YouTube Takes Aim at Poker by Striking Down Streamers Like Jaime Staples

Jason Reynolds

2 years ago

YouTube is taking aim at poker according to streamer and Partypoker representative, Jaime Staples.

Poker content producer Jaime Staples is at the center of a content crackdown on YouTube. (Image: Twitter/Jaime Staples)

A long-time broadcaster with a strong following on various social media platforms, Staples has been given a strike by YouTube.

Announcing the news on June 1, the poker pro said two videos were removed due to a rule violation. As he understood it, his “ultimate sweat” content broke the rules regarding gambling on YouTube.

Just had my two #ultimatesweat giveaway videos from YouTube taken down because of some random TofC rule about linking anything around a gambling site (of which poker has the same rules as roulette)
— Jaime Staples (@jaimestaples) May 31, 2019

The problem has continued to worsen since then. In a series of tweets on June 2, Staples confirmed that 134 videos and counting had gone.

Pocalypse Claims Hundreds of Victims

More significantly, 110 poker channels have been removed from YouTube. Now dubbed the “Pocalypse,” the issue appears to be a direct attack on the industry.

For those not familiar with YouTube’s terms of services, strikes are issued for rule violations. A YouTuber can receive a strike for a variety of reasons but the first one will always be preceded by a warning.

If the offending content isn’t removed and a similar breach occurs, a strike is issued. At this point, the member can’t upload or stream content for a week.

A second strike within 90 days will result in a two-week ban and a third in the same timeframe leads to a channel being taken down permanently.

While Staples still has a presence on streaming site Twitch, the move is concerning for the community at large.

YouTube Hits Community Hard

Conspiracy theories aside, the problem appears to center around the monetization of gambling related content. Although players will argue that poker isn’t gambling, those at YouTube appear to disagree.

The one saving grace is that Twitch hasn’t taken a similar stance. In fact, the world’s largest streaming platform actively promotes all gaming content, including poker.

Taking advantage of this, Partypoker and PokerStars have not only launched their own channels but drafted some of the top streamers.

Staples is among that demographic, but his battle with YouTube may deter others from following a similar path.