The Sliker Twitch drama, Mizkif Allegations, Trainwreck, Crazyslick, Twitch gambling ban campaign – primer, overview, updates

On Sunday, September 17th, even if you hadn’t heard his name before, Twitch streamer Sliker was the topic of discussion all over Twitter, Reddit, and beyond. Allegations that Sliker had scammed over $300,000 out of friends, acquaintances, and Twitch personalities, appeared across the internet. As more and more people came out to say they’d loaned money to the streamer, a deep web of controversy and deception was uncovered.

Sliker is a UK-based Twitch variety stream known for CS:GO, Valorant, and other popular stream games. Through connections made through collaborations and streaming, it’s alleged that the streamer borrowed sums of money, ranging from $1000 to $50,000 dollars from a number of friends and acquaintances. This money was never repaid, leading to allegations of scamming.

Sliker made numerous claims as to the reasoning behind these loans and borrowed amounts. However the purported actual reason is allegedly due to spiraling gambling debts. While Sliker rarely had gambling aspects to his streams or content, he has appeared in a number of Poker streams, including BotezLive poker, and Creator Poker event.

These allegations of scamming came to light over the past weekend (September 17th - September 18th) as a number of friends and viewers outed the streamer over borrowed money. YouTuber LukeAFK, who was also a mod for Sliker's channel, revealed that Sliker had borrowed around $27k from him.

Multiple high profile streamers, including xQc and Trainwreck, had reportedly been asked for money by Sliker. Trainwreck reportedly gave the streamer a significant amount (reportedly $100,000) to help end his gambling debts. However, the amount did not end Sliker's money woes, and the streamer continued to borrow money.

While the true amount may never be known, some estimations place this at over $300,000. Trainwreck alone reportedly paid the streamer $100,000, while multiple people have come forward with amounts ranging from $1,000, to $50,000 dollars.

On September 17th, the first allegations about Sliker surfaced. Although many rumors had gone around previously, it was Sliker own mods hijacking his Twitch channel to let everyone know about the streamer’s unscrupulous actions.

Subsequently, multiple people responded on Twitter saying they’d had similar experiences with Silker.

The allegations against Sliker grow. Around 20 different people have now shared allegations about Sliker.

Sliker releases an emotional video apologizing to everyone, stating that he “never intended in scamming” those involve. He pledged to pay back all he’d “borrowed” money off, and explained that his actions were due to him being an gambling addict.

This apology seems to spark a movement towards banning gambling on Twitch, although Sliker explained that his gambling problem was with Sports Gambling, rather than anything broadcast on Twitch. Sliker also took part in multiple poker tournaments broadcast on the platform.

Sliker also claims he was offered a gambling sponsorship off the back of the scamming allegations. However, these claims are very dubious.

xQc offers to go 50/50 with Trainwreck in refunding everyone who was scammed by Sliker. This repayment amount would reportedly be in the hundreds of thousands.

The movement to ban gambling on Twitch seemingly gains momentum, with MizKif, Pokimane and others making calls for it to be banned. 

Additionally, more allegations come out about the streamer. However, many are now more focused on Twitch, and banning gambling than those who have been scammed out of money.

Sliker goes live and streams for another 30 minutes.

The conflict turns nasty as Trainwreck responds to Asmongold on Twitter, when the latter questions why Sliker is not banned on Twitter. Train states that its because Asmongold and "pals" are attempting to use Twitch to twist it into waging a war against gambling and Trainwreck. Mizkif fires back that Train allegedly scammed people with his jolt coin. Trainwreck makes allegations that Mizkif used Maya Higa and Mitch Jones to keep sexual assaults covered up. Other's fire back with allegations about Train that Alinity made a few years ago.

Mizkif later deleted the tweet. Trainwreck's allegations purportedly refer to an incident in 2021 between Crazyslick and Adrianah Lee.

Allegations that Mizkif, Maya Higa, and Mitch Jones conspired to supress and damage control a situation where Crazyslick allegedly sexually assaulted Adrianah Lee grow. Adrianah Lee shares dozens of allegations from other female streamers about Crazyslick.

Meanwhile, Paul "Ice Poseidon" Denino, who admitted to scamming over $500k from his fans in a pump and dump crypto scheme in January 2022, waded into the drama. Dropping several screenshots of Mizkif using slurs in private messages, he stated "Mizkif, I brought you into this world and now I'm taking you out."

