When you check out SlotDaddy SD’s YouTube channel for the first time, you’ll notice it’s missing a visual element that dominates nearly every slot channel: the shocked-face thumbnail.
“I’ve always thought thumbnails are very weird,” laughed SlotDaddy SD. “Maybe it helps with views but I think it’s cheesy.”
It’s a nice little encapsulation of the SlotDaddy SD channel. The channel features high-quality, entertaining slots content without being overly sensational.
Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, SlotDaddy has resided in San Diego since 1993, which works great for him as there’s a high concentration of casinos in the area. It also helps that he works remotely and has flexible hours so he can always make it out to the casino for a few spins.
SlotDaddy was nice enough to chat with me for an hour and provide some insight into his slot channel.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Arthur Crowson: So, how did you get started with slots?
SlotDaddy SD: So basically, I’ve been gambling since I was 16 years old, just playing poker with friends. That was around when the World Series of Poker blew up, and poker really came into its stride. That got us all intrigued.
When I turned 17, my brother had turned 21, and I started using his fake ID to get into casinos. I would play live cards with my friends who were of age, and then I would hit the slots afterwards. I’d take my winnings, and my friends telling me I should try slots. I would just stick a couple hundred dollars into machines, like really small stuff.
I think I was pretty close to 18, but still 17, when I hit my first jackpot on a slot machine. It was an old Pharaoh’s Fortune machine, and with a $7.50 bet, I was up a little bit, so I was betting $7.50. Normally, I bet like $1.50 to $3, you know, like on an average day. I got five of the wilds on Pharaoh’s Fortune, and it was $7,500. From that point on, I was pretty much hooked.
During COVID, I started watching all of these slot streamers. I had never really seen anything like it before, and actually, D Lucky popped up on my Instagram feed. I think somebody shared one of his live streams with me, and I was like, “Wow, this is captivating. I can’t turn it off. I have to keep watching and see what happens.”
Once that was sent to me, I started digging deeper and looking for content because I was addicted to watching it. So first and foremost, I was a fan.
I feel like poker players sort of scoff at slots. Was it challenging making that transition from poker to slots?
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, I think that because I was young enough not to have really formed an opinion about gambling yet, it was more so that I was just playing poker. It wasn’t really about winning money or building an income or anything like that. It was just that I enjoyed playing poker.
The cash games I would play at casinos here in San Diego had a $40 minimum buy-in. So, as a 16, 17, or 18-year-old with a $6.75 an hour job, a $40 minimum buy-in sounded pretty cool, right? I didn’t have a ton of money to throw around. It was just to have some fun and see how long I could last or if I could make a little money.
There was no formulated opinion around earning an income or making money; it was just for fun. The guys I went to the casino with loved playing slots because their parents or whoever got them into it. They coaxed me over. I think the first time ever, I had won like $300 off my $40 buy-in, and they were like, “Oh, let’s go stick a hundred each in a machine and see what we can do.”
From the very beginning, my only experience with playing slots was positive. It was a collaborative effort with my friends. It was just for fun. It wasn’t like me sitting at a slot machine just shoving hundreds, which happens obviously, but in the beginning, when I was young, it was like high fiving your buddies, getting into a bonus. It was more of an experience than just gambling.
Yeah I’ve heard some people describe it as one of the more relaxing games at a casino, compared to something like poker where there’s a ton of strategy.
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, I would say low rolling is more relaxing because you can just put a hundred bucks in and bet $1.50, $2, or $2.50 and just kind of sit there and push the button. If you’re in Vegas, get a free drink and just chill.
Sometimes it’s a little more stressful when you’re betting $25, $30, or $45 a bet. You’re thinking every single time you spin that button. It’s not as relaxing as low rolling. I mean, I’m not the kind of guy who doesn’t have to worry about losing $45 every 10 seconds or whatever it is.
Where are you located and do you have a day job?
SlotDaddy SD: I live in San Diego, California. We actually have, I think, nine local casinos in my area, so we have a lot of options. I work from home in sales, in the semiconductor industry. The hours are flexible since I’m in charge of my own schedule.
I usually start early most days, around six. My territory is on the West Coast. Often, if I’m done by 3 PM, I can head to the casino before the big crowds get there. I prefer to play when casinos are absolutely dead, with no one around. It makes it a lot easier for what I do.
How would you describe your channel?
