CS:GO’s popularity over the last several years has birthed an industry of independent ‘skin gambling’ operations.
Tens of thousands of people bet in-game items from CS:GO on these third-party websites, and their won and lost digital
goods have real-world value within the Steam Community Market. Moral and legal murkiness surrounds these enterprises,
many of which are based outside the US, and many of which are not licensed, regulated gambling entities. Though US law
has begun to weigh in on fantasy sports gambling apps like DraftKings, it has yet to address this less-visible extension
of video game culture. A class-action claim against Valve is one of the first signs that this issue will draw broader
legal attention.
In the meantime, segments of CS:GO’s esports scene hold questionable relationships with these services.
Teams profit directly from the in-game sales of team and player virtual stickers, which are valid betting items.
The availability of betting has unquestionably grown interest in CS:GO esports, and teams and leagues have received
sponsorship from gambling websites.
In January 2015 Valve banned seven players after it became clear that members of
Team iBUYPOWER had fixed a match, betting on their opponent and intentionally losing in order to win tens of thousands
of dollars worth of CS:GO skins. “Professional players, their managers, and teams’ organization staff,” Valve wrote in
response to the incident, “should under no circumstances gamble on CS:GO matches, associate with high volume CS:GO gamblers , or
deliver information to others that might influence their CS:GO bets.”
There’s more than one way to gamble a skin. A multiplicity of CS:GO gambling websites exist, and most offer a unique gimmick
or mechanism by which you bet and win items. Betcsgo.org lists more than 55 websites that offer some form of CS:GO skin gambling.
A few examples are below.
