When the Lemons Don't Line Up, Make Lemonade

I hit a $5,000 jackpot once on a Downtown Las Vegas slot machine. I didn't take a selfie, because smartphones had not yet been invented.

The casino manager gave me a check and a Form 1099. I quit playing, and that was the only time I walked away from the slots as a winner.

Brian Christopher and fan Sue Leahy (WSJ)

In the age of social media, some avid slot players are winning by losing: [bold added]

A new class of niche celebrities have turned the once-solitary experience of gambling at casino slot machines into a spectator sport with millions of viewers and fan camaraderie. Using monopods or videographers to film the action, the players spend hours talking audiences through the highs and lows of jackpots and losses...

Nongamblers, and some who have given up the pastime, also are among [Brian] Christopher’s audience of 612,000 YouTube subscribers and 707,000 Facebook followers. “They get their fix by watching someone else play,” he said.

Christopher has built his particular brand of stardom into a full-time business with 10 employees—including his husband and Senior Vice President of Operations Marco Bianchi—who pack merchandise, such as T-shirts and shot glasses, manage social-media interactions and help secure enough deals and partnerships to fund the enterprise. Christopher declined to provide his total revenue, but said he makes enough to turn a profit after paying his staff and the $300,000 in gambling losses.

Fans visit the locations where the gambler-celebrities play, and the casinos have noticed, and adapted:

Casinos long banned patrons from filming to avoid distractions and to protect the privacy of other customers. They have warmed to the idea in recent years, influencers say, and often give special permission for filming, or make promotional deals with the social-media stars.

Gambling commercials only show winners. In the 21st-century world of streaming video people watch losers....and like it.