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Slots YouTuber Content Surges With More Than Two Billion Views in 2024

What started as a niche hobby over a decade ago is officially on the mainstream radar as Vegas Matt became the first full-time slots influencer with over one million subscribers. The crazy thing is Vegas Matt might just be the tip of the iceberg. A convergence of social media, online casinos and changing demographics might lead to a new golden age for slots.

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Vegas Matt ventured into unknown territory last week when he became the first full-time slots influencer to surpass one million subscribers on YouTube. He might be the first slots influencer to hit that milestone, but odds are he won’t be the last.

SlotsFan.com tracks almost 300 active slots YouTube channels and can report that slots videos were viewed over two billion times on YouTube in 2024 alone. Over the last four years the numbers are even more impressive. Since 2021, slots streaming viewership more than tripled, going from 2.3 billion all-time views to a staggering 6.7 billion all-time views as of early 2025. The number of slots channels has also exploded with hundreds of new influencers posting regular slots content.

“The slots boom has already started, and it’s just the beginning…”

This all as US casino revenues continue to break records year over year. While non-gaming earnings are the biggest factor in the industry’s rising revenue, it’s notable that slots are more popular than ever.

“Vegas Matt is a sign of what’s to come for slots in the U.S.” said SlotsFan co-founder Matt Showell. 

“I was part of the poker media during the poker boom, and the same ingredients are present for slots now. We have engaging content, viral personalities, and a massive player base. There’s also the same big influx of marketing money online in the form of sweepstakes casinos. The potential audience in the US for slots content could be 30 to 40 million people. More people engaging with slots content will drive massive growth for casinos.”

“The slots boom has already started, and it’s just the beginning,” said Showell.

Vegas Matt is not the only slots streamer who’s achieved eyebrow-raising success. The SlotsFan Rankings tracks nearly 300 active slot channels. The top six channels – names like Lady Luck HQ, Brian Christopher Slots and Mr. Hand Pay – all have over 600,000 subscribers. To be featured in the rankings channels must primarily feature slots content.

The massive success of slots streamers begs the question: Are slots headed for a boom similar to sports betting or online poker?

The Rise of Slot Influencers

For decades playing slots was a relatively solitary experience.

There was no real community. It was a sharp contrast to poker or sports betting that each built massive followings of people trading tips and strategy back and forth. It’s easy to understand why. Poker has big personalities and tomes dedicated to proper strategy. Sports betting has, well, sports.

Meanwhile, slots seemed to be the pastime of senior citizens and anyone trying to kill five minutes in a casino.

And yet, roughly 10 years ago people started to experiment with posting slot-focused videos to YouTube. The idea of watching someone play slots might not initially seem like the most compelling video but viewers kept coming back for more.

Source: https://www.slotsfan.com/rankings/ 1

It’s worth mentioning that crypto casinos have been leveraging online slots influencers for years with names like Roshtein and Trainwreckstv reaching massive audiences of online slots players. The rapper Drake has even ventured into gambling content as part of his endorsement deal with Stake.com.

It’s rumored that the upstart streaming platform Kick.com was spawned in response to Twitch’s partial ban 

on slots and casino content.

The reality is that viewers on all platforms have always enjoyed watching people win (or lose) large sums of money. Vloggers give viewers an intimate look at the highs and lows of a gambling lifestyle. You might never step foot in the high-limit room, but channels like Vegas Matt give fans insight into a different world.

The kicker? Nearly everyone who’s visited a casino has played slots. Slots are far more accessible than table games or sports betting. Basically, you put in money and press a button. According to a recent study2 67% of gamblers in the USA list slots as their preferred form of gaming.

Channels like Brian Christopher Slots and The Big Payback pioneered the concept of slots streaming in the mid-2010s, but it wasn’t until the pandemic (when it was more challenging to visit casinos) that viewers really caught on.

The Explosion of Online Slots Content

Prior to the pandemic, slots content barely registered on YouTube. Now, it draws billions of views every year.

There are hundreds of slots streamers but Vegas Matt is on an unprecedented run over the two years (his channel only started posting slots videos in 2022). Vegas Matt alone was responsible for 532 million YouTube views in 2024.

What’s behind the popularity? It’s hard to argue with Vegas Matt’s natural charisma, along with a fantastic supporting cast, including his son EJ. He also plays for some of the highest stakes on YouTube.

Vegas Matt is an outlier in the industry and he’s the only one that has truly broken into the mainstream with the attention of celebrities like Rob Gronkowski, Howie Mandel, Dana White and many others. Vegas Matt also has partnerships with FanDuel, Virgin Voyages and Peppermill Reno.

Chart showing growth of top streamers from 22-25
Vegas Matt has experienced exponential growth since he started posting slot videos on YouTube in 2022.

Vegas Matt may be in a league of his own but the top six slots influencers all have over 600,000 subscribers. Lady Luck HQ is likely the closest competition with 728,000 subscribers. Brian Christopher and Mr. Hand Pay aren’t far behind with 714,000 and 693,000 respectively.

It’s important to note that in the grand scheme of YouTube, there is still plenty of room for growth for slots creators. Vegas Matt just hit one million subscribers, but over 60,000 channels have achieved that milestone3. Mr. Beast famously has over 350 million subscribers.

