Ludwig ‘Ludwig’ Ahgren used Mogul Mail, his second channel vlog, to let his audience know of his own problems with gambling as the meta takes hold on Twitch.
With Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel topping the Twitch stream charts, it was inevitable that his return to sponsored gambling streams would make big waves in the community.
Seeing content creators like Asmongold offer support for Canadian streamer while his community drags him for his decision has led to much discussion around the ethicality of gambling onstream.
In a Mogul Mail video titled ‘Twitch Needs to Stop Gambling Streamers‘ Ludwig opened up on personal issues with gambling, his own reluctance to take sponsorship and the duty of care of Twitch itself in allowing the problem to fester.
Opening with the revelation that Ludwig has dealt with gambling problems in his past, going so far as to call himself an outright “gambling addict,” Ahgren gave an extensive breakdown of his situation at its lowest.
“Five years ago, it got so bad,” he said. “I had one hundred dollars left in my bank account. You know what I did with that hundred? I gambled it.”
He happened to be gambling against his longtime friend Slime in a game of Mario Party. While the context may sound lighthearted, Ludwig stressed it was a low point in his life.
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Using this specific example to amplify his message, Ludwig continued: “Honestly there was no greater rush in my life than the opportunity to lose every last penny I had.”
Talking of how times have changed for the millionaire mega streamer, Ludwig explained that the pressure of having 15 employees prevents him from returning to gambling today. Knowing he would be using his staff’s “children’s college funds” if he lost it all.
As the back and forth between content creators and their communities reach new heights, Ahgren put forth the opinion that we shouldn’t hold individuals to moral standards, when the platforms that host them are equally, if not more to blame for the proliferation of gambling content.
“I have a new rule, a simple guideline that would solve gambling online and gambling on Twitch. No sponsored gambling streams. It’s a simple rule. Do not allow sponsored gambling streams.”
Pointing the finger directly back at Twitch, Ludwig finished his statement saying: “Twitch, if you’re watching this, maybe consider it. No sponsored gambling streams. That would stop everything. We don’t have to look at streamers as the beacons of morality when a platform can deal with all of that.”
