Posted on: September 17, 2024, 11:52h.
Last updated on: September 17, 2024, 11:52h.
Felix Lengyel, better known by his online streaming handle xQc, revealed yesterday that he’s gambled nearly $3 billion on the online casino platform Stake.
xQc got his start in 2016 as a professional “Overwatch” player, a multiplayer first-person shooter game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. xQc’s esports career was marred by numerous controversies that resulted in several suspensions and led to his team’s dismissal in 2019.
Lengyel subsequently focused his career on live-streaming content on Twitch. He amassed a massive following that made him wildly wealthy and resulted in Kick in June 2023 paying him $100 million to move his esports stream to the platform created by Stake.com cofounders Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven.
Part of his Kick deal included mandatory online gambling streams, which xQc began doing soon after signing the lucrative contract. The 28-year-old on Monday disclosed to his millions of followers just how much he’s been gambling on the Stake iGaming platform.
Almost $3B Bet
Lengyel shared a screenshot of his Stake online gaming account showing that he’s bet almost $3 billion. He’s wagered $2,954,739,443.22 on a total of 1,138,753 bets — or an average of $2,594 per wager.
xQc has lost far more than he’s won, as his number of losses is shown to be 1,011,365 against 112,015 wins. The statistics include bets on slot machines, table games, and sports.
xQc followers pushed back on his sharing of his betting history. Many voiced allegations that he isn’t actually gambling with his own money but is instead being given credits by Stake to promote the platform.
He gets paid to use Stakes’ money to gamble and get others addicted to gambling,” read one response.
Stake is an online casino website and app that operates real money interactive gambling. The network primarily deals in cryptocurrencies.
Stake.com is not legal in the United States but is popular in Canada and overseas. The iGaming operation is licensed in Curacao. In the U.S., Stake runs a free-to-play social casino in most states but actual money gambling is prohibited.
Real-money online casino gambling is regulated only in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Stake is not licensed in any of those jurisdictions.
xQc Unapologetic
Kick is seemingly using xQc to not only promote its streaming service that competes with Twitch but also to convert esports players into gamblers on Stake. Scolded by some of his fans for promoting gambling and possibly gambling irresponsibly, xQc earlier this year told them to mind their own business.
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,” xQc wrote on Kick.
xQc is banned from all casinos in his native Quebec after regulators last year put him on the province’s exclusion list because of widespread allegations that he does have a gambling problem. Lengyel in November was escorted out of a land-based Montreal casino after having a birthday dinner at the resort with his family.
xQc has since disclosed that he’s appealing his inclusion on the prohibited persons list.