Twitch Bans Famed Counter-Strike Gambler

Twitch recently announced that they’re on a campaign to stop gambling streaming through the game Counter-Strike. And “PhantomL0rd,” one of the world’s biggest Counter-Strike Twitch gamblers, is an early casualty of this effort.

A statement on PhantomL0rd’s page reads: “The community has closed this channel due to of service violations.”

Kotaku tried reaching out to Twitch for clarification on the matter, but they refused to comment on the of service violations. Not all Twitch bans are permanent, so it’s unclear if the popular streaming site will later reinstate PhantomL0rd’s .

PhantomL0rd has not commented on the matter either, through YouTube or Twitter, which is strange given that he’s highly active on social media.

PhantomL0rd has amassed 1.4 million followers on Twitch, along with another 500,000 subscribers on YouTube. He’s become a cult icon due to the large amounts of money that he bets on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO), a war-themed computer game.

He reacted quickly to Twitch and Valve’s announcements to crack down on CSGO gambling, noting that his “stream has now changed forever” – although he didn’t elaborate on exactly what was changing.

But he quickly announced a return by writing, “I know the plays aren’t the best lol, just wanted to inform you all of my return.”

PhantomL0rd made bets on sites like CSGOWild, a betting exchange where players can wager against each other. In one instance, PhantomL0rd lost $12,642 on a single bet.

As we previously reported, Australia has a big problem with CSGO betting, with teenagers partaking in the activity.

18-year-old Jordan Bruce, from Brisbane, is one example of a teen who became addicted to CSGO betting.

“[I] bet all my money on skins, I was that much into it, then it started getting bad,” said Bruce. “I just had that urge. I hated it and I hated myself after it, but at the time I just thought ‘I won’t get caught.'”

By the time Jordan’s father, Andrew, discovered his son’s video game betting addiction, he’d already lost $1,800 on the game.

Bruce’s friend, 18-year-old Nason Pybus, was a successful CSGO gambler, making a good deal of money through the game. But Pybus eventually stopped playing because the stakes were getting too high.

“It was actually quite surreal that I’d have these skins in game but I was making quite a bit of money off them,” said Pybus. “It didn’t seem like the stakes were high, but they were.”

Rahul Sood, owner of the eSports gambling site Unikrn, expressed fears that it’s too easy for underage kids to gamble online.

“It’s just so easy to do and because there’s no oversight and no regulation, there are sites from all over the world that are accepting bets and nobody seems to care,” explained Sood.

Skins are gambling credits that CSGO bettors win through the game, then try to turn into real money through baccarat, blackjack, roulette and other online casino games.

The activity seems harmless enough for a mature adult, but fears have grown due to reports of teens gambling through skin exchanges. This is one big reason why Twitch has dedicated more resources to stopping gambling streams.