Twitch Streamers Trainwreckstv And xQc Defend Ethics Of Gambling On Twitch Against Ethan Klein And Hasan Piker

Yesterday, H3 Podcast host Ethan Klein went live on Twitch to host an interview between himself and Canadian streamer xQc, who recently quit gambling on Twitch, about the legal and ethical implications of gambling on the site, causing a massive ripple across the streaming platform.

Gambling streams and streamers have been the subject of controversy on Twitch for several weeks for a number of reasons, including accusations that the "crypto-casino" sites that streamers often use are unlicensed and don't require ID to sign up for, potentially spreading gambling to children.

The four-hour-plus stream, hosted by the H3H3 Productions Twitch page, was only meant to feature a conversation between streamer xQc and Klein, the latter of which has been calling out gambling streamers on Twitch for "scamming" their fans. In fact, earlier this week Klein (along with streamers Mizkif and Hasan Piker, who were already on the stream when Ross joined) debated occasional gambling streamer Adin Ross on Twitch about the same issue, with Ross ultimately admitting that he thinks gambling on Twitch is wrong, but refusing to quit until his current deal was through.

This interaction inspired xQc to step up to the plate in defense of Ross, who he thought was being "ganged up on" by the streamers, despite having quit gambling on-stream recently after feeling guilty.

The stream between xQc and Klein quickly turned into a shouting match, with xQc seeming to hurl insults at Klein at every chance he got. Among Klein's arguments are that the websites used for streaming are largely unregulated, can potentially change the win odds in streamers' favors to make it appear like these streamers are getting massive wins, that the sites are paying certain streamers off to play them (creating an inaccurate image of gambling) and that streaming gambling to a large Twitch following, in general, is immoral and spreads the addiction to potentially underage viewers.

Partway through the debate, xQc invited Trainwreckstv into the stream, a big-time gambling streamer with a focus on slot games, who has also been criticized by Klein. Klein soon rebalanced the debate by adding Hasan Piker to the stream. The four proceeded to argue over each other about the ethics, legality and morals of gambling on Twitch, with Trainwreck repeatedly accusing Klein of virtue signaling and not backing down despite saying he realizes gambling is bad and that he has an addiction. Clips from the stream covered the top of the /r/LiveStreamFail subreddit that day, which boasts over 1 million followers.

The stream was hosted by a number of large streamers as it happened, including Pokimane and Mizkif. A highlight of the argument included Trainwreckstv admitting he's paid $1 million per month by his crypto-casino sponsor Stake to play on their site, which he offers a referral code for on-stream.

Stake is an offshore casino with a license in Curaçao that has been accused of scamming its players before. Another highlight came when Klein found Stake's business address, which appears to be a rundown-looking shack.

Trainwreckstv recently moved from the U.S. to Canada in order to continue streaming slots on Twitch, which is illegal to do in many states depending on the laws surrounding gambling.