SlotDaddy SD: My Instagram primarily focuses on posting real content, trying to shake things up with comedy skits and such. A lot of it is about matching interesting music with my slot bonuses and jackpots that I’ve hit throughout the week.
My YouTube is different. I try to focus on one or two games and highlight them to the best of my abilities within my financial means. I don’t bounce around too often. When I’m going live, I pre-select the games I want to play and put them on the live stream as my thumbnail.
SlotDaddy SD (background) in his natural habitat.
I’ve always thought thumbnails are very weird. Posting a picture of me making a shocked face is something I was never going to do. Maybe it helps with views, but I think it’s corny. I know I’m probably burning a bridge with every single streamer out there, but it’s not something I’m going to do.
I like that I’m growing and that things are going well. My streams are typically an hour long, and I do my best to make them as entertaining as possible. I interact with most of the people in the chat, whether they’re sending super chats or not, as long as it’s not too negative. I try to interact with everyone chiming in.
I haven’t done a ton of long-form content; most of it is pretty much live streams. I try to post as many shorts as I can weekly, which coincide with some of the reels and TikToks I’m making as well.
What are your favorite slot games?
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, so right now my favorite, hands down, is called Bankbuster. There are three little pigs with rubber masks at the top. There are three variations of the game: Louie’s Luck, Buffalo, and Pompeii. I typically play Louie’s Luck.
In the game, there are three different colored coins that can drop inside the slot. These coins jump up to the pigs, and the pigs grow until they pop. If you can pop all three pigs at once, you’ll usually get a successful bonus. The first feature is an expand feature, which means if a coin comes up during the bonus, it expands all the coins in the entire column. So, if you have five coins on the reels, the entire screen fills up with numbers to pay you out.
The second pig has a repeat feature. Whatever you win during the bonus, this pig will jump up and down and repeat the win multiple times. For example, last week, I had a $760 or $770 win on a $12 bet, and the pig jumped five times, resulting in a $3100 payout, which is significant for that kind of event.
The third feature is the jackpot feature. The coins in this feature typically have progressive jackpots on them. You need to get the required amounts for each jackpot: grand, major, minor, and mini. If the grand coin drops during the jackpot feature, you get the grand automatically, which is pretty cool.
And then I also like Huff N’ Puff and the sequel Huff N’ More Puff. I don’t love the new one.
I think if you’re playing for value on a live stream, the best game is Ultimate Firelink.
What do you enjoy the most about playing slots?
SlotDaddy SD: I think it’s just the unknown. My main argument to people who ask why I don’t play more skill-based games is that I could put $10 on blackjack, and the best-case scenario in any given casino is winning $15 back, and that’s if I get a blackjack. That’s like a 3:2 payout, whereas many casinos now offer 6:5 or worse odds.
Sure, I’m more likely to walk away with money or keep some of my money if I play blackjack, craps, or other table games. But I can put $10 on a slot machine, hit that button once, and potentially win $50,000 or more. The possibilities of how much you can win on a slot machine for any given bet are massive.
My biggest slot win was $45,000 on a $9 bet. There are machines with $188,000 jackpots and minimum bets of $2.50 or $5. These things can happen, which is never going to happen at a blackjack table. So, the possibility of a big win is really my favorite thing about slots.
What are your favorite slot channels on YouTube?
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, so the big names off the top: I really love Lady Luck HQ. I think they are are doing awesome things. It’s super fun to watch. Who could ignore the fact that The Big Jackpot hit a million-dollar grand last year. That was super exciting, and you can’t argue with how fun it is to watch him.
Obviously, the biggest name right now is The Big Jackpot. He’s doing fun stuff, coming up with really good ideas, and making it really exciting. Steve Will Do It isn’t really a slot channel, but I’m loving what he’s bringing to the slot community. He gained a massive following without doing any of this stuff, and now he’s doing all of it. He’s live streaming right now with The Big Jackpot at Red Rock in Vegas. A lot of his channel is kind of online slot promotion, but that’s fine. I still watch it and think it’s exciting to see some of the big bonuses and wins. He’s doing a lot of fun stuff.
SlotDaddy (right) and frequent collaborator Ramsey’s Slots (left).
Then there are some smaller channels that are really growing. I like Mark Loves Casinos. He hits a bonus, and he’s got kind of a high-pitched voice, and he’s like, “Let’s see how this goes.” He’s super fun to watch. I really love watching him. Jackpot J is doing some great things.