But there is significant evidence that slots influencers are far more valuable than most other YouTube stars. 

Slots Influencers Arrive As Casino Profits Hit All-Time High

It’s safe to say the casino business is doing alright. According to the American Gaming Association, casinos in the USA took in $66.5 billion in 20234. That represents a 10% increase from the previous year5, which was also a record year.

The AGA will release a report covering 2024 in the spring, but casinos are once again on track for another record-setting year with another 8-10% increase. If you include tribal casinos, over $100 billion was earned in 2023.

Legal online casinos, which have only existed for a little over a decade, are a key component of the industry’s tremendous growth. Despite only being legal in six states, iGaming drove $6.1 billion in revenue, which represents a stunning 22.6% in growth over the previous year. The number would be much larger if it included so-called sweepstakes casinos or social casinos (which operate on a sweepstakes model) and offshore online casinos.

Digital marketing and social media now dominate the casino marketing space with print advertising representing just 2% of all US ad spend6, according to several estimates. Partnerships with slots influencers are a growing segment of marketing and represent a unique opportunity for traditional casinos and online casinos alike.

Slots Are Big Business for Casinos

It’s doubtful there’s a more important market for casinos than slots.

Stats suggest that somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million Americans visited a casino in 2023. Other estimates say that approximately 50% of the US population participated in some form of gambling during 2023. Slots are the most popular form of gambling in casinos with roughly 70% of gamblers preferring slots. That’s an enormous market and it doesn’t include online casinos.

That means there are tens of millions of slot players, which represents a massive growth potential for slot-based content on YouTube.

“In my opinion, if you’ve enjoyed playing slots before, you’re a candidate for enjoying watching someone play slots online,” said Matt Showell.

The major difference between slots and online poker/sports betting, is that slots have never experienced a sudden boom in popularity. Slots are arguably the most popular form of gambling, but they can be challenging to market.

Sports betting is an easy sell thanks to the inherent excitement of sports. Countless TV shows and movies have been dedicated to the thrill of poker.

There’s a massive void when it comes to slots content.

Part of the reason for the lack of slots content is that casinos historically restricted cameras and filming in gaming areas. Many of the original slots influencers had to essentially smuggle cameras into casinos in order to shoot videos.

That appears to be changing. The Peppermill Casino in Reno has partnerships with several notable slots influencers including Vegas Matt. Lady Luck HQ, Brian Christopher Slots and Mr. Hand Pay all have deals with online casinos.

Dragon link vs Huff n puff interest over time
Interest in two of the most popular slots for streaming, Dragon Link and Huff ‘N’ Puff, has soared since the pandemic. Source: Google Trends.

AAnother factor to consider is that the demographic for casino gambling is getting younger. The average casino visitor in 2019 was nearly 50 years old. Just a few years later, the average age is closer to 42.

Advertising to a younger audience will require new mediums, including less print advertising and more social media. YouTube remains a monster in that capacity, with billions of views every year.

It stands to reason that viewers of slots content on YouTube would be an extremely high-intent demographic for major brick-and-mortar casinos. It remains to be seen if casinos will take a more direct approach with influencers and attempt to sign them to exclusive partnerships.

Online Slots Are Also Booming

While slots influencers generally shoot their videos in physical casinos, the online slot market is booming.

There are two distinct options for people who want to play slots online. The still-limited but fully legalized and regulated online gambling markets (NJ, CT, MI, PA, WV, DE) and sweepstakes casinos, which are available in the majority of states.

Sweeps casinos are able to operate in 40+ US states because they operate on a sweepstakes model. The games are free to play but it’s possible to win cash prizes. The market has exploded in the last few years with at least 65 different sweepstakes casinos available to Americans. The sites are also starting to advertise using high-profile celebrities like Paris Hilton, Joel McHale and Bruce Buffer, among others.

Interest in “Sweepstakes Casino “over the last three years. Source: Google Trends.

Interest in the keyword “Sweepstakes Casino” over the last three years. Data from Google Trends.

While slots influencers focus on physical casinos, digital games are an appealing option to slots fans who don’t live near major gambling destinations like Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

It’s hard to think of a better fit than slots influencers and online casinos. Slots fans can watch their favorite influencer attempt to spin it up and then do the exact same thing on their favorite online slot site.

Vegas Matt has a high-profile deal with FanDuel. Lady Luck HQ and Brian Christopher Slots have both worked with Chumba Casino in the past. These days many sweepstakes sites are promoting their brands and games using slots influencers.
Even some of the old-school slots streamers have started to experiment with online slots. The Big Payback started his channel way back in 2014 but has a new-found appreciation for online play.

“It’s been an eye-opener,” The Big Payback told SlotsFan.

“The design of online games is so interesting because you don’t need to support a physical casino so you can have a much greater return-to-player. We’re talking 95-96% RTP. You get so much more of an in-game experience with that kind of model.”

“…design of online games is so interesting because you don’t need to support a physical casino so you can have a much greater return-to-player. We’re talking 95-96% RTP. You get so much more of an in-game experience…”

SlotsFan founder and long-time gaming market expert Matt Showell said he believes the market is in the midst of a boom, especially in regards to sweepstakes casinos.

