Health secretary, Steve Barclay, said it was to be " commended " and that his colleagues would be looking into its findings. The difference is they use digital currencies: Players convert pounds, euros and dollars into virtual cash such as bitcoin to gamble with.

This type of casino is illegal in the UK, with the Gambling Commission taking a hardline stance against any operator that accepts crypto currency as a direct method of payment. There are m ore than English-language crypto casinos worldwide. Stake - one of the biggest players in the crypto casino world - has a UK regulated site.

It has also sponsored Everton, Watford and Gillingham football clubs, as well as the Alfa Romeo F1 team. THE GAMBLING 'HIT'. HasanAbi, 32, is one of the most popular streamers out there. The American is known for his left-wing political discussions on current events, but he also dabbles in gaming.

I asked him about the appeal of these gambling streams. You're watching people gamble away their parents' entire life savings in one hit. Crypto casinos have risen in popularity thanks to content creators streaming themselves gambling on them.

One streamer, xQc , has a combined social media following of almost 17 million. The money is wagered almost carelessly. There is a concept called autobetting — which is where a streamer will get the computer to place bets for them while they go to the loo or have lunch.

THE 'GOLDEN GOOSE'. A further 1. The rise of streamers gambling on crypto casinos is a concern for health workers like Matt Gaskell. He is the clinical lead for the NHS Northern Gambling Service which supports people struggling with a gambling addiction.

Online slot machines are designed to make the gambler lose — for example, this game has a return of The 'theoretical payout' for virtual slot machine can be found by tapping the game's information button.

Streamers broadcasting themselves gambling on crypto casinos is already controversial. One of the major streaming sites, Twitch , told Sky News they've gone to "significant lengths to reduce gambling content on Twitch, and have banned a number of gambling sites from our service, including Stake.

But, at around the same time, a Stake co-founder set up his own rival streaming site, Kick. com, which features the casino.

Launched in October , Kick reports it hit 10m users in July. A number of prominent gambling streamers have been linked to Stake, including Trainwreck — who has 3. Streamers typically get a cut of bets made by anyone who uses these codes - which effectively means they are incentivised to convert viewers into gamblers.

And many may be making the decision to gamble — without all the facts. The use of house money, or 'fake' money as it is known, is an open secret in the crypto casino world. At first glance, it looks as though content creators are gambling with their own cash - but often the money being wagered is provided by the casino.

It's a contentious subject. com denies any of its partnered streamers play with fake money. But for Matt Gaskell, the online crypto casino world is akin to the "Wild West". Responding to the findings of our investigation, Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, said: "It's an extremely important investigation that you've led.

And I think there's much that's come out of the investigation that I know colleagues will be looking at. A government spokesperson had previously told us they would be taking steps to strengthen the regulatory powers of the Gambling Commission.

But it's not just celebrities and influencers who are driving this new gambling craze. Two people, who we are calling David and Joe, say they gambled with money given to them by casinos. I also spoke to someone we are calling Zach who got sucked in just from watching these streams.

I played cards and stuff like that but I never felt the true power of addiction. But I just couldn't stop. It turned me into a selfish person and caused a lot of pain to my friends and family.

I lost almost half a million dollars, but I kept playing. It was OK because I was sponsored but I still felt sick to my stomach. When I told them I had developed a gambling addiction, they cancelled my account. I lost the money I had on there before I could cash it out. I see more and more gambling adverts - a pandemic of addiction is on the horizon.

The casino gave me a fixed contract but also said, "we're going to put fake money in your balance, gamble it away and do those fake reactions [on the stream]". A lot of streamers have similar agreements. These casinos can get away with it because it's all crypto-based.

But all gambling companies are dodgy [because] in a way they're stealing people's money. They know it's going to cause an illness. Even when I was in debt and at rock bottom, I would still gamble. I had suicidal thoughts — I just wanted an escape.

Content creators can earn money from the website they stream on as well as negotiating deals with casinos. It's rare for figures to be published. INSIDE THE BEEF HOUSE. One group of Malta-based influencers, called ClassyBeef, has a rota. They film themselves gambling six days a week — mostly from 8am to 3am.

The six men who make up the rota all come from Europe and the US. Some of the videos shared on Classybeef's Instagram story under the name 'BEEFHOUSE'. Pic: classybeefofficial. They throw parties replete with booze, girls in bikinis, and big banners emblazoned with the Stake.

com logo. I hadn't gambled for four years. Then I started being pushed videos of these livestreams on social media. I ended up buying a crypto coin. A single deposit quickly turned into When I found out they were playing with fake money, I realised it was just an advert.

You've got no protection. I can't get in touch with the bank to say I found a way around the bank block because it's not technically legal. I wiped out years of effort in a few hours. It was soul destroying. LAW BREAKERS? Joe and Zach were both in the UK when they accessed unregulated crypto casinos.

Richard Williams, a leading gambling lawyer, sheds light on the consequences. The penalties for these offences include disrupting advertising revenues and stopping the casino from taking payment from major credit card providers, although this has a limited effect with casinos that take cryptocurrencies.

There are measures in place. Many of the sites are blocked or re-routed if you try to access them from this country. For example, going on Stake. com takes you to their UK site.

This regulated branch of their casino does not accept cryptocurrencies, and, unlike their main site, it enforces safety measures , such as wager caps and time limits for gamblers in Britain. com has not been found to have broken any UK laws.

I've found evidence an online loophole is being exploited that means some streamers may be breaking the law in the UK and there are questions over whether casinos are doing enough to monitor this issue. British streamer, Joe, claims he was given instructions by the casino that was sponsoring him on how to bypass measures designed to prevent users in the UK accessing the site.

Richard Williams explains what the law says about this. Williams adds if a streamer with a UK audience publicises this software as a way to access these off-limit sites, they could be seen as advertising unlawful gambling which is also an offence.

BEING GODZILLA. In addition to this, Molly McCann was facing off against Hannah Goldy. Following the win, McCann took to Instagram to request Drake buy her a Rolex and to her surprise he agreed, saying he would get one for her and Pimblett. Thank you very much. Nice one for that Drake, thank you very much for that.

But thank you very much really appreciate that, lad. Nice one. For those not in the know, for a good while there was a habit of Drake publicly endorsing an athlete, either through a post on social media or a picture, only for them to then underperform.

This was made even worse when Drake would show his fans who he was betting on, resulting in many rejoicings saying they knew they would win if they bet on the other athlete.

Please gamble responsibly. Topics: Celebrity , Drake , Money. To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories , we're happy to send you some reminders Click ' OK ' then ' Allow ' to enable notifications. Advert Drake's biggest ever bet saw him win a huge amount of money.

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