And then, you know, my boy Ramsey Slots. I’m really tired of Ramsey Slots [laughs], but he and I do a lot of things together, so I always tune into him.
What do you think people like so much about watching other people play slots?
Like I said before, I think part of it is the unknown. You never know what they’re going to hit or what’s going to happen. For me, during COVID, when I started really watching people play and what got me into doing this, it kept me out of the casino. Not that I had the option at that time, right? I didn’t have the option to go gamble during COVID. A lot of the casinos were closed, and the ones that were open, we didn’t know if it was safe.
So being able to watch these people who were able to go was a huge, like, not blessing — that sounds weird to talk about gambling — but it was awesome. It was cool to be able to watch somebody go and gamble, even though I couldn’t at that time. It was just a way to burn time. We were all bored in quarantine, and it was an outlet for me. Rather than sinking money into online poker or online slots, which are scary at times, it was a way of not doing those things and still getting my fix of gambling.
Some of them are just funny. Some are clever with the things they say and do. And then, yeah, also learning more about games I’ve never played. If they’re playing a new slot or a game I’ve never tried, or one I have tried but had no luck on and don’t even know what the feature does, you can find that stuff out by watching live streamers.
Can you talk about your biggest win?
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, so it was New Year’s Eve of 2017, and I had been sick all week. I didn’t want to go out with my friends. I was feeling better, good enough to go out, but I didn’t want to go drinking.
So I just said, I’ll just go to the casino. I went to the casino and had lost like $500. I thought, you know what, it’s still early. I’m going to pull out another couple hundred bucks. I took out $200 and was playing three-reel slots, a quick hit slot with 2x, 5x, and 10x multipliers. I got bar bar 10x. It was $1,000 on a $3 bet. So now I’m like, “Okay, cool. Now I’m up. Let’s go have some fun.”
I walked over to the high limit room and played another three-reel slot for $15 bets. I got triple diamond triple diamond triple bar, which paid $5,400.
I started throwing money in machines and ended up losing like $2,500 back. I went to the bathroom, and when I walked out, I saw a Quick Hit Platinum machine. There was a bank of them, three machines. I used to really play that game quite often but in lower denominations. The minimum bet on this one was $9, so it’s nine lines, and max bet is $27 because you can suit three times nine. But the minimum bet was $9. I just said, you know what, I want to get out of here. I’m still up like $2,500. Let me just throw $100 in. I threw $100 in the machine and pushed the button twice. The second time, I got five of the platinum quick hits. I had never seen this, and of course, the machine starts going crazy, making all this noise. I looked down, and I’m like, what did I win? It was $45,000. My biggest win prior to this was $9,000, so 5x my biggest win. I’m just like, “what the hell?”
Of course, this machine is making so much noise. I don’t like to yell or make noise normally when I win. This crowd just started forming around me. I mean, it was 2017, eight years ago, something like that. I was a little bit younger, hadn’t really been doing any of the slot streaming stuff. So I was a little bit naive. I was kind of getting nervous because I was like, okay, they’re gonna pay me cash. Now I got all these people that know I’m winning all this money.
So it was kind of an uncomfortable experience, but also very exciting. It was New Year’s Eve. I ended up trying to divert people’s attention by playing machines next to it, but around the corner. Then I hit three more small jackpots. They were paying me out, and I ended up playing a little bit more and walked out with $50,000 that night off of like $700 that I brought, right?
So it was an awesome night. I called my mom on the way because I didn’t have a gun safe or anything like that. I didn’t know what to do. I was like, okay, I’m going to come. It was like midnight. I’m gonna come and drop off all this cash because I don’t know what to do with it. They were like, “What are you talking about? Why do you have $50,000 cash?”
I just wanted them to see it.
What’s your biggest one so far while streaming?
SlotDaddy SD. It actually just happened a few weeks ago. It was $18,988 on Bank Buster at Yaamava in California last Wednesday.
So you’re definitely a fan of that machine.
Yeah, that’s my second one. The first one I got was $10,900, and it happened both times the same way. The grand coin dropped off the pig and just lit up, got the grand. Super cool.
Do you play online slots at all? Do you enjoy online slots?
I do, and I promote for online sites as well.
I’ve had some absolutely massive wins online. I’m a little bit ballsier online. It’s a lot easier when you’re not seeing that money in your hand or pulling it out of a money bag or anything like that. You can kind of be a little bit more aggressive. I’ve certainly had some big losses as well. I think it’s really easy to lose money quickly.
