Following a successful debut season, The Esports Championship Series (ECS) will launch Season Two of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league on October 7, 2016, organisers FACEIT announced today.

A familiar format will see 20 CS:GO teams going head-to-head ten from North America and ten from Europe and the tournament will hold its first ever open qualifiers for teams interested in joining the ECS. That last part is of course great news for potential emerging talent, which will see prospective inductees compete in four rounds taking place between August 5 to August 27.

Winners of each qualifying round will join up with four invited teams within each region s ECS developmental league; with the top two teams there competing against the bottom two of last term s ECS Season One. Finally, the two winners from each region s promotion matches will join the remaining eight teams from Season One to form Season Two.

If you think you ve got what it takes, you can sign up by heading this way if you re based in Europe, or this-a-way if you re based in North America.

In praise of this year s open qualification format, Michele Attisani, FACEIT s CBO, said: The open qualifiers will provide new teams the opportunity to showcase their talent to the world and join our top CS:GO esports league.

"It s our goal to provide new teams a chance to be recognized in the community and become stars, while providing current ECS teams a fresh pool of talent to test their skills against.

The ECS will provide a sum of $1.75M for Season Two that ll go toward the league s prize pool and supportive funds that will provide player stability, so reads an official statement.

Round one of Season Two kicks off between October 7-9. For more information on the ECS itself, including schedules, head over to its official site.

Update: Nearly three months later, s1mple the player who pulled off the amazing double-noscope worthy of in-game graffiti has commemorated it further by getting that graffiti tattooed on his arm. He tweeted a photo of the finished ink earlier today, which was apparently a birthday gift from his brother.

This comes off the back of s1mple playing out of his mind as ESL One New York this past weekend. The craziest moment of the tournament came when he threw his AWP over a wall as a distraction, before dropping down and taking out the last member of the opposing team. At this point, I think it's safe to say s1mple produces some of the most exciting clips in competitive CS:GO.

Original story: At ESL Cologne last weekend, Team Liquid became the first North American CS:GO team to make it into the final round of a major tournament. To do it, they had to defeat the team with the most major wins in CS:GO history: Fnatic, the Swedish superstars, the New England Patriots of Counter-Strike.

Liquid won their semifinal round against Fnatic two maps to none, an upset that's worth watching online or through CS:GO's in-game archive. Although there were several clutch plays from Liquid, a spectacular one came from s1mple in round 14 of the second map.

S1mple's first noscope is impressive enough, delivered as he hits the ground. The second is ludicrous, tagging the Fnatic player at a range that no mortal has a right to. Even though Liquid were ahead 10-4 at this point, it was a round that Liquid weren't supposed to win against a team that's more than capable of staging a comeback in the second half of the match. It surely dealt some emotional damage to the Swedes.

One of the creators of de_cache, FMPONE, felt the need to commemorate this sick play by adding a graffiti tag on the wall near where it happened. The revision hasn't been submitted yet by FMPONE, so you won't see it in game at this time, but the art depicts a falling angel with a scopeless rifle between the two CT entrances to bombsite B.

"It's an excellent example of when the casters and everyone, including myself, counts a player out, but that player believes in themselves fully and outperforms all expectations in a great moment," FMPONE told me today. "I thought the casting from James Bardolph and DDK sealed the deal and moved me to make it just as much as the excellent play, as well."

American himself, FMPONE says that he isn't partial to Team Liquid, but admits that "the fact that this play was instrumental in the very first NA grand finalist is critical."

There's a few of these kinds of map references in CS:GO, little signatures of moments, or even bugs, that add permanence and history to a context that otherwise never seems to change.

Liquid fell in the finals to Brazilian squad SK Gaming, who took their second consecutive major, another massive achievement for the South American team. But this moment by s1mple, and the milestone for North American Counter-Strike that it signifies, should live on in de_cache as a memory of what Liquid achieved.

