Last month, BetMGM announced that it had entered into an exclusive agreement that saw social media influencer Brian Christopher Slots become a BetMGM brand ambassador.

Christopher will appear in content across the firm’s live streams on social media channels as well as feature in future marketing campaigns.

To discuss the deal, and his journey as an igaming influencer, Christopher appeared on the Gaming News Canada show alongside his business partner Marco Bianchi.

On his new partnership with BetMGM, Christopher said: “I’m an official ambassador for BetMGM which means they’re gonna see a lot more content and a lot more fun. We’re going to be travelling a lot to the jurisdictions that have real money gaming, and we’ll also be hosting events so people can come on out and enjoy the experience behind it all.”

Christopher initially worked with BetMGM on a pilot event in Detroit and Bianchi said that the event “worked so well and was a natural fit” which is why they agreed to a long-term partnership.

He added: “It just took a few months of conversation and of figuring out the elements of the deal to make this really beneficial for everyone.

“The mission that I saw for ourselves in this case really was how can we expand [BetMGM’s] presence in the casino world. MGM is so entrenched in the sports world, and yet we bring this really great connection for casino so it’s been incredibly rewarding, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s the story.”

Christopher and Bianchi founded BC Ventures which encompasses all the brands under the Brian Christopher Slots umbrella. Christopher runs three YouTube channels and also posts on his website fliptheswitch.com.

Christopher describes his website as a “content portal” for gaming and it includes information on different types of gaming as well as his video content.

“[It is] a portal for all of our fans to come and learn about the gaming industry as a whole that includes sports books, online gaming, and brick-and-mortar casinos,” he explained.

“Anything that they’ve ever wondered about how these things work, or if they’re interested about doing sports betting, that’s the place for them to go. We’ve partnered with the top channels out there that bring them all this information. We interview people with a knowledge behind how slot machines work or how sports betting works, and we get down to the bottom of it.”

Christopher originally had a YouTube channel to showcase his acting and he only posted his first slots videos because he thought it would be “funny to record myself gambling”. His channel grew quickly off the back of these videos which led to him posting more content.

Since then he has become one of the biggest influencers in the space and has even helped design new slot machines.

On his rise in the igaming space, Christopher said: “For me, being an influencer is just being able to reach out to your audience and be that friendly neighbour. We’ve built so much trust over the last eight years with our fans that they look up to us.

“It’s me being my authentic self. That’s all it is. I’m just having fun. We’re winning, we’re losing. But we’re in this together as a community. And we’ve been great at pulling the community together throughout the whole process.”

Producing gambling content always sparks a debate surrounding responsible gambling and the ethics of promoting slots to an audience. The pair were asked what they do to ensure that they are producing responsible content.

Bianchi said: “We built on top of a message that Brian has been putting out there since the very beginning of his channel which is to have a great time and play with an entertainment budget.

“When you start to kind of demystify that concept and unpack it a little bit, people really get it. They get it when they see those practices and you know how to set a limit on yourself, he does it in a way that often is a little tongue in cheek but easy for people to really understand.”

“I show my fans everything I do. I don’t hold back the losses,” added Christopher. “You see, you see me losing more than I win. And I prove that at the end of every video I show. I put in this much and took out this much, I won or lost that much.” 

To end the show, the pair were asked what’s next for Brian Christopher Slots and BC Ventures given the news of the BetMGM partnership.

Bianchi said: “We are incredibly excited about innovating the types of content that we’re putting out there with this initiative, but also, with perhaps other ways to diversify how we distribute our content. 

“We’ve been incredibly strong across social media platforms but we look at consumer trends and specifically media consumption. A really outsized percentage of our viewers today, watch us on Youtube sitting from their couch with their family and watching on the big screens. So we know that TV offers a tremendous opportunity for us, so you might see us explore what we can do on CTV News and potentially other formats as well.”