Gambling Channels Are the Latest Victims of YouTube's Arbitrary Moderation Process
'This is my full-time job. You spend so many years to build it up and they can just erase it with one button.'
Taylor Lorenz Jun 6, 2018
Seth Wenig / AP
Days before he was set to begin a month-long promotional tour for his YouTube channel, Brian Christopher learned that his account had been abruptly terminated.
In the two years since Christopher has been running BrianChristopherSlots, he’s produced more than 1,100 vlogs of himself gambling, mostly on slot machines, and racked up 50 million views and 80,000 subscribers.
But then, last week, his account was suspended, along with many other prominent YouTube gambling channels. In an email, YouTube explained the suspension was due to “repeated or severe violations” of its community guidelines, which prohibit “violent or dangerous acts that have an inherent risk of serious physical harm or death.” (YouTube did not respond to requests for comment from The Atlantic.)
Like many top creators, Christopher makes his full-time living from YouTube, and he’s terrified of losing his primary income source. He said he’s careful to get approval from the casinos he vlogs from as well as the slot-machine manufacturers before publishing his videos. He doesn’t swear, feature explicit content, or do anything else he thinks might be perceived as violating YouTube’s notoriously vague guidelines, which he and many creators can almost recite by heart.
Christopher and other top creators are in a precarious position: Though their videos provide a steady stream of income to YouTube via advertising, they don’t work for YouTube directly, and the company has a long history of deleting channels, demonetizing videos or accounts without warning, and leaving creators with little to no recourse or explanation.
In January, YouTube made sweeping, sudden changes to the qualifications it used to judge whether channels were eligible to earn money on the platform. Thousands of small channels lost their ability to generate money on YouTube overnight and had no way to appeal. For the vast majority of YouTube creators who aren’t members of YouTube’s top 3 percent, there’s almost no direct line of communication to the company: Creators get automated emails saying their channels are penalized. When they try to reach out to YouTube, rather than get a person, they get more automated responses. While some encourage their fans to tweet at YouTube’s various Twitter handles, that usually proves fruitless, too.
This spring, some creatorsattempted to ban together and start a union, hoping that collective bargaining might help them better reach the company. Others simply quit the job entirely.
Ben, a vetted volunteer “ trusted flagger,” who helps YouTube identify problematic content and offensive channels, said that after four years as a volunteer for YouTube, he’s seen tensions between YouTube and its creators peak in the past year.
“YouTube needs to be more transparent in their policies and give in-depth information to creators,” he said. “If a YouTube Trusted Flagger can’t distinguish whether there has been a violation based on the public information they give out I cannot see how they could expect most users to do so either.”
The YouTube gambling community isn’t massive, but its biggest channels have tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of loyal and active fans, which allows them to broker brand deals with big-time casinos, gambling-machine manufacturers, and online gambling sites in Europe. After his channel was taken down, Christopher spent days trying to renegotiate deals he had made with casinos throughout his tour.
“YouTube doing this stuff absolutely jeopardizes my business relationships,” Christopher said. “I’m in contact with the casinos I was supposed to visit, I’m trying to put them at ease and continue on Facebook. I know I haven’t lost my brand .. but it’s tough.”
Christopher’s channel was reinstated shortly after he spoke to The Atlantic, but other popular gambling channels have received permanent or temporary bans, or have had features, such as the ability to live stream, revoked.
“I’ve spoken with other channels, no one knows what’s happening,” said Christopher. “No one has any facts, including myself. No other channels know how to prevent this. They’re scared, they’re deleting videos saying ‘maybe these are ones that YouTube won’t like.’ They’re afraid to go live.” He added that even after he received an email saying his appeal was granted and channel reinstated, he wasn’t given any explanation for why the initial deletion occurred.
Gambling YouTubers have taken to group chats, Twitter, and private messaging over the past several days, trying in vain to figure out why their channels are suddenly being targeted. “What I find awkward is no one is ? sure what’s going on. Everyone is just speculating,” one user wrote on a forum thread discussing the issue. “Also I don’t get how hard it is to contact anyone from YouTube it’s like their friggin invisible.”
Kim Hultman, a Swedish YouTuber who runs the gambling channel LetsGiveitaspinTV said that he was mid live stream when he found out YouTube shut down his channel.
“I checked my channel and it was gone. YouTube had shut it down completely. No notice,” he said. “I appealed and said I’ve been doing this over two years, I don’t understand why you’d decide to shut me down right now. They sent another generic mail saying we reviewed your appeal.”
“This is my full-time job,” he added. “You spend so many years to build it up and they can just erase it with one button.”
Since the first wave of bans, YouTubers said that they’ve felt a familiar wave of panic, knowing that they could be next. Though many attempts to diversify, YouTube’s platform is unique and many creators have been unsuccessful in their attempts to build audiences on other platforms to a similar scale.
“You need something like YouTube to help people find your channel,” Raja, who runs the YouTube gambling channel Raja Slotssaid during a live stream shortly after his channel was deleted, then reinstated earlier this week. “We have explored other options, but those other platforms aren’t going to help grow a channel.”
Christopher said that he hopes YouTube will soon realize the effect that even the smallest platform or policy changes can have on creators like him.