“I have some visibility into what’s going on behind the scenes and the amount of money that brands are spending on influencers to acquire customers,” said Showell.

“So I know that a lot of people are signing up, especially for sweepstakes. It’s a gold mine. It’s like a total gold rush right now.”

It’s hard not to see parallels to the mid-2000s online poker boom. Online poker had an advantage because it had easily marketable stars like Chris Moneymaker, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu. Could slot influencers fill a similar role for online slots? It’s certainly possible.

The Obstacles Facing Online Slots and Influencers

Slots influencers are raking in billions of views. Online slots websites are popping up everywhere. Traditional casinos are starting to see the value of slots content. Can anything slow the current slots boom down? In a word: yes.

Most of the issues for slots influencers and sweepstakes casinos center around the same thing: regulation.

Slots influencers are essentially at the mercy of social media conglomerates. It’s been a rocky ride for slots influencers who started on Twitch or TikTok as both services cracked down heavily on content related to gambling.

YouTube, which is the bread and butter for most US slots streamers, has thus far remained open for slots content. It’s debatable if slots influencers would exist if YouTube closed its doors (although there are alternatives like Kick and Facebook streaming).

Even if YouTube remains open for business to slots creators, there are still challenges. The YouTube algorithm – like the slots that influencers play in their videos – is volatile. Certain videos will attract enormous attention while others whither away.

Meanwhile online sweepstakes casinos operators are at the mercy of US regulators. 

Sweeps casinos have remained relatively untouched for a number of years, but several states, including Michigan, Nevada, and Louisiana, have recently become more hostile to the concept. (Washington and Idaho have always been no-fly zones for sweeps casinos.)

You could argue that if sweeps casinos are banned by regulators, it might pave the way for fully legal online gambling, but that’s been an incredibly slow process in the USA.

Beyond Vegas Matt: Are Slots Influencers Here to Stay?

Despite some obstacles, it’s clear the practice of recording slots footage is here to stay.

There are hundreds of different channels in operation with more launching every day. For now, the overall cohort of slots influencers is extremely top heavy with the top 10 channels responsible for over five million subscribers. That’s more subscribers than the rest of the top 50 combined.

“He is the first mega influencer in our niche, breaking the ceiling, showing all of us that it’s possible”

That doesn’t mean smaller channels aren’t successful. There are plenty of micro (under 100,00 subscribers) and nano influencers (under 10,000 subscribers) that have found their own niche.

Crow Slots, which is made up of influencers Flow and Crae, is one of the micro influencers that’s built up a significant following in just a few years. Like most slots channels, they were already going to the casino so they just decided to start filming the action.

The significance of Vegas Matt’s milestone is not lost on Crae.

“He is the first mega influencer in our niche, breaking the ceiling, showing all of us that it’s possible,” she said.

“It’s also going to change how digital marketing in our niche is viewed. Each type of influencer serves a different purpose and therefore will be impacted differently. Macro and Micro influencers should be thoughtful about our marketing campaigns as new marketing consumers enter our niche. It has the potential to open doors for us.”

Vegas Matt provides a much-needed connection between casinos and slot enthusiasts. For years the casino has existed as something of a walled-off garden or mystery mansion. Consider the famous “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” slogan.

That’s not how it works with Vegas Matt. Everyone gets to see what happens in Vegas, including the highs and lows of wagering absurd amounts of money. They also get to see the latest games and properties. There’s no doubt that more than a few people have decided what casino they are going to play based on where Vegas Matt shoots his videos.

Will anyone be able to catch Vegas Matt? Currently, that seems unlikely. Lady Luck HQ is the closest (and the channel has been surging lately) but still trails by over 200,000 subs.

There could be a paradigm shift, however, if an influencer with mainstream success decided to switch to slots content. There are over 2,000 channels on YouTube with over 10 million subs and there’s no doubt that online casinos are licking their chops when it comes to sponsored content.

Of course Vegas Matt might be one of those 2,000 channels in the near future. His current growth rate would see him hit the vaunted 10m sub mark in about five years. But who knows, a big jackpot along the way just might change everything.

Sources:

  1. https://www.slotsfan.com/rankings/ ↩︎
  2. https://www.onlineunitedstatescasinos.com/statistics/online-gambling-habits/ ↩︎
  3. https://www.awesomecreatoracademy.com/blog/how-many-youtube-channels-have-1-million-subscribers ↩︎
  4. https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-2023.pdf ↩︎
  5. https://fortune.com/2024/02/20/casino-revenues-billions-slots-sports-betting/ ↩︎
  6. https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/does-the-death-of-print-equal-a-resurgence-in-digital-advertising/ ↩︎

Author: Arthur Crowson
An award-winning writer and editor who hails from Hawaii's Big Island. Arthur began his career in traditional news media but transitioned to online media in the mid-2000s where he spent many years covering online poker during its boom. Arthur remains actively involved with playing online poker and maintains a presence in the poker community. As editor at SlotsFan, Arthur covers the growing community of slots streamers and games.
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