Shady youtubers and underage gambling. CSGO

[JerryBoBerry]

Tmartn and Prosyndicate could very well be faking CSGO gambling and allegedly winning huge amounts of cash. They go on their own site (without any disclosure) and quite possibly fake all their wins so they can post reaction videos to entice gamblers to go there.






And the original guy who tracked down the evidence.

 

[zippypinhead]

I try to keep my Google tracking algorithms free of Youtube drama, and especially H3H3, but the rest of the internet I frequent is treating this like the biggest fucking scandal since Watergate. Is there a bullet-pointed TL;DW version of what's up?

On second thought, I don't really care about what's going on. The only thing that I really have questions about is this whole "gambling on CS:GO" thing. How does that work? How could it even be legal?

 

[JerryBoBerry]

I try to keep my Google tracking algorithms free of Youtube drama, and especially H3H3, but the rest of the internet I frequent is treating this like the biggest fucking scandal since Watergate. Is there a bullet-pointed TL;DW version of what's up?

On second thought, I don't really care about what's going on. The only thing that I really have questions about is this whole "gambling on CS:GO" thing. How does that work? How could it even be legal?

TL;DW Play a game on Steam. Get cool new skins for guns. Sell skins for real cash. Step into the picture two youtubers who "found" this cool site that lets you gamble for money said skins. 50/50 chance flip of the coin stuff. They do many videos showing them gambling and winning big bucks. One was $13,000 in one go.

Kicker of the story is they OWN THE SITE. Nowhere did they ever disclose that. They have access to the software making the bets showing them win. Allegedly maybe possibly (for legal reasons insert ambigous terms here) they fucking cheated to entice underage children to go to their site to gamble money.

Second video shows 7 forms of proof stating they not only own it they incorporated it and knew about it from day one. Even though their videos clearly mislead people into thinking it's just some random cool site they happened to find.

Personally I'd be shocked if the FBI didn't get involved soon. $2.3 Billion system in place involving illegal online gambling and gambling by minors.

After they were caught they made another video saying they disclosed it from the beginning and everyone should be ashamed for lying about them. Only they are too stupid to know anyone can look up google cache history to see they never had any disclosures until days after they got caught. Then it shows them massively going through and editing comments on their videos.

Loser scum.

 

[zippypinhead]

Yikes. So this is some actual serious stuff. I wonder what effect this will have on Valve's hands-off (as long as they're getting their cut) approach to trading and selling.

 

[Lelo1]

Honestly I've really hated how gaming has taken on more and more gambling characteristics.

It's one thing to have to buy a skin. it's another to have to buy a bunch of 'scratchers' and hope to get it. Especially sense they don't give us the option to purchase directly.

 

[AmberCutie]

CSGO gambling

This is a thing?

I'm so out of the loop. I thought CSGO was a video game where you shoot people.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

This is a thing?

I'm so out of the loop. I thought CSGO was a video game where you shoot people.

I hadn't heard of it either before this. Turns out there's quite a few sites set up for gambling based on the game.
‘csgo-jackpot.com’, ‘csgo-casino.com’, ‘csgoshuffle.com’ and ‘csgofast.com’

And from what I've read it's not just youtubers, there's quite a few Twitch accounts that focus solely on gambling on these sites.

Honestly I've really hated how gaming has taken on more and more gambling characteristics.

I think that's one of the results that happens when an industry tries to force people to use DRM software managed by one company. They have too much power and it's easy to manipulate it in whatever way they want. The class action lawsuit against Valve mentioned in the first video I noticed was brought against parents of the children involved in gambling. Turns out it would be difficult for actual Steam customers to do it themselves:

"On August 1, 2012, Valve announced revisions to the Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA) to prohibit class action lawsuits by users against the service provider."

I think they saw this coming before they introduced skins. They sound cool as an add on for a game, but the way it was set up is entirely as a loophole for online gambling. One that allows kids to take part. Luckily that only applies to class action lawsuits. So individuals are still suing Valve over this.

Spoiler: One such lawsuit.

Full article.

Valve Corporation, the suit says, "knowingly allowed ... and has been complicit in creating, sustaining and facilitating [a] market" where players and third-parties trade weapon skins like casino chips.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Connecticut resident Michael John McLeod alleges that Valve and third-party sites (CSGO Diamonds, CSGO Lounge and OPSkins) "knowingly allowed, supported, and/or sponsored illegal gambling by allowing millions of Americans to link their individual Steam accounts to third- party websites." Through those websites, the suit says, skins for CS:GO, which can be purchased from Valve, "can ... easily be traded and used as collateral for bets."

"In the eSports gambling economy, skins are like casino chips that have monetary value outside the game itself because of the ability to convert them directly into cash," the suit says.

Valve, the suit alleges, directly profits from transactions tied to gambling.

McLeod’s suit notes that some third-party CS:GO websites don’t require age verification, "which allows minor users to place illegal bets." In his suit, McLeod cites a report from Bloomberg about teenagers gambling on Counter-Strike skins, reportedly part of a $2 billion business.

Valve says that it's not illegal since they are using skins, not money for the gambling. But it looks like if the government stepped in for a closer look at all this, they would probably come down on the losing side in that.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

And an update to all this.


Just on reddit now is this thread. "Tmartn deleted all his videos related to CS:GO betting."

Yeah, looks like they are trying to hide stuff. But of course people had already downloaded them and set up their videos on mirror sites linked in that thread.

 

[Lelo1]

I hope they due rule it gambling. It might put an end to 'lucky boxes' in video games.

 

[EspiKvlt]

It IS just a game where you shoot people. That's why it's so silly. People pay ridiculous amounts of money to buy skins that make your guns and knives look pretty. Some are worth as much as $4k. It baffles the mind.

 

[EspiKvlt]

Oh, and there's slides. Lots and lots of slides.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Another small thing I just noticed. Sometime since yesterday TmarTn has disabled comments on what appears all of his videos.

I imagine they were not very complementary.

 

[Lelo1]

"On August 1, 2012, Valve announced revisions to the Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA) to prohibit class action lawsuits by users against the service provider."

I wonder how much water those TOS hold. Considering the people who agreed to it are most likely minors.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Something tells me this is not going to blow over nicely for them.




And any defense they may have had about "it's only skins they are gambling on and not real money" are kind of out the door now, since the owner seems kind of stupid and tweeted his full understanding of the situation.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Valve issues cease and desist orders to more than 20 CS:GO gambling sites

http://www.pcgamer.com/valve-issues-cease-and-desist-orders-to-more-than-20-csgo-gambling-sites/

The CS:GO skin gambling saga continues. After declaring it would start taking action against a list of alleged guilty parties last week, Valve has now cemented its intentions by issuing cease and desist orders to over 20 different gambling sites (including one Dota2 site) for using their Steam accounts for commercial purposes. In turn, this breaches the terms and conditions of the alleged offenders' Steam Subscriber Agreements...
.
Story continues further on site.

From other articles I see many other youtubers have come forward now acknowledging they too have affiliations with various CSGO gambling sites they hadn't disclosed.