“I just hope that YouTube comes through,” he said. “I just hope that they will open a dialogue with me .. I made them a ton of money over the past few years. For them to just close up shop with zero way of communication is a slap in the face.”
Taylor Lorenz is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers technology.
Brian Christopher was born in Burlington, Canada to an elementary teacher, and golf enthusiast. Brian Christopher, the host of the BCSlots YouTube channel, is one of the biggest slot YouTubers out there. After trying to become a full-time actor in Hollywood, he has risen to fame in the slot gaming community and even had a Forbes article about him, following his channel being shut down by YouTube in 2018. Brian Christopher Slots - YouTube My name is Brian Christopher, and every day, I post new daily videos of myself playing slot machines in the casino. You'll see some wins, some losses, some j.
If you play slots, you will be interested to find out about the online slot player community, most notably the one found on YouTube. There is a virtually limitless number of YouTube channels where users upload videos of their actual casino slot play. While just a few years ago casinos would frown upon players who video recorded their play, the rules have become more lax over time. As a result of these looser regulations combined with the advances in technology and social media, slot fans around the world have become more and more accustomed to YouTube slot videos.
Once a niche category, slot videos on YouTube now receive millions of views each month. With even a basic search, you will quickly find that users post everything from low limit gameplay to ultra high limit videos. In fact, World Casino Index even has its own channel, which you can find here.
The YouTuber slot channels in this article are all legitimate users. There are several channels that post fake videos in an attempt to garner views. Many times these channels will be taken down by YouTube, but some of them have been around for quite some time. If you see excessively large limits that are not found in casinos, you can assume that the videos are fake. In addition, some slot enthusiasts take videos of machines that they have in their home. Take a look at the list below of the most popular and active slot channels on YouTube. Note that this list is prone to change, and for that reason, is in no particular order.
Brian Christopher
Youtube Brian Christopher Slots
Brian Christopher is both the name of this slot channel as well as the person who runs it. Brian has been publishing slot videos online for years and is the most well-known personality in the world of YouTube slot videos.
This channel features a wide variety of games, limits, locations, and even guests. Brian can often be found in SoCal, Las Vegas, and destinations in between. He provides a solid mix of games and limits. Sometimes you will see slots that are played for a few dollars per spin, and other times you will find high limit games being played. Brian will post live videos* as well, in addition to his normal clips. His fun personality is a big reason for his success in the community. He also actively runs group pulls** and will feature guests from time to time. You can check out his channel here: Brian Christopher Slots
Vegas Slot Videos by Dianaevoni
3 card poker online casino. Dianaevoni is another very popular YouTube slots player. She can also be found in some of Brian Christopher’s videos, and vice versa. She plays a wide range of limits and can most often be found playing in a variety of Las Vegas casinos. She has been posting videos for years and has amassed quite a following.
You will notice that Dianaevoni likes to involve her friends on a frequent basis. This adds a very personal touch to her videos and allows her viewers to feel all that more connected. Check out her channel here: Vegas Slot Videos by Dianaevoni
TheBigJackpot
TheBigJackpot is a “new” channel that has quickly become one of the most popular on YouTube. The biggest selling point of this channel, featuring Scott Richter, is its high limit and ultra high limit videos. There is no other channel on YouTube that features videos with as many high limit videos as you will find on TheBigJackpot. Scott frequently posts videos with over $100/spin slots action, and sometimes even as high as $600/spin. The ability to live vicariously through TheBigJackpot at these mega high limits is what has allowed him to grow so quickly.
In addition to high limits, TheBigJackpot has an active following, with its fans known as the “Bomb Squad.” You can find these members in the live video chat or at his group pulls. Take a look at the channel here: TheBigJackpot
TheBigPayback
TheBigPayback, not to be confused with TheBigJackpot, is a mix of the aforementioned channels. You will certainly find a very strong mix of games on this channels, as well as limits. With that said, the channel’s videos tend to skew to the mid to high limit range, which is part of why it has a large following.
This channel is very active, with videos being posted on a near daily basis. As the slot community grows, frequent upload volume has become more common. You can find TheBigPayback slots channel here: TheBigPayback
SDGuy1234
The username for this channel may not make it obvious that slot videos are featured, but don’t be fooled. The difference between this channel and the others on the list is that it seldom includes high limit play. With that said, it has been around for quite awhile and features a dynamic selection of videos, including throwbacks, live play, and extended video play.
SDGuy1234 is one of the anchors of the YouTube slot community. If you are looking to try out a new game, odds are that you will be able to find a video of it on this channel. You can take a look for yourself here: SDGuy1234
Arcade bomb games. *Live videos are when a YouTube channel starts broadcasting live. In these slot videos, you will be able to follow along with the play as it happens for the first time. While these videos are usually archived and reposted later, they are often times the most exciting as they include live chat and real time reactions from the users.
Youtube Brian Christopher Today
**Group pulls are when a number of people meet in a casino, pool their money, and play on one shared bankroll. For example, if 20 people meet and put in $250 each, this would be a $5,000 group pull. The group may decide to do 100 spins at $50/spin slots, 200 spins at $25/spin slots, and so on. In doing this, players both have more fun and are privy to higher limit games that generally provide a larger payback percentage.