Tyler ‘Trainwrecks’ Niknam believes recent backlash over his controversial Twitch gambling streams is “ridiculous,” and claims the only reason there’s any drama around his Stakes slot games is because people hate him.
The Twitch star has come under fire recently for his “sketchy” gambling streams, which other streamers believe is “ripping off kids”.
While Trainwrecks conceded some criticism — mainly how “dangerous” gambling can be — is warranted, he denied claims streaming Stakes slot games is malicious. In his eyes, the only reason it’s an issue is because he’s doing it.
Niknam claims: “Everything I touch, people are pissed.”
One example, the Twitch streamer said, was when he watched Gordon Ramsey cooking shows in 2019. When he tuned into the popular series he would be sent messages saying it was illegal, and that he “deserved to be in jail” for the perceived DMCA issues. Then, when others did it, it was okay.
“They were reaching for all these problems to pin on me, because it was me,” he claimed. “Less than a year later, their favorite streamers are suddenly watching TV shows and everyone is pogging and clipping and having fun.
“I swear to god guys, every f**king direction it’s just some bullsh*t. Literally bullsh*t bro. It feels like they want to see me gone… cancel me, just because it’s me.”
Trainwrecks doubled down on his recent statements regarding transparency, and claimed he’s never tried to trick or lead his viewers into playing slot-games too.
“I do what I can do to be responsible,” Niknam said.
“If I was just sitting here, winning, telling you guys, “come win too!” or whatever, that would be a problem. Me being responsible doesn’t automatically get me a pass, I get that. But I always try to be responsible, clear, and authentic.”
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He continued: “No shot I’m going to sit here, be ‘evil villain Train’ that all the kids hate, then suddenly when I’m gambling, suddenly all the kids love me and I’m f**king them all up because they’re watching me.
“Most of the kids don’t even know who I am!
“I would understand [the backlash] if I was doing what my friends did, and catering to young kid content. Then I’d understand the outcry. Fully understand it. But bro, I’ve been in my own lane for a while. Are there kids here? Sure… but this idea it’s a majority of kids that I’m streaming for, no fucking shot!
Trainwrecks also said he wouldn’t stop hosting Twitch gambling streams as long as they were allowed on the platform, adding, “really, I’m just doing what I love.”
However, the Twitch star, who has been hitting as many as 60k concurrent viewers while playing slot games, did concede gambling itself can be “bad” when done in excess. Niknam even went so far as to drop a warning for his viewers: they shouldn’t copy what they watch on his streams, even if he’s winning.
“Is it bad?” he added at the end of his rant. “Fuck yeah it is! Over 96 percent of the time you lose over time. Don’t touch that shit. Really, don’t… you will lose.”