At the same time, Justaminx weighs in and seems to downplay earlier Sexual Assault allegations on stream. She then proceeds to tweet in an erratic manner for several hours. She then states "I need therapy" and logs off for the nite.

Trainwreck caps off his evening by accusing the OfflineTV crew of blacklisting him from Among Us lobbies. Disguised Toast states this isn't true, it was more about dividing the game into hardcore play and casual play with the OTV members.

It's also revealed that Crazyslick has gone missing and messaged many close friends to say goodbye. This all came in the wake of accusations of sexual assault levelled against him from multiple women. Goodbye messages and disappearances are often seen to be signs that someone is about to self harm. However, it is later reported that Crazyslick has been found and is safe.

But perhaps the most surprising development of the day was Twitch releasing a statement on gambling:

In it, the platform stated that they will expand their policies prohibit the streaming and sharing of links and referral codes to sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games. However, it will not take action on websites that focus on Sports Betting, Fantasy Sports, or poker. It also does not outright ban gambling as you can still gamble on sites with the right licences. These changes are to take effect on October 18th.

On the evening of September 20th, OTK released a tweet stating the Mizkif, an OTK founder, would be placed on leave after the serious allegations against him were made. A minute later, Mizkif released a statement apologizing for his treatment of Adrianah Lee, apologizing for the content of the private messages Ice Poseidon shared, and reiterating that he is taking a leave of absence from OTK.

During this time, an ongoing on-stream call between Hasan, xQc, and other streamers seemingly celebrated the "banning" of gambling on Twitch, despite multiple forms of gambling still able to be streamed on the platform.

Twitch, in a move that absolutely completely fails to read the room, decides to cut creator pay and deny a 70/30 cut for all creators. In a blog post released in the morning of September 21st, Twitch immediately faces backlash and criticism.

September 22nd - A quiet day, or is it?

What initially seems to be a quiet day explodes as a leaked discord call between Asmongold, Trainwreck, Mizkif, Mitch, xQc, and others surfaces. Seemingly leaked by Trainwreck, a rundown of the three-hour call propels Destiny to the top of the LSF subreddit, as clips of his stream take over the front page.

Some observers are questioning whether what Sliker did is illegal. Depending on the country, what Sliker did ranges from mildly illegal, to a major crime.

In the US, the scam would be consider a fraud only in certain states. Scamming individuals through bad-faith loans is not a federal crime in the US.

In the UK, where Sliker currently resides, you can take a friend or family to Small Claims Court, even if you don't have a formal loan agreement. Under English law, a court could rule that emails, text messages, or social media messages, coupled with evidence that the payments were made, would constitute a legal contract. That means that there is a legal option for anyone who would want to seize money back from Sliker.

Gambling addiction, like all forms of addiction, is insidious and dangerous. Addicts, who truly want to be better and take steps to cure their addiction cannot rely on others. Every single rehabilitation program worth a grain of salt has tenets about taking personal responsibility, making amends to those who you have harmed through your addiction, and removing yourself from places that would have you engage with your addiction again. 

If Sliker truly wants to treat his addiction, huge streamers paying off his debts will do nothing for him. The only way will be to take personal responsibility. Sliker must become willing to make direct amends and continuing to take personal inventory. Or at least that’s what one prominent addiction program suggests.

However, the revelations about Sliker's gambling issues have sparked something in the wider Twitch community, which is positive. Unfortunately, Twitch streamer promises are often empty, and any protest would have to see them actually follow through. Something that seems highly doubtful. 

Additionally, a puritanical and mindless witch hunt against gambling helps no one. Instead, efforts should be made to bring streaming in line with the standards that broadcasting and print advertising already has to adhere to. Gambling is strictly policed in all advertising spaces… except streaming. That has to change in the future.

Twitch's response on September 20th is a milquetoast attempt to dazzle the ignorant. It states merely that they weren't enforcing their own rules, and that licenced operators will still be able to be streamed, referred, and linked. Gambling will still be able to be streamed and enjoyed on Twitch.

If you or someone you know is suffering with a gambling addiction, reach out. GamCare is an gambling support charity with online live chat available.