diff --git a/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts b/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts
index 4c0434f..087ec7d 100644
--- a/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts
+++ b/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts
@@ -155,12 +155,31 @@ export async function checkChannel(channel: {
 export async function pollOnce(): Promise<void> {
   const channels = await prisma.channel.findMany({ where: { isActive: true } });
 
+  const openSessions = await prisma.streamSession.findMany({
+    where: { endedAt: null, channelId: { in: channels.map((c) => c.id) } },
+    select: { channelId: true },
+  });
+  const recordingChannelIds = new Set(openSessions.map((s) => s.channelId));
+
   for (const channel of channels) {
+    // Already capturing this channel — we already know it's live, so skip
+    // the bot-check-prone /live lookup entirely. With several channels
+    // sharing one cookie session + one proxy IP, re-checking channels that
+    // don't need it multiplies request volume through that single shared
+    // identity for no reason — a likely contributor to multiple channels
+    // failing detection at once once a few are live simultaneously.
+    if (recordingChannelIds.has(channel.id)) continue;
+
     try {
       await checkChannel(channel);
     } catch (err) {
       console.error(`[youtube-polling] error polling channel ${channel.name}:`, err);
     }
+
+    // Stagger checks instead of firing them back-to-back — a tight burst of
+    // near-simultaneous requests through the same cookie/IP looks more
+    // automated than the same requests spread out.
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
   }
 }