Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys urged a fan to seek help and enter rehab after they claimed Trainwreck’s Twitch gambling streams spurred on their addiction, causing them to lose $60,000.
Gambling streams have been on Twitch for a long time now. However, they’ve also been a divisive topic for most of that time. At one point, it even became ‘the meta’ — until Twitch ramped up efforts to stamp it out.
Trainwreck is synonymous with gambling on Twitch. He’s transparent about it, revealing the staggering amount of money he’s lost gambling and reminding viewers about its dangers every stream.
Still, Poki believes it isn’t healthy to promote gambling on stream, and that fear seemingly came true when one of her fans claimed they’d lost $60,000 due to an addiction spurred on by watching Train’s streams.
Train’s gambling streams are among the most popular on Twitch.
“I’ve honestly lost 60k+ because sadly, I followed Trainwreck down the rabbit hole, and I’m still going,” said the fan in chat. Their confession somehow caught Poki’s attention live on stream, and she responded.
“Do you plan on stopping? You’re $60,000 down!” said Poki. “It could only go further. You do realize that, right? I’m so curious. Please tell us more. Why are you still going if you’re so far down already?
“I guess that’s what I’m the most curious about. Like, what do you plan on doing from here on out? Or do you just feel like you’re too addicted? In that case, you’ve got to go to rehab, bro.”
Poki has spoken out against gambling streams in the past.
Poki reminded them about the predatory nature of gambling, explaining how the industry revolves around gamblers losing money. Then, after the fan admitted it was an addiction, she offered some advice.
“Don’t try to do it alone. Don’t think that you can beat this addiction easily alone. Look for resources and people that can help you step by step to eliminate this addiction, or at least eliminate the influence in your life.”
She told them to stop watching streams too. “If I was in your shoes, I would probably quit watching streams in general because you might be too incentivized or tempted to watch gambling streams and then gamble yourself.”
The incident sparked a discussion on Reddit. Most people insisted it highlights the problem with Train’s gambling streams.
However, a handful claimed it was ultimately the fan’s decision. Some even doubted the confession was real.
Either way, Poki didn’t get caught up in that side of things. In fact, she didn’t mention anything about Train at all. Instead, she offered her fan some advice from the heart and encouraged them to help themselves.
If you or anyone you know is addicted to gambling and needs help, please contact your local gambling helpline at 1-800-522-4700 (US), 0808 8020 133 (UK), or 1800 858 858 (AUS).