Industry

Meet Tim Naki: The Viral Sensation Making Millions

By Ziv Chen June 24, 2024

8 minute read

Tim Naki – whose real name is Tim Myers – is a Canada-based, New Zealand-born gambling streamer. Nicknamed after the mountainous region from which he hails, the Taranaki native recently surged into the mainstream after his legendary blackjack series went viral.

Here at Casino.org, we’ve been following the Tim Naki saga closely, and have compiled the ultimate account of all of his wins, losses, and pushes over the last few months. Carry on reading for the most in-depth and up-to-date history of Tim Naki’s legendary blackjack betting series.

Who Is Tim Naki?

Tim Naki is part of the Degeneration Nation, which, according to the official Instagram page, is “a collective of the best gambling streamers on Twitch”. He has been streaming his online slot gameplay for well over a year, but it was his blackjack series that really caught people’s attention.

Inspired by Chewy Thompson, an American man who promised to walk an inch for every follower he had on Instagram, Tim Myers decided to apply the same idea to his gambling. Beginning in February 2024, Myers began betting 10c per Instagram follower.

On day 1, Myers wagered $1,500 on one hand. On day 90, he wagered $195,000.

Today, he has over 3 million fans following his daily betting antics, which many dub their “daily dose of dopamine”.

From owning a humble farrier business in Taranaki to spending six figures on a single hand in Canada, Tim Naki’s life has undoubtedly been forever changed because of this insane blackjack adventure.

Why Is Everyone Talking About Him?

Tim Naki’s blackjack series is the very first of its kind. When he started, there’s no way he could have predicted quite how great his bets would become. However, he made his promise, and he stuck to it. It was both the quantity of the bets themselves and his own sparkling personality that attracted millions of followers.

Whether you’re celebrating his wins or commiserating his losses, watching a Tim Naki stream feels like you’re punting with a pal. It’s no wonder this card game connoisseur has amassed more than 3 million followers during his blackjack journey.

From his hilarious jabs at the dealers to his genuine enthusiasm for every sized win, Tim Naki has established himself as one of the most down-to-earth, relatable, and fun streamers to watch.

However, there are a few vocal followers who believe his enormous wagers aren’t entirely self-funded.

Since Degeneration Nation is sponsored by SpinBit, the online casino platform that Tim Naki uses to play blackjack, some fans believe it is SpinBit who is depositing the cash into his account. If this is the case, it would be extremely similar to the frenzy caused by Drake when he started gambling on (and was subsequently sponsored by) Stake.com.

Unlike his slot streams, Tim Naki’s blackjack games aren’t live-streamed. Instead, they are filmed, edited and posted the next day, which is why a thread of Reddit users believe he replays some games using SpinBit’s money until he hits a huge win.

Whether or not this is true, Tim Naki himself popped up to shut things down. In response to a Reddit thread titled ‘Tim Naki’s run has to be too good to be true’, the Kiwi gambler wrote: “I think you’re all really overcomplicating this. I have played 64 hands, won 39, lost 22, and pushed 3. I have a 61% win rate. There is nothing more to it than dumb luck.”

Tim Naki’s Best Moments

Beyond his incredible winning streak, his dealer observations are what sets Naki apart from other streamers (and what keeps people watching his whole reels and not just checking the comments for the day’s updates).

Flexing his natural Kiwi humor, Naki makes entertaining comments – which he calls ‘soft insults’ – about the croupiers to fill in time while they are shuffling and dealing cards. Some of the most popular ‘soft insults’ include:

“This guy looks like he definitely drinks banana milk.”
“Moses has done his best work parting the sea on top of this woman’s head.”
“He gives a strong impression that he hangs out around laundromats pinching women’s undergarments.”
“He definitely eats his pizza with a knife and fork.”
“His eyes are quite close together…I was once told never to trust a guy whose eyes are that close together.”

Summary Of Tim Naki’s Wins And Losses

Total wins: $4,633,293 NZD ($2,833,629 USD)
Total losses: $1,698,181 NZD ($1,038,573 USD)

Before turning his hand to blackjack, Tim Myers was (and still is) a keen horse bettor. In a recent interview with Punters, Myers described his first devastating loss and first major win, both of which occurred on horses.

During his training as a farrier (a horseshoeing specialist), Myers and his brother pooled a month of their apprentices’ wages on a horse in the 2015 Melbourne Cup. When the horse broke down, it was a “crippling blow for all concerned”, and the pair lived off “Mi Goreng noodles for the coming weeks”.

On the other end of the scale, his biggest payoff occurred during the 2023 Melbourne Cup when he discovered an inflated promo price on one particular horse. Thanks to a couple of loopholes and some no-cap betting, Myers and his friends managed to clean up and somehow “got one over on the bookies”.

