How Casino Streamers Make Money on Twitch
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In this day and age, the digital business sphere is thriving. Customer convenience is the number one attraction to the online realm, especially among the up-and-coming generation. Unlike generations gone by, today’s young adults embrace innovation rather than letting it intimidate them.
Online shopping, online gambling, and other internet entertainment forms are becoming increasingly popular thanks to how easily accessible it has all become. This, of course, is creating a highly competitive marketplace that demands a highly effective marketing strategy if companies stand out among the competition.
The online casino and poker markets have seen an eyewatering surge in popularity over the past decade. The online gambling market managed to generate a market size of $59 billion in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is forecast that this already impressive number is expected to rise to a whopping $92.9 billion by the end of 2023.
How Casino Streamers Make Money on Twitch
So, the question remains… What is the market doing differently to make sure that each party survives in such a saturated environment? Well, affiliate marketing is the gambling industry’s greatest weapon, and its diversity and ability to adapt to the times is the driving force. It is turning tech-savvy entrepreneurs into multi-millionaires simultaneously, especially within the streaming realm on platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, and others.
How Affiliate Marketing Works
It’s becoming challenging to rely on conventional methods of drawing players onto online platforms. Traditional SEO methods are effective to a point, but with so much competition in this sector, those who are thinking outside of the box are most likely to succeed and capitalize on their market share.
Affiliation includes the combined efforts of a product/service provider (casino) and a dedicated seller/advertiser (affiliate). Both parties work together in tandem to reach the end consumer. Top iGaming affiliate websites, like PokCas, provide the bridge that connects gamers with the top American casino sites and poker rooms they are so intently looking for. They do this by offering them exclusive promos, discounts, sign-up codes, and more.
The casinos can concentrate on entertainment while leaving their affiliate network to concentrate on marketing their brand. The affiliate company will earn its revenue based on the number of successful conversions to each of its promoted casino sites. It essentially earns kickbacks/commissions for each player they get on board.
While the standard affiliate website concept has worked for many years, some innovative thinkers have taken it further by offering affiliate services via live stream. In other words, they promote brands while playing poker and casino games on platforms with a steady user-base, like Twitch.
The Twitch Life – A Personal Approach to the Affiliate World
Twitch is probably one of the most popular streaming platforms in the world. Its services span gaming, entertainment, sports, music, and a whole lot more.
Prospective Twitch streamers open accounts on the platform and stream their entertainment to a potential user base of millions of viewers. Certain channels naturally do better than others, but each streamer can make money for their efforts by converting viewers to subscribers and by accepting donations from their supporters.
Many gaming streamers make a good living from the donations and subs alone. Still, the potential income for affiliate marketing revenues is massive and provides streamers with a greater opportunity to make money for their efforts. The top poker streamers, for instance, earn on subs, donations, and on commissions for the conversions they make to casino and poker sites. They essentially do what the affiliate marketing sites do but use their channel as the conduit instead of a dedicated website.
Not only do streamers get to make tons of cash in the market, but they get to make it while doing something they are good at and very much enjoy. Those who qualify for the Twitch Affiliate program or make ‘Twitch Partner’ will earn 50% of the $4.99 Twitch generates per subscriber (per month) on their channel. This means that expert streamers with a mere 1,000 monthly subs can generate a decent $2,500 per month wage. That’s excluding any affiliate commissions paid by casinos and poker sites that they promote. What about streamers who have tens of thousands of subscribers? Well, do the math!
There are certain requirements needed to become a Twitch partner, though. These include:
- You need at least 50 followers over the past 30 days.
- You need to broadcast for 500 minutes or more per month, and you need to broadcast on 7 distinct days in a monthly cycle.
- You must average 3 or more concurrent viewers per stream.
Some content creators go the extra mile and upload some of their video play onto YouTube afterward. YouTube creators that are a part of the “Partner Program” can also monetize their videos with ads and stand to earn kickbacks from the number of views they generate and the number of subscribers they muster.
Twitch Red-Tape Is a Speed Bump
While many Twitch users and content creators have called for the outright ban on gambling streams, the American streaming platform does not seem to want to take such a draconian stance. Instead, it has clamped down on the amount of freedom that casino game streamers can enjoy on the site by instituting a new policy for those streaming slots, roulette, or dice games.
The company has made it clear that content creators may no longer share links or referral codes to casinos offering chance-based games. Their release read:
“To prevent harm and scams created by questionable gambling services that sponsor content on Twitch, we will prohibit sharing links and or referral codes to sites that offer slots, roulette, or dice games. We will continue to monitor gambling-related content and update our approach as needed.”
This new policy has been a real bump in the road for some casino streamers but has not altogether hindered them from making money from affiliate-based promotions. Most streamers have been quick to react and now employ their Facebook pages and Discord servers to provide links and promos to the public. As such, they now promote their Discord links on their chats instead.
Poker streamers are unaffected by the new policy, though, as the card game is widely accepted as a “game of skill” and is not even classified as gambling in some circles. Card sharks can regularly promote poker room links and promo codes on stream, making the entire affiliate marketing process so much simpler for them.
Top Streamers to Watch
The adage that “success only comes by hard work” rings true in streaming circles too. While there is a perception that it is easy money for those talented enough to play video games well, it actually takes a lot of dedication and the right type of personality to make it work. If you have the right mix of “ingredients,” it can be a doorway to good money.
Just a decade ago, you would have never thought it was possible to make money by allowing others to watch you play games and gamble. Nowadays, it is a budding business opportunity for the bold. It certainly works; look at the case studies below:
Erik, Anton, and Mathias from CasinoDaddy
The above-mentioned Swedish brothers have harnessed a massive gaming community via their Twitch Channel, Facebook Page, and affiliate website.
Their Twitch stream currently supports more than 120,000 followers, and they post regular videos to YouTube to a subscriber count of over 50,000 people.
Their efforts and out-of-the-box thinking have revolutionized the affiliate marketing world by taking traditional concepts and combining them with current trends.
Lex Veldhuis
Alexander Bastiaan Martin Veldhuis is a professional Dutch poker player of 16 years. He streams his games on Twitch from the Netherlands.
He is a member of the PokerStars Pro Team online and streams his high to medium-stake tournaments on the platform. Unlike other poker streamers, he is restricted to promoting PokerStars bonuses and products, but he excels as an exclusive brand ambassador.
Lex’s currently has over 250K followers on Twitch. He keeps things real by spending $60,000 + of his own cash to compete in the best online tournaments each month.
Conclusion
There is no hiding that online streaming is a fiercely contested market that demands a lot of dedication to perfect. The added restrictions and regulations implemented on online gambling because of the COVID pandemic have made things especially challenging for some. However, persistent and dynamic in their approach can turn their determination into a decent career path, and the market size is certainly in your favor to do so.
Affiliate marketing is a winner, as long as you are willing to be diverse in approach and dynamic in thinking. The high-tech world in which we live defies all boundaries, so it’s up to us to match our mindset to the limitless possibilities out there.
Michael launched Your Money Geek to make personal finance fun. He has worked in personal finance for over 20 years, helping families reduce taxes, increase their income, and save for retirement. Michael is passionate about personal finance, side hustles, and all things geeky.
