Not sure if I’ll catch any flack for this one (probably will
as I’m posting the links on streamers videos!). To clarify though, this isn’t
about my opinion on the morality of affiliation. I may save that for another
post.
Having said that… 😉
I’m
sure most people reading this will be familiar with the big Youtube slot
channels. I’m talking Jimbo, Nickslots, Rocknrolla, Craig and the Bandit (and
Grape who seems to have disappeared and who I hope is doing ok!) I very rarely
watch any of these guys now as I don’t think it can do any good to my recovery
to be watching gambling videos, but there was a time where I’d watch for hours
a day. I’m not criticising the existence of these channels, but I have begun to
think that they should feel obligated to talk seriously about responsible
gambling and gambling addiction and my reasons are as follows.
The
simple reality is that these guys are now part of the gambling Industry. They
help to provide traffic to online casinos and in turn make good money. Simple
catchphrases like “when the fun stops, stop” and “don’t deposit more than you
can afford to lose” are nothing but lame disclaimers that have absolutely zero
effect on anything. What I’m talking about is discussing the serious issues
that arise when someone develops a compulsive gambling problem.
Now
to be fair, Rocknrolla is probably the guy who has given the most honest and
raw commentary of the bad side of gambling. Here’s a link to a video he did a
few months back where he talks about the ‘dark side of gambling’ and in my
opinion there needs to be more of this online. Really good, honest stuff from
Paul here.
A
lot of people might look at this who watch these videos and think, I’m not a
compulsive gambler, I have it under control. And perhaps you are right. Perhaps
you will go your whole life being able to gamble without it having any real
negative effect on your life. On the other hand, some of you won’t. Some of you
will be like me, who gambled for years before one-day things changed, it became
a problem and before I knew it a year of my life had gone by and I had made a
real fucking mess of things!
In
my opinion, the gambling industry as a whole does nowhere near enough. When the
Bet365 CEO pays herself 27 times as much in a year (£217m!) than the entire
industry paid (£8m) towards problem gambling research and treatment, you can
see who are the real winners and losers in this game. While they may be small
fish in a big pond, streamers have an opportunity to influence in a big way.
If
any of these streamers read this, this would be my message. You guys are
profiting from the casinos and whether you like it or not, some of the players
you refer to them are problem gamblers and virtually all of the players who
aren’t already have at least some level of risk of developing into one. I’m a
big advocate for personal responsibility, but you guys have a real platform to
at least educate on how terribly wrong things can go. And I’m not talking about
deposit limits and self-exclusion, I’m talking real life and how deep in the
shit some people get. You may not agree that you have a responsibility, but
surely you want people to understand the potential issues they could face.
I
suspect a bit of hate coming my way and that’s cool, I hope people can at least
be open minded and admit that there are things to be addressed here.
On
a side note, 23 days gamble free and feeling gooood!
Very well written article and i do agree that more can be done with responsible gambling.
ReplyDeleteAll CasinoGrounds streamers have messages in chat regarding gambling addiction and where to get help if needed, many other streamers don't do this and some never even mention sites such as GambleAware or GamCare.
We are constantly trying to improve our streams whilst following the latest guidelines from UKGC etc and all the casinos we stream and promote have responsible gambling functionality, never promote casinos that don't have this.
If a player comes to us in confidence asking for help with an addiction we take the necessary steps to help them self exclude at all the casinos, and i've personally done this with about 5 people via Facebook.
Gambling can be and should be fun, but obviously when you start chasing losses or big wins on high stakes you can end up down a very dark road and we always advise people on stream never to do this.
If you would like to talk on Skype i'm always available for a chat.
And good luck staying gambling free.
Regards,
Nick aka NickSlots
Hey Nick, excuse me for the late reply. Had a bit of a relapse and felt too hypocritical to post on here for a few days. But back on that horse now!
DeleteI think that's a great idea mate regarding the video content.I would love to hear any ideas you have about that. And I hope you don't get the wrong impression, I'm not demonizing you guys at all and I know for a lot of people your streams and video content are very entertaining and a lot of your viewers won't be in the kind of position that people like myself are in.
That being said, there are definitely a lot of us out there, and I think its awesome that you are willing to use the platform you have to raise some real awareness about the issue.
Again I doubt you'll see this response! But I will definitely hit you up soon and discuss what you're thinking.
Cheers bud.
Will
Hey Nick thanks a lot man, great to get a response from you.
ReplyDeleteHelping people with self exclusion and giving people advice about where to go if they have a gambling problem is definitely a good place to start, but for me I think things need to be more proactive.
I think its equally important to inform people how bad things actually get for compulsive gamblers and how to recognize when they are heading down that road. Whether that be through stories of others who have lost everything or something else it could really be highlighted how destructive an addiction it is because I suspect many people don't get it until it happens to them.
I think you guys are in a great position to do this as even though you're only a very small part of an enormous industry I think you all wield a lot of influence over your followers. People watch the videos and they feel some sort of connection with the streamers and come to like and respect them.
Nice one for giving your two cents on the matter though its great to hear from you.
Sorry mate didn't realise you replied.
DeleteCreating video content around the dangers of gambling is certainly something i'm working on and a video compilation of fails and misses is in the pipeline that highlights the other side of big wins which are big losses.
We're very proud of our CasinoGrounds website as this brings both gambling and non-gambling enthusiasts together. Some people genuinely watch our streams who have never gambled, and some ex-gamblers use it to get their "fix".
I will certainly do my best to promote responsible gambling whilst keeping the fun elements of the stream still there.
Thanks.
Nick