It's a relatively quiet week as regards the variety of eSports on hand, but it certainly doesn't lack for quality. Some of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players are winning fortunes in Germany as we speak, while pro players from other games are earning their spots for championship matches scheduled for later this month and Beyond the Summit is testing the waters with their first Overwatch cup.ESL One Cologne 2016The ESL One Cologne event for Counter-Strike Global Offensive is currently in full swing in Germany, where almost 20,000 fans have packed into the Lanxness Arena. The event's been going on since Tuesday, but on Saturday and Sunday, the final two teams standing will face off beginning at 08:00 CEST/15:20 PDT. There's a whopping $1 million prize at stake, so be sure to watch the action on either the ESL's Twitch page for GS:GO or the mirror on the ESL's main site, which complements the footage with useful stats.Hearthstone Starladder Season 2 LAN FinalsYesterday marked the beginning of StarLadder's Season 2 LAN finals for Hearthstone in Shanghai, China, and the impressive lineup of eight players will compete through Sunday. The actual playoffs will begin tomorrow at 04:00 CEST/18:00 PST and run throughout the day on StarLadder's Twitch channel. The last match of the finals will take place at 11:30 CEST/04:30 PDT. As of the time of writing, the final contestants haven't been decided.Rocket League Championship Series Online FinalsAfter several weeks of qualifying rounds, the brackets for the Rocket League Championship Series Online Finals have at last been decided. The North American matches will take place on Saturday beginning at 21:00 CEST/ 12:00 PDT and the European matches will take place on Sunday starting at 18:00 CEST/9:00 PDT. There's a $5,000 prize pool at stake and the winners will go on to the live finals in Los Angeles on August 6-7. Be sure to turn into the Rocket League Twitch channel for coverage and check out the official Rocket League eSports page for more information.Beyond The Summit Overwatch CupBeyond the Summit is typically known for its work with Dota 2, but this weekend will see their first foray into Overwatch competitions with the first BTS Overwatch Cup with a prize pool of $10,000. The matches on Saturday and Sunday and a followup up on July 23 and 24 will feature a double elimination bracket that decide who moves on to the final championship on August 6-7. The first match kicks off tomorrow with EnvyUs battling 1Shot on July 9 at 20:00 CEST/11:00 PDT, and you can watch it on Twitch. You can find the full schedule at BTS's website here.League of Legends: NA Championship SeriesThe NCA LCS has been going on for a few weeks now, but the excitement's only getting more intense for North American players as the series continues. There are two matches going on today, but the real action will happen on the weekend when eight teams clash on both Saturday and Sunday. As always, you can get more information about the matches and their contestants at lolesports.com.Speedruns: Games Done QuickLast week we told you about how Games Done Quick was hosting a speedrun marathon benefiting M decins Sans Fronti res (even though it's not exactly eSports), and it's still going on if you missed it over the first few days. Saturday is the only full day left on the schedule, but that should be enough if you're excited about watching really fast playthroughs of games like Pikmin, Super Metroid, and Final Fantasy VI for charity. Be sure to check out the livestream here.

The past week has been an ugly one for the CS:GO gambling scene. First it came to light that popular YouTubers Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin and Tom 'ProSyndicate' Cassell were actually the owners of a gambling site they'd been promoting on their channels, without any disclosure of that ownership or the gross conflict of interest. Shortly after that, another YouTuber, Lewis PsiSyndicate Stewart revealed that some of the random CS:GO skin unboxings he'd posted on his channel were rigged as well.

Now Stewart has shared the email exchanges between him and skin gambling site Steamloto the source of his CS:GO loot in which the site very blatantly invites him to create a rigged video. Steamloto is not CSGO Lotto, the site that Cassell and TmarTn created.

Stewart's email chain, which goes all the way back to October 2015, begins with a brief explanation of how the site works and an inquiry about buying an ad video, but then quickly shifts into a request for something more underhanded. In response to Stewart's suggestion for a video with 5 or 10 of the knives, advertising it as a kind of new up and coming CSGO website idea, Andrew Pryamov of Steamloto wrote, Well, how about you make a video where you try to open like 2-3 restricted ones, and ~2 covert ones. And on your last attempt you get FT Dragon Lore (you'll keep it as a payment).

