Canadian streamer Cody “Xposed” Burnett (24) has made a name for himself in sports betting and gambling on the streaming platform Twitch. On August 6, he bet $450,000 on the outcome of a league match in Call of Duty: Vanguard between Optic Texas and the Los Angeles Thieves – and lost the bet. But because he is supported by the betting site “Stake”, the loss is not as significant as it seems. This highlights the issue of the lack of transparency among gambling streamers on Twitch.
Who is the streamer?
- Cody “Xpsed” Burnett is one of the successful casino streamers on Twitch. The Canadian looks up to streamers like ROSHTEIN or Trainwreck , the top streamers on Twitch in the controversial “Slots” category, which encompasses all forms of gambling.
- The Canadian paused streaming to complete his high school diploma. However, at the urging of friends and his girlfriend, he started streaming again, dropping out of university for Twitch.
- He makes so much money from gambling on Twitch that he was able to make a big Christmas surprise for his parents in 2021.
Gambling is a major topic on Twitch, one of the first major streamers on Twitch, “Phantomlord”, fell victim to it:
This was the bet: On August 6, the streamer posted a screenshot of the online casino Stake, which is currently in the headlines.
According to the screenshot, he bet $450,000 on the victory of Optic Texas against the Los Angeles Thieves. They played against each other in the Winners Round 2 at the Championship Weekend Day 2, a match of the Call of Duty League.
With odds of 1:1.77, Xposed would have ended up with almost $800,000 if he had won the bet. On Optic Texas, “Scump” plays, one of the big stars of Call of Duty.
But the bet went completely against him: Optic Texas lost the match 0-3, and the $450,000 was gone.
Streamer explains that the casino pays him very well for advertising
How much did he really lose? In the discussion about the significant loss of the bet, the streamer revealed how much of the “450,000 $” bet actually went to his account.
In response to the remark that he was already addicted, Xposed replied, very much like a businessman:
Relax, I am very well paid by Stake. I used stream money here. Instead of having a good stream tonight and creating content, I tried to double my money by placing the bet.
30% of that was my own money, so I lost about $135,000. Still hurts, but it’s okay.
Streamer gives rare insight into how much the casino pays him for advertising
This is what’s behind it: The news is so interesting because streamers usually remain silent about how much support they receive from betting sites. It has always been assumed that betting sites like Stake support the big streamers
- with a significant amount of money, more than a million dollars a month, in exchange for them to promote while playing live in front of viewers
- cover a part of the streamers’ losses
However, exact details about how these agreements work are rare.
Just over the weekend, a report from Bloomberg surfaced, suggesting that streamers earn millions of US dollars a month promoting betting sites like Stake. However, none of the involved streamers wanted to disclose exact figures.
As Xposed’s statement reveals, apparently 70% of his bet was covered by the Stake website, meaning he only bore a relatively small risk himself.
The streamer himself is indeed compensated excellently by Stake for advertising.
However, the question then arises:
If Stake covers 70% of his loss, what percentage would Stake have received from a potential win? Ultimately, Xposed’s bet appears to be an opaque advertising post:
- The streamer acts as if he is betting his own money on this wager
- How much of that comes from the betting casino and to what extent the streamer is involved in the event of a win or loss is not clear from the original advertisement.
The problem with these bets is that streamers bet large amounts of money, but their losses are partially covered by the casinos. Viewers who imitate them and also bet, however, lose the entire amount.
Twitch streamers earn millions € with gambling deals – Their viewers go bankrupt