But more so when I’m losing, I’m losing winnings because I don’t deposit all that much, right? I kind of keep it realistic. Some of the sites also give me promotional funds, and I’ve had some really big wins off of those as well. So yeah, I mean, I definitely 9 times out of 10 would rather be at a physical, in-person casino. But it’s a nice way to break it up sometimes if you don’t have the time to get out to the casino or whatever.
Do have any tips for people going to the casino just on kind of like a basic level to play slots, anything you’ve picked up over the years?
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, don’t bring more than you can afford to lose. I don’t adhere to my own tips, but when you’re up, walk away if you can. Gambling responsibly is so important. We have this great and supportive community, and it’s fun to be a part of. I really love the people I have met and enjoy being a part of it. But there are a lot of negatives that come along with gambling, and it can get really scary. It’s important to be as cognizant of that as possible. I don’t want to push anyone to spend their paycheck online or at the casino.
As far as tips go, with slots, it’s completely random. There’s no secret to winning. You put money in, and you can close your eyes and push the button if you really wanted to. For games with different numbers of lines, always play the maximum amount of lines. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing the minimum bet; just keep the lines at the maximum so you have all the opportunities and aren’t missing chances to win.
There’s no secret tip. It’s all random. Just have fun and enjoy it. Don’t go out there thinking you’re going to win a million dollars every time. Just bring what you can afford to lose. Look at it like going out drinking for the night. If you’re going to spend $150 drinking, then you can spend $150 at the casino.
Great advice. What stakes do you usually play when you’re playing?
It varies. On average, I’m probably in the $10 to $20 range. But there are days when I don’t want to spend that much, and days when I’ve had a really good week, and I’ll go out there doing $25 and up. Sometimes, I’ll bring $500 or $200, whatever my budget is for the day, and try to turn that into some money, betting $2.50 or $5 spins max. When I go with friends, the goal is to turn the money we’re putting in the machine into more money, and then we’ll bet bigger. We’ll start the day with $100 in a machine, and if it gets to $200, then we’ll be hitting $10 and $20 bets. It just really depends.
Do you have any favorite properties? Do you mostly stick to the San Diego area, or do you go to Vegas?
SlotDaddy SD: Yeah, so I’m primarily a Caesar’s Rewards guy because the closest casino to me is Harrah’s SoCal. Also, that’s the closest casino that allows me to live stream without interruption. A lot of the casinos in my area aren’t fans of streamers and don’t allow live streaming.
When I go to Vegas, I play at Caesar’s properties specifically, but I love the Cosmo. I think it’s a great property. I used to be all about the MGM properties, and I’ve always loved the Hard Rock in Vegas, which is now Virgin. I really love that casino. I also love the Hard Rocks in Florida. I’m really excited for the Hard Rock in Vegas to get rebuilt where the Mirage was, with the guitar hotel.
Locally in San Diego, my favorite casino is Barona. It’s a small tribal reservation casino, and they take the best care of their guests. There’s no benefit to being in the Barona rewards program outside of Barona, but it’s clean, smoke-free, and very comfortable. I go there in sweatpants, a t-shirt, and slides, and I feel like I’m at home. It literally says “Welcome Home” when I walk in.
Do you have any specific goals for your channel?
SlotDaddy SD: Well, I mean, you know, for me, first and foremost, I just want to grow, want to keep growing it.
It’s become almost like a daily challenge, like how much can I grow each day? I’m really loving the new features of YouTube where if you do the vertical live streams, you basically become a part of their shorts feed.
So yeah, for me specifically, I think it would be awesome to get some brand partnerships going. I love the collaborative nature, I’ve already talked about this, but I love collaborating with people and from the get-go. When I first started my channel, I reached out to Ramsey’s Slots and he was super into doing things with me.
I think the first time we met up, we hit a $16,000 jackpot on Dragon Cash together. Smooth sailing, right? It just made sense we’ve done a lot of like collaborations together and I want to keep doing that with other channels big or small, I think it’s just a lot of fun.
So that’s it. I just want to keep having fun with it. I don’t want this to become like a job for me.
I don’t want it to be tedious. Like if it does, I’ll stop. My wife’s pregnant. We have my first child on the way in November.
But for now I’m really enjoying it.
Makes sense to me. Thanks for your time!
SlotDaddy SD: No problem.
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To learn even more, check out the interview NJ Slot Guy did with Slot Daddy SD last month:
