Close to $3 Billion Gambled by Online Streamer xQc
Baccarat has long been known as a game for high rollers and there are many online baccarat sites where it is possible to bet tens of thousands of dollars per hand. However, few people have reached the level of online streamer Felix Lengyel, known as xQc. Recent information has revealed that xQc gambled close to $3 billion on the gambling platform Stake.
xQc first appeared on the scene in 2016 as a professional player of “Overwatch”, the multiplayer first-person shooter game that was created by Blizzard Entertainment. However, while he did build a large following, his esports career was punctuated by a series of controversies that led to a number of suspensions and in the end, his team was dismissed in 2019.
Following his team’s dismissal, xQc turned his attention to live-streaming content on Twitch. His popularity quickly ballooned and he attracted a massive number of followers. This soon translated into money and drew attention from rival platforms. In June 2023, Kick paid him $100 million to migrate his esports stream to the platform, which was created by the co-founders of Stake.com, Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven.
As part of the deal, xQc agreed to mandatory online gambling streams, which he began doing soon after joining the platform, and last month, he revealed to his followers just how much he has been gambling on Stake.
Nearly $3 Billion Bet on Slots, Table Games and Sports
The popular streamer posted a screenshot of his Stake online gaming account that revealed xQc has bet close to $3 billion on the platform. To be precise, he bet $2,954,739,443.22 across a total of 1,138,753 bets, which is an average of $2,594 per bet.
However, while xQc may appear to have almost unlimited funds, he certainly doesn’t seem to be the most successful of gamblers. The screenshot shows that he has placed 1,011,365 losing bets and 112,015 winning ones. The statistics also revealed that he likes to bet on slot machines, table games, and sports.
With such large sums involved, it is no surprise that his revelation was met with incredulity by some of his followers. Many claimed that he isn’t betting with his own money, but rather, he is using funds supplied to him by Stake in order to promote the platform.
In one example of a typical response, the user wrote, “He gets paid to use Stakes’ money to gamble and get others addicted to gambling.”
xQc Unapologetic About Support for Online Gambling
There is no doubt that Kick is using xQc to promote its platform and attract users from competitors such as Twitch. Given the platform’s founders, it is more than likely that he is also being used to promote Stake in the hope of converting esports fans into gamblers.
As in the example above, some fans of xQc hit out at him for promoting gambling and possibly causing harm to others. However, earlier this year, he told them to mind their own business in no uncertain terms:
“Backwards-ass people thinking that an idiot aiming to entertain (me) rips away all free will from vulnerable individuals. Get a grip of your own life before fixing mine.”
It is likely to be a sensitive topic with xQc as gambling regulators in Quebec placed him on the province’s gambling exclusion list following several allegations that he has a gambling problem. Roughly this time last year, he was escorted out of a casino in Montreal following a birthday dinner with his family. He is currently banned from all casinos throughout Quebec.
xQc is appealing against his inclusion on the exclusion list, and as such, he will be keen to avoid any fresh allegations of problem gambling. In the meantime, he can continue to enjoy the huge collection of online baccarat games available at Stake and elsewhere.
