Slot machines have been entertaining gamblers for more than 100 years. The thrill of spinning the reels, and looking forward to the chance to win big.
Although slot machines may be fun for players, they rarely attract people who aren’t in the game. A new generation of YouTubers have changed this view but, in the process, they have created popular channels that feature slot machines.
The thought of watching someone other than yourself play slot machines might not have looked appealing just a few years ago. But YouTube stars such as Brian Christopher (“Brian Gambles”), Miran Mirac (“Lucky Lady”) as well as Scott Richter (“The Big Jackpot”) utilize impressive production values and innovative ideas to make gaming more interesting.
Richter has notably hit paydirt through his YouTube channel for slots and has accumulated over 115,000 subscribers as well as 2 million unique views per month. Christopher is not far behind with an impressive 80,000+ subscribers and Mirac is a rising star having 10,000 followers.
The fact that YouTube’s channels have become popular by playing slot machines is quite impressive. But they’ve also suffered major setbacks. YouTube shutting down its channels and giving no reason for it.
What’s the reason behind YouTube’s abrupt fight against gambling channels? I’ll be discussing the latest events and obscure circumstances in which YouTube has targeted slots channels.
YouTube Blocks Slot Machine Channels with No Warn
Brian Christopher has been running his slot-related YouTube channel for more than two years. In that time he’s made it a pleasurable hobby and made it an actual job.
His Brian Gambles (a.k.a. Brian Christopher Slots) channel is now home to more than 1,100 videos and has seen fifty million viewers. Christopher is currently putting in 8 to 12 hours per day and has hired three staff to support him.
What’s more, Brian recently learned the reality of YouTube the fact that they can shut your channel offline for almost any reason, and leave users without recourse.
Christopher received an email on June 3, informing him it was the case that Brian Gambles was being suspended because of his violation of guidelines that ban “violent or hazardous acts,” which could lead to “serious physical injury or even death.” Just a few minutes after receiving the original email the subscriber received a follow-up email message stating that YouTube had removed his channel.
The channel isn’t alone in this situation, as Richter also had his slot hub suspended for a variety of reasons. The channel had just finished one hour of live streaming on June 13 but then the channel was taken down for violating the policy of the website regarding “nudity and explicit material.”
Richter tweeted this following post immediately afterward: “My 1-year-old channel with 100,000 subscribers has been taken down today without any notification or reason two weeks prior to the $100K SLOT I’m putting in for that I am promoting my YouTube Channel! I need your help. !”
Swedish YouTuber Kim Hultman didn’t even get to finish his Livestream until YouTube closed him down. His LetsGiveItaSpinTV channel was cut off mid-stream without warning.
Hultman has been developing his channel for the past two years. He was shocked to discover that the website could have shut him down quickly. Worse, his appeal was denied with the help of an automatic message.
Here’s a tweet that he sent at the moment: “Still no reply about @YouTube from @TeamYouTube. It’s regrettable that they have to shut down a whole section, and leave us in the darkness.”
YouTube isn’t transparent when dealing with Slots Channels
The biggest companies do not always have the best reputation regarding customer service. For one thing, a company can only provide a certain amount of personal attention when handling millions of clients across the world.
YouTube which is valued between $26 billion and $40 billion, isn’t more or less. Since it was acquired in 2006 by Google at the end of 2006, the video-sharing site has seen exponential growth.
You could give them a break for isolated incidents. However, the fact that a number of the most popular slot channels were shut down at the same time is odd at best.
Afflicting flags on slot machine channels to denote “dangerous actions” and “nudity” is not logical whatsoever. It’s more offensive to YouTubers who are serious that such warnings or suspensions are being sent through an automated system.
The guidelines for the company do not mention gambling, making it difficult to understand the issue regarding Richter, Christopher, and Hultman.
In the case of Richter YouTube’s policy on nakedness and sexuality is directed to stop porn. I’ve looked through a few of Richter’s videos, but I haven’t yet found one in which he’s not playing slot machines in a casino, completely covered.
The YouTubers who have created hit portals for slots are careful to seek approval from casinos prior to shooting videos. I’ve not seen any videos that have cursed or shown explicit video content.
Since the slot machine channels don’t violate any policies that are publicly announced It’s not clear why gambling-related content is targeted.
What’s behind the YouTube’s Rash of Slots Related Bans?
YouTube employs more than 10,000 people as well as volunteers that flag up videos that are in violation of the company’s rules. As large as the group is, they are able to just do so little for themselves.
The site flags more than 3 million videos each month. This would result in everyone sifting through thousands of videos in order to identify the average of 300 each month.
YouTube realizes that maths doesn’t always work that’s why they employ artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with the process. AI employs an advanced algorithm that decides which videos are allowed and do not conform to the guidelines of the website.
However, recently this AI could have gone off course and stopped several slot machine channels due to unclear motives.
YouTube continuously tweaks its algorithms constantly. One instance is when they altered their rules regarding what AI is considered to be a revenue-generating channel in January of 2018.
Slots-related channels were shut down in June. It’s, therefore, possible that these recent developments are due to an algorithm change that has gone off the rails.
There is no way to fight back
One of the most difficult things to swallow in regards to the slot YouTube bans is that the video makers have no way to defend themselves.
The issue was discovered shortly after YouTube introduced the algorithm change to qualify income-generating channels. The smaller users also saw their revenue streams cut off due to the update.
A portion of the group has come together to find out how they can solve the issue. However, they’re still not able to find an efficient solution.
YouTubers can earn money for their own businesses and also the YouTubers. However, they’re not employees of the company.
This permits YouTube the freedom to make bold decisions without fear, such as deleting or suspending channels as well as demonetizing videos, with no explanation.
To make matters even more difficult is the difficulty of contacting YouTube about these issues. Contacts are received with automated responses which may or might not clear things up.
Users are encouraged to utilize Twitter to make use of YouTube’s Twitter account. However, many tweets that are posted here are not seen or, at the very least, receive no response at all.
With YouTube’s policies and the problems they face in contacting the company, it’s no surprise that video producers of slots encounter the same issues.
Slot Machine YouTubers Struggling to Take the Pieces
The good news for slot YouTubers is the fact that they have their channel restored. However, the damage hasn’t been completely assessed at the moment.
Christopher was the most severely impacted since he relies on his channel to earn money.
Brian Christopher Slots makes up to $20,000 in monthly the form of ad revenue and live-streamed contests. He also sells products as a side hustle to earn extra income.
So, having his slot channel taken down along with all the videos was a big issue for Christopher. The situation only got more frightening after Christopher’s initial appeal was rejected with an unspecific email.
Brian has been spending time working to bring his business back to normal. It’s been a challenge, particularly considering that his videos aren’t paid a remonetization fee yet (at the date of this article).
The initial message was the videos will be restored and earn ad revenue in 48 hours. He’s been waiting for an entire week waiting for this to take place.
Another problem facing Christopher has been that the East Coast casino tour has been ruined. Brian was able to negotiate for hours to film in casinos located on land on certain dates.
The tour was put on hold after he had to cancel the agreements on hold when Brian Gambles was taken down. He’s now scrambling to get the tour negotiated again.
Hultman is in the same situation as far as his earnings are concerned. LetsGiveItaSpinTV has more than 16,000 followers and has provided Hultman an all-time source of income.
He’s now with no hope of seeing his content monetized, and hoping that the suspension won’t harm his reputation.