A Dragon Lore AWP is one of the most coveted skins in CS:GO. Although CS:GO weapon prices fluctuate over time, according to CSGO Analyst they're currently worth $700 or more. Stewart made the video as requested, and he did in fact get his Dragon Lore AWP and also made a big deal of selling his tremendous stroke of good fortune and surprise.

In late May of this year, Steamloto requested the creation of another video, and again, there seems to be little interest in transparency or disclosure. Stewart actually recommended that it be set up in a way that it's transparent it was rigged, but Pryamov asks that the second video be kept the same as the first, with just a notation that it's sponsored : In other words, acknowledgment that Steamloto paid for the promotion, but not that the unboxing was rigged.

Again, this shady Steamloto promotion isn't related to the CSGO Lotto scam, but it does provide insight into how lucrative skin gambling can be Stewart claimed in his admission that he got $3200 worth of skins for making the two videos and how widespread the problem of undisclosed conflicts of interest really is.

I couldn't put a number on it, he said in an email. It's just a lot of new site owners are willing to throw for example $1000 in skins at you just to play on their site, because they know they can easily make more in return from a video which garners 30k views. Rates can vary from $500-$2500 or so [in skins] in [a channel] my size, just for one video, he added, and "sometimes PayPal money is involved, sometimes it's not. [It's] all a lot of mixed stuff.

Unlike the owners of CSGO Lotto, Stewart said he's not facing any legal consequences for his role in promoting Steamloto, because he's just not big enough for anyone to care that much about it. Getting in front of the trouble by acknowledging that the videos were rigged, and giving away the skins he received for them, no doubt helped as well. But on the whole, CS:GO skin gambling is a big mess for the FTC, he said.

We've put together a detailed breakdown of how CS:GO skin gambling works, along with an analysis of why the CS:GO gambling lawsuit brought against Valve last month (and to which CSGO Lotto co-owners Martin and Cassell were recently added) is "fundamentally flawed." If you're at all curious about why this is a big deal, they're both absolutely worth your time.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

$2.3 billion. That's how much Bloomberg reports the market for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting is worth. That's serious money, and it's attracting a lot of scrutiny. One CS:GO player has even taken it upon himself to file a lawsuit against Valve, claiming that the operator of Steam has knowingly allowed an illegal online gambling market and has been complicit in creating, sustaining and facilitating that market. The complainant, Michael John McLeod, believes the blame lies not with the many CS:GO betting sites, but with Valve for enabling and supporting their existence. But while his accusation is worth consideration, his arguments are deeply flawed.

McLeod makes numerous comparisons to casinos, claiming Valve owns the league, sells the casino chips, and receives a piece of the casino's income. This analogy only works, though, if you completely ignore the nature of the skins being traded. For those unfamiliar with how CS:GO betting works, players earn cases as they play the game which they can open to receive random skins for their weapons. Opening cases requires buying keys with real money, and once acquired, skins can be traded with other players. This is where the gambling component comes in: many websites allow users to stake their skins on the outcomes of CS:GO matches or even simple coin flips.

The crucial differentiator here that undermines McLeod's analogy is the fact that skins, unlike casino chips, do not exist primarily as a form of non-money currency. Whereas casinos use chips to exploit legal loopholes in staking cash and to distance gamblers from the money they ve already essentially spent, Valve implemented skins as a means of customization and creative expression, both for the makers of the skins and those who use them. The use of skins evolved later, goes beyond their intended purpose, and was seemingly driven by third-parties, which weakens McLeod's argument that Valve built and supports the betting economy.

McLeod posits that Valve has created and currently supports a secondary marketplace where these in-game purchases can be gambled and cashed out. Claiming that Valve created the betting economy is bold, implying that Valve wittingly contributed to the creation of the third-party gambling sites. McLeod highlights the fact that users are able to link their Steam accounts to these sites, insisting that it requires permission and cooperation from Valve. This is incorrect. For a site to implement Steam account linking, it simply needs a Steam Web API key, a token that anyone with a Steam account can acquire. There is no vetting or approval process involved, and Valve certainly does not [know] exactly what these sites are, what users are doing.

