are essentially encouraging others to gamble for profit without genuine conviction.

Why does the speaker disapprove of streamers using affiliate codes for gambling sites?

The speaker disapproves of affiliate codes because streamers who use them are incentivized to promote gambling, often without genuine belief in the product. This is problematic as it leads to streamers encouraging gambling behavior that they themselves may not truly support.

What does the speaker want to change on streaming platforms regarding view bots?

The speaker wants to clean up the platform by eliminating view bots, which manipulate the site's discoverability and distort actual viewer metrics. They aim to ensure that viewers are not misled and that numbers are not inflated to attract advertisers.

How do view bots impact streaming platforms like Twitch and their competition?

View bots negatively affect platforms like Twitch and its competitors because they artificially inflate viewer numbers. This can mislead advertisers about a channel’s true audience size, potentially influencing advertising decisions based on inaccurate data.

What is the speaker’s perspective on Twitch and other platforms not addressing the issue of view bots?

The speaker expresses frustration that platforms, including Twitch, do not actively address view bots. They suggest that platforms are complicit because they benefit from the inflated numbers, which help boost their appeal to advertisers.

What does the speaker imply about how third-party companies like AWS contribute to the view bot problem?

The speaker implies that third-party companies like AWS do not distinguish between real and fake viewers, thus enabling platforms to use inaccurate metrics for reporting to advertisers. This lack of scrutiny makes it difficult to address the view bot problem.

Why does the speaker question the randomness of gambling outcomes?

The speaker questions the randomness of gambling outcomes, particularly in slots, as they feel that their individual experience of repeated losses contradicts the idea of randomness. They suggest that the seed system used in online gambling games could be influencing the outcomes.

What is the speaker’s view on the RTP (Return to Player) percentage in gambling?

The speaker believes that RTP percentages are misleading. They argue that RTP should be presented in a way that reflects shorter-term periods (e.g., 100 spins, 1,000 spins), rather than relying on theoretical long-term figures, to provide a clearer picture of a player’s odds in the short run.

How does the speaker compare the RTP of online slots to that of Las Vegas casinos?

The speaker compares online slot RTP, which can range around 96.8%, with the much lower RTP in Las Vegas casinos, often around 80%. They suggest that the lower RTP in physical casinos makes them less favorable for players, despite the perceived randomness of the games.

What does the speaker mean by the term 'deterministic' in the context of online slots?

The speaker uses 'deterministic' to describe online slot outcomes, meaning that the results of spins are pre-determined based on a specific seed. This is contrasted with the idea of truly random outcomes, where every spin would be independent and not influenced by prior results.