Trainwrecks Wins $1.5 Million

Despite being prohibited from streaming his typical gambling content, Twitch star Trainwreck has continued to place massive bets, this time winning more than $1.5 million on World Cup games.

Trainwreck wasn’t previously renowned for his gambling-related programming, but after becoming one of Twitch’s most popular broadcasters while playing a lot of slot-type games, the 31-year-old developed a reputation for placing enormous bets that occasionally led to exorbitant losses but also to significant gains. Although he is careful to point out to viewers that gambling is and always will be a losing business, he still places large bets and has been closely following the World Cup matches as they have been taking place in Qatar. 

Train had to correctly predict all four of the results of the matches that took place on November 22 in order to keep his $25,000 in BTC from going to waste. But if the results were accurate—including a highly improbable Saudi Arabia victory over Messi’s Argentina—he would pocket a tidy $1.5 million. By a remarkable score of 2-1, Saudi Arabia defeated their top rivals.

He also selected two draws between Mexico vs. Poland and Denmark vs. Tunisia, which was almost equally dangerous. Although devastating striker Lewandowski missed a penalty that would have given Poland the victory, both games did indeed end in draws. Finally, all Train required for the victory over Australia was for France to do out their duty. Although the Australians first gave the French a scare by taking the lead, France eventually found their groove and cruised to a 4-1 victory. 

Train stayed with his wager throughout all of the games, resisting the urge to “cash out” early and receive a percentage of the winnings. Trainwrecks was as prompt as always to urge his followers not to gamble after the France game, saying, “DO NOT GAMBLE, ALL GAMBLING IS LOSING, ESPECIALLY SPORTS BETTING.” 

He also addressed criticism that he only displayed victories and omitted defeats. He responded, “99.9% of my streaming life shows losses. 

It’s true that Trainwrecks constantly reminds spectators to watch him to catch the buzz rather than gamble themselves. This hasn’t entirely shielded him from criticism, though; both Train himself and Twitch’s decision to let gambling content on the platform have drawn criticism from other broadcasters and commentators. 

Stake and other such websites that are not US-licensed were banned by Twitch in September. Sports betting and other types of gambling are still allowed on Twitch, including poker.