Furthermore, McLeod misrepresents the process of converting skins into currency on these betting sites. He claims Valve specifically allows players to transfer skins to third-party [sites] when this is not the case. By linking a Steam account to one of these sites, that site is only able to view a user's Steam inventory, not interact with it directly. To transfer skins, a user must engage in bot trading, which is a flimsy workaround where dummy Steam accounts created by the sites act as middlemen for the bets. This is in clear violation of Steam's Terms of Service, first in Section 4 with reference to bots:

You may not use Cheats, automation software (bots), mods, hacks, or any other unauthorized third-party software, to modify or automate any Subscription Marketplace process.

As well as in reference to external trading in Section 3, Subsection D:

You also understand and acknowledge that Subscriptions traded, sold or purchased in any Subscription Marketplace are license rights, that you have no ownership interest in such Subscriptions, and that Valve does not recognize any transfers of Subscriptions (including transfers by operation of law) that are made outside of Steam.

McLeod points out the presence of the Steam logo on the betting sites, implying that it reflects tacit cooperation on Valve's part. Ignoring the fact that anyone can past the Steam logo on their site without permission from Valve, the page that users are taken to upon clicking the Steam link expressly states that the site in question is not affiliated with Steam or Valve. Nevertheless, McLeod claims this is more evidence of collusion between Valve and the betting sites.

The lawsuit has attracted the attention of lawyers with experience in the esports industry. A recent AMA on Reddit hosted by legal professionals Bryce Blum, Ryan Morrison, and Jeff Ifrah supports the notion that the arguments against Valve hold little weight. Ifrah believes that Holding Valve responsible for every single thing that a player or gambler might do with a skin once it is out of Valve s hands of course sounds harsh, saying that the only valid argument might be that Valve could have done more to slow the success of the secondary skin betting market. Blum agrees, saying I ve yet to speak to an attorney that reviewed the complaint and thought the case was likely to get past a motion to dismiss.

Following McLeod's lawsuit, an anonymous mother has filed a similar suit against not just Valve, but Trevor Martin and Thomas Cassell, the owners of CS:GO betting site CSGO Lotto. Martin and Cassell are accused of deceiving viewers of their YouTube betting videos, in which they do not disclose that they own the site they are betting on. Their addition to the lawsuit, however, is a pursuant claim that does not affect the arguments against Valve.

McLeod's arguments fall apart under proper consideration. That's not to say, though, that Valve is necessarily innocent in all this. Legal precedent for the betting of virtual goods is lacking, and it will take cases like McLeod's to establish clear and decisive rules. Valve might be responsible for not taking sufficient steps to regulate the betting economy, but such a verdict cannot be made on McLeod's weak evidence alone. Illegal and/or unethical gambling should not be taken lightly. If we're going to discuss it, let's at least make sure we have the facts straight.

A Polygon report says CSGO Lotto co-owners Trevor "Tmartn" Martin and Thomas Cassell have been added to a class action lawsuit filed last month against Valve. The suit alleges that Valve has knowingly allowed an illegal online gambling market to flourish around the purchase, trade, and wagering of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins.

CSGO Lounge, CSGO Diamonds, and OPSkins are already cited in the action as unnamed co-conspirators, but the Polygon report says the amendment now names Martin and Cassell as defendants also. As owners of the site, they actively promote Lotto as a gambling service, including to minors, it says.

It's probably not the end of Martin and Cassell's legal woes, but it's certainly an interesting beginning. This lawsuit covers much greater range, and with far broader implications, than the simple question of what the CSGO Lotto owners did, and which regulations they broke along the way, and that could actually make it tougher to successfully prosecute. We'll be taking a closer look at the case against Valve in an upcoming story, but for now I don't think anyone should consider this a slam-dunk.

Martin posted an apology video yesterday, but quickly removed it following a powerful wave of criticism of his obvious effort to shift blame and dodge responsibility. Following this, Martin's lawyer told Eurogamer there would be "no further public comments on the matter."

Update: TmarTn removed his original apology video from YouTube. We've posted a reupload of the video above.

Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin, one of the YouTubers who was recently revealed as the owner of CSGO Lotto, the skin gambling website he'd been promoting on his channel without disclosing his interest in it has issued an apology video in which he states that he's sorry if he didn't make his relationship to the site clear enough for everyone.