Naki’s Famous Blackjack Series

Early in 2024, Myers hit his biggest-ever slot win and landed the capital to begin his blackjack series. The win in question – $262,280 NZD on Pragmatic Play’s Madame Destiny Megaways slot – occurred on January 17th, 2024, giving him the financial freedom to place his first $1,500 blackjack hand two weeks later on February 2nd.

Throughout the three-month series, Tim Myers hit some historical and life-changing milestones. The Kiwi bettor won 10 out of 14 hands in his first two weeks, reached 150,000 followers in just over three weeks, and secured over $100,000 profit in 26 days.

Over the next 10 days, he accrued another $100,000 in profit, hitting the 200k mark by day 36. Myers landed his biggest win yet – $108,000 – on day 42, though he also suffered his biggest loss less than 24 hours later.

After losing $30,000 in one hand, Myers dropped the stakes from 10c per follower to 2c, though this switch-up lasted just six days before returning to the original format on day 50. The result? A $128,000 win.

Days 57-59 brought three consecutive pushes, the first (and only) of the series. Myers scored 9 wins and 5 losses throughout the next fortnight before venturing to Red Rock Casino to place (and ultimately lose) a couple of five-figure bets on days 74 and 75.

The biggest win of the entire series came on day 80 when Myers left the table with $270,000 after landing blackjack on a $108,000 hand. Finally, after 83 days of playing, he reached the million mark on his second attempt. But while it took him almost 12 weeks to hit this seven-figure status, it took just seven days to deplete his profits back to half a million.

After five eye-watering losses (none costing less than $119,000 per hand), TimNaki finally decided to cut his losses and conclude his three-month blackjack series. Ending with half a million in profit and over 1.2 million more followers, it’s safe to say that despite his many, many losses, the project was a roaring success.

A Closer Look At Tim Naki’s Wins And Loses

So, how many ups and downs did Myers face during his 90-day blackjack marathon? Check out the exact numbers below (figures are in NZD unless otherwise stated).

Days 1-30:

Day 1: Won $3,000 with a $1,500 bet
Day 2: Won $3,750 with a $1,500 bet using the previous day’s profits
Day 3: Won $3,060 with a $1,530 bet, ending $5,200 in profit
Day 4: Won $3,400 with a $1,700 bet
Day 5: Rounded his $1,950 up to $2,000 and lost, ending his four-day win streak
Day 6: Lost a $2,360 hand
Day 7: Lost a $3,100 bet, landing him in the negative for the first time
Day 8: Won $7,100 with a $3,550 hand, breaking the losing streak
Day 9: Won $7,800 with a $3,900 bet
Day 10: Won $8,200 with a $4,100 bet, used the profit to place a $4,100 Super Bowl multi bet
Day 11: Doubled down on $4,400 bet and won $17,600
Day 12: Won $9,860 with a $4,930 bet, resulting in a five-day win streak and $38,000 profit
Day 13: Won $10,640 with a $5,320 bet, credits Taylor Swift and her lucky 13 for the win
Day 14: Jumped from 15,000 to 59,700 followers in two weeks, resulting in a $5,970 bet (on which he suffered a huge double-down loss)
Day 15: Won $12,400 after placing a $6,200 and bringing back his lucky Black Flaps cap
Day 16: Won $14,400 after a $7,020 bet in Mexico
Day 17: Won $25,000 on a $10,000 hand, a reduced number which was the result of an Instagram user sending thousands of bot followers to his account
Day 18: Succumbed to pressure from followers to bet his full follower amount and lost a $15,300 hand
Day 19: After confirmation from Instagram that his 157,000 follower count was full of bots, he played an $11,000 hand and lost
Day 20: Lost an $11,700 hand
Day 21: Won $24,200 with a $12,100 bet
Day 22: Won a very swift $31,250 after landing blackjack with a $12,500 hand
Day 23: Won $28,400 with a $12,900 bet after pressure from fans to use side bets, resulting in the best side bet win of the entire series
Day 24: Won $24,000 with a $13,500 bet (side bets don’t pull through this time)
Day 25: Won $35,000 with a $14,600 bet
Day 26: Won $30,000 with a $15,000 bet after hitting 150k followers, reaching six-figure returns for the first time and securing over $113,000 profit in 26 days
Day 27: Won $37,800 with a $15,600 bet, resulting in a $22,500 profit for the day
Day 28: Lost a $17,000 bet
Day 29: First day in Vegas, won $25,000 USD with a $10,000 USD hand
Day 30: Second day in Vegas, won $25,000 USD with a $10,000 USD hand

Days 31-60:

