There are many myths about how online casinos work. One common belief is that streamers play with better odds. Some of these myths aren’t entirely wrong, but the reality is even more staggering.
Streamer Accounts
Streamer accounts do exist. However, they are not meant to manipulate odds. Instead, they are used to manage cooperation between the casino, the provider, and the streamer.
By now, it’s a well-known fact: streamers play with fake money. They are casino partners putting on a show and won’t risk losing their own funds.
In the early days, casinos handled streamer account funding through technical means with no real money involved, but that’s no longer the case. The risk of glitches is too high, which may cause reputational damage. Remember Roshtein switching to demo mode, where his account balance remained unchanged.
Streamer accounts are now loaded with actual funds. This is not an issue anymore since transactions are processed with cryptocurrency instead of costly traditional payment systems. Depending on the deal, streamers might be allowed to withdraw some or all of what’s left after the stream. But they are still not real players.
Why does this matter? Casinos pay providers a fee tied to player losses. Streamer accounts, however, are labeled by providers to keep them out of overall statistics.
This way, casinos save on fees that could be significant given the size of streamers’ bets. Providers benefit too — casinos ask streamers to play games from specific studios, drawing in more players.
There’s no rigging involved. If a streamer seems to win a lot, it’s simply because they play for hours every day and make large bets. This naturally leads to occasional big wins. Dishonest tactics do exist — for example, a streamer might claim they spent $2 million on a bonus hunt when the real amount was $8 million. Still, the slots behave the same as they would for any other player.
Superuser Accounts
But can casinos really manipulate payouts? In fraudulent scenarios, they can. This is done through superuser accounts.
The concept of a “superuser” is familiar to poker fans. It refers to players granted special privileges by the poker room, enabling them to see everyone’s cards and secure easy wins.
But what’s the purpose of superusers in casinos? After all, casinos wouldn’t gamble against themselves. Well, they do have another expense — affiliates, and some try to cut it by any means.
Unethical providers are willing to assist. They can enable a special algorithm for selected accounts, allowing them to always win. The casino then uses these accounts to drain the profits of targeted affiliates.
So, if you notice that your affiliate earnings stay positive for most of the month but turn negative just before the period ends, it’s probably not paranoia. Consider switching to a casino that pays fairly.
Could a streamer be a superuser? Theoretically, yes, but it’s highly unlikely. For one, streamers don’t need extra luck, as they’ll already get their share of big wins. And since streamers are affiliates too, a casino involved in shady practices wouldn’t want to give them reasons to suspect foul play.
Fortunately, this only works one way. If a casino wants to reduce payouts, it simply asks the provider to set the RTP at the lower end of the range. This is entirely legal, and players can always check the details in the game. Finding a casino that manipulates RTP against individual players with scripted games would take serious effort these days.