The video begins with Martin kissing his dog in the foyer of his seemingly-very-expensive mansion, with a big truck strategically framed in the double doors behind him. He professes his love and appreciation for his viewers, whose support enables him to chase his dreams and follow his passions, before moving on to explain that, if you didn't know he was the owner of CSGO Lotto, and thus profiting from its success, well, that's your own fault.

My connection to CSGO Lotto has been a matter of public record since the company was first organized in December of 2015, he says, seemingly reading from a prepared message. However, I do feel like I owe you guys an apology. I am sorry to each and every one of you who felt like that was not made clear enough to you. I truly, honestly hope that you guys give me an opportunity to earn your trust back.

But attorney Ryan Morrison, one of the three attorneys who took part in a recent Reddit AMA on the matter, said that's not nearly good enough. He means someone could ve searched for that public document, which is utter stupidity, Morrison told us today over Skype. Even if he wrote it in the text underneath his video as he s gone back and done, that s still not sufficient disclosure. He couldn t be further away in terms of compliance.

Martin vowed to ensure that his YouTube channel and all other business are in compliance with the law, and made a point of stating that he does not condone minors using the CSGO Lotto site. This is and always has been a clearly stated policy available both in the terms of service as well as the initial signup page on the website, he says. Furthermore, We do not knowingly record information of children under the age of 13 years in compliance with the COPA Act. This has nothing to do with, and does not mean, that we condone minors under the age of 18 to play on the site.

But that too falls far short of what's required in Morrison's eyes. We have online gambling that is completely unregulated as far as I can tell from CSGO Lotto, they don t age verify minus one little check tick when you sign up for an account, which is nowhere near enough age verification, he said. They allow you to put in and take out [skins] basically as you please, and there s no attempt to follow the different gambling regulations that exist, even in terms of percentages of winning and things like that. Some jurisdictions don t allow you to increase the odds of winning if you put in more money and here that s quite literally how the website works.

Martin is obviously less interested in apologizing than in protecting himself and his company, but these late-game maneuvers may not do him much good. I can t say there s going to be prosecution but I ve said a couple times and I still very much believe that it s as close to a sure thing as possible, Morrison continued. If you look at FanDuel and DraftKings and how many states have gone after those guys now, they re gonna see that this is infinitely worse than anything DraftKings and FanDuel was doing and getting similar attention if not more attention. I refuse to believe there s not a legislator, a district attorney, a state whatever that s not going to make this into a criminal matter.

And if that should happen, the potential penalties are very stiff. FTC guidelines are not technically a law in the sense that it has criminal charges, Morrison explained. But it can act like a court. They can seize assets, they can fine you to oblivion, they can do a ton of really scary stuff. Beyond potential FTC penalties for the lack of clear disclosure, Martin and Tom Syndicate Cassell could face separate, criminal prosecution for operating CSGO Lotto.

Additional reporting by Evan Lahti.

Update: Martin has retained the services of law firm Watson LLP, which has issued a statement on the matter to PC Invasion. Much of it simply repeats what Martin said in his video, but the firm also insisted that no wrongdoing actually took place.

"It is important to understand that winners on the website are randomly determined by both algorithms and computer code. The odds of winning games played at CSGO Lotto are not more or less favorable to any players. The company has fail-safe measures in place to prevent any person and any player from independently changing or manipulating the outcomes of any games played," the statement says in part. "CSGO Lotto finds it deeply troubling that statements against both the company and its owners are not supported by facts and lack a serious understanding of 'gambling,' as that term is legally defined. In this way, CSGO Lotto is materially different from its competitors who operate other game play websites that may, in fact, cross the line of legality."

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.

Other than these specific comments, Valve has not censured skin gambling websites or discouraged anyone from using them. In an April report by Bloomberg, a spokesperson for one of the most popular gambling websites, CSGO Lounge, said that Valve has communicated with them and provided technical support.

The controversy surrounding skin gambling took a new, upsetting turn last weekend when it was revealed that two high-profile YouTubers had created and then marketed a CS:GO gambling website to their audiences on YouTube and social media without disclosing their co-ownership. Their videos showed them winning thousands of dollars worth of CS:GO skins on CSGO Lotto, portraying their success as luck.