Day 31: Third day in Vegas, won the same again and continued the three-day streak
Day 32: Final day in Vegas, and the house finally won
Day 33: Won $40,000 with a $21,000 bet ($500 on each side bet)
Day 34: Lost a $21,500 bet
Day 35: Won $45,500 with a $22,500 bet using side bets
Day 36: Won $91,600 after doubling down on a $23,200 bet, hitting over $200,000 profit
Day 37: Lost a $24,000 bet but scraped back $3,500 on a side bet
Day 38: Lost a $24,500 bet
Day 39: Lost a $25,200 bet but gave away $2,500 to fans after breaching 250,000 followers
Day 40: Lost a $26,200 bet
Day 41: Lost a $27,000 bet
Day 42: Won $108,000 after doubling down on a $28,000 bet, ending a five-day losing streak (the longest of the series)
Day 43: Returns on March 20th after a six-day hiatus and loses a $30,000 hand
Day 44: Lowers stakes from 10c per follower to 2c after input from fans, loses $6,140 bet
Day 45: Lost a $6,200 bet
Day 46: Won $12,480 with a $6,240 bet
Day 47: Won $12,520 with a $6,260 bet
Day 48: Upped the stakes at 5c per follower, won $30,000 with a $15,750 bet
Day 49: Back to betting 2c per follower, loses a $6,360 bet
Day 50: Returned to 10c per follower and won $128,000 from a $32,000 hand
Day 51: Won $66,000 with a $33,000 bet, finally returning to over $200,000 in profit
Day 52: Won $64,000 with a $34,000 bet
Day 53: Won $70,000 with a $35,000 bet
Day 54: Won $79,000 with a $35,500 bet, including a $10,000 win on side bets
Day 55: Lost a $37,600 bet
Day 56: Wins $80,000 with a $40,000 bet
Day 57: $42,600 bet returned after the first push of the series
Day 58: $45,000 bet returned after “back-to-back Alabama Specials”
Day 59: $46,000 of $48,000 bet returned after “trifecta of pushes”
Day 60: Won $100,000 with a $51,400 bet

Days 61-90:

Day 61: Won $135,000 with a $56,000 bet
Day 62: Lost a $60,200 bet
Day 63: Won $120,000 with a $64,000 bet
Day 64: Lost a $68,000 bet
Day 65: Won $140,000 with a $70,000 bet
Day 66: Won $140,000 with a $72,500 bet, hits half a million
Day 67: Won $156,000 with a $78,000 bet
Day 68: Lost an $81,000 bet
Day 69: Won $160,000 with an $83,000 bet
Day 70: Won $164,000 with an $86,000 bet
Day 71: Lost a $91,000 bet
Day 72: Won $180,000 with a $94,000 bet
Day 73: Lost a $96,500 bet after revealing a $666,000 total profit
Day 74: Lost $50,000 after switching from online to physical poker at Red Rock Casino, Vegas
Day 75: Won $160,000 with a $50,000 online bet but lost $30,000 at Red Rock Casino
Day 76: Won $206,000 with a $103,000 bet
Day 77: Lost a $104,000 bet
Day 78: Won $224,200 with a $104,400 bet, including $22,000 on side bets wins
Day 79: Won $250,000 with a $106,000 bet
Day 80: Won $270,000 with a $108,000 bet, two back-to-back blackjack days
Day 81: Lost a $111,000 bet
Day 82: Won $226,000 with a $113,000 bet
Day 83: Won $230,000 with a $115,000 bet, breaching the million mark on May 3rd
Day 84: Lost a $119,000 bet
Day 85: Lost a $120,000 bet
Day 86: Won $242,000 with a $121,000 bet
Day 87: Won $240,000 with a $122,600 bet, this time including side bets (despite claiming “side bets are for mugs”)
Day 88: Lost a $124,000 bet
Day 89: Lost a $129,000 bet
Day 90: Lost a $195,000 bet, spending what was left in his account and ending the three-month blackjack series

What Is Tim Naki’s Net Worth?

Tim Naki started streaming long before his blackjack series began. The Taranaki native uploaded his first slot stream via Instagram in January 2023 and joined YouTube in September 2022. He has also been wagering on horses since 2015, so he has almost a decade of horse race betting profits (and losses) behind him.

As such, it’s impossible to tell exactly what his net worth is. All we know is how much he has made from his blackjack winnings (a hefty sum) and how much he takes home from his regular slot streaming.

Of course, having skyrocketed into the mainstream and immortalized himself in the gambling hall of fame, it’s likely that TimNaki will have sponsorship offers coming up the wazoo. As such, his net worth will only increase even further over the next few months.

Tim Naki’s iconic series wrapped up after 90 days, leaving him the opportunity to start something completely new and exciting. And what did he do? Restarted his blackjack series, this time at 1c per follower (to be fair, he has a lot more followers now than when he originally began. And why fix what’s not broken?) We certainly can’t wait to see what he gets up to in the future.

Lead Image Credit: @tim.naki