Why is CS:GO unique?

Secondary markets have sprung up around many games that contain tradable items since the early days of eBay, and developers have grappled with these resellers in different ways. But CS:GO s situation is unprecedented: the near total focus of these third-party groups on turning CS:GO gun skins into tokens that can be used to play casino-like games and the fact that these outfits are unregulated and do not impose checks against the participant s age may be in violation of US law. By not publicly intervening, Valve has allowed gambling to become an inseparable aspect of CS:GO s culture.

Four things allowed for the foundation and explosive growth of these third-party gambling websites:

• The popularity of CS:GO, which boasts more than 10 million unique players (about as many copies as Overwatch has sold on all platforms) and an esports viewership that rivals Dota 2.
• CS:GO’s item drop system which awards weapon skins and weapon cases at a controlled interval to anyone who plays. Cases contain contain gun and knife skins, but they must be opened with keys, which can be purchased on Steam for $2.49 or acquired via trade.
• The Steam Community Market, a digital marketplace for 33 games, as well as Steam Community items (such as trading cards), where in-game items are sold and bought with real money from your Steam Wallet.
• The Steam Trading API, which allows anyone to create third-party tools to manage item transactions on a large scale.

How does skin gambling work? 

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.

Esports betting

In this nascent industry, CSGO Lounge is one of the oldest and most popular, allowing users to bet CS:GO items from their Steam inventories on CS:GO matches in leagues like the ESL and FACEIT. Users can bet up to $300 worth of items on a single match, although secondary Steam accounts can be used to bet beyond that limit. Winnings are based on odds, which change dynamically based on the ratio of bets between teams. If odds are 75-25, that would mean three people would have had to bet on the 75 percent and one on the 25 percent, a CSGO Lounge admin told me in 2014.

Anyone with a Steam account can use CSGO Lounge, and per the website s rules, it s your responsibility to figure out if that s legal where you live: By placing a bet on CSGO Lounge you are confirming that you are in abidance with your country's laws which allow you to participate in skin-betting, the rules section of the website reads. This is generally 18 years of age or older, but make sure to check. If you don t claim your winnings within 21 days, CSGO Lounge keeps them.

Like nearly all other skin gambling websites, CSGO Lounge uses Steam bot accounts they ve created to receive bets and distribute winnings. Users receive an invitation to trade items from a Steam account controlled by CSGO Lounge s automated system, which offers their winnings as a one-sided trade.

Mystery boxes

CS:GO itself presents players with tiny slot machines: weapon cases that you can pay $2.49 to unlock while you re within the game client. Websites like skincrates.com replicate the excitement of opening these weapon cases but do so using their own, proprietary tokens and cases. It s a facsimile of the experience you have in-game, but with different outcomes and a different group taking your money. SkinCrates repackages individual CS:GO skins that they own into custom crates (not official CS:GO weapon cases) that you can pay to open on their website. $3 worth of SkinCrates credits, for example, allows you to open an AWP Crate, and you can take a chance at one of 24 different knives (of varying value and rarity) with $60 worth of credits.

Like other CS:GO gambling outfits, Skincrates dresses itself in the art and aesthetic of CS:GO, using recolored images of cases and special forces characters to make its services feel more official. CSGOfast.com is another egregious example of this technique, where on its Top players (i.e., gamblers) page it awards rank badges taken from CS:GO s competitive matchmaking to the users who have won the most value.

Public pots

This popular form of skin betting is arguably the most direct, as it s purely odds-based gambling with other players. On skinjoker.com, players deposit skins into a shared pot as a short time limit counts down, after which no more bets are accepted. The system picks a winner based on everyone s entries: the higher total value of the skins you bet, the greater your chance of winning the pot.

Gambling games

Another sub-category of gambling websites allow you convert your items into a proprietary currency for use in web-based versions of traditional games like poker, rock-paper-scissors, dice, or roulette. On csgolive.com, you can play blackjack using chips converted from the value of your deposited skins. A link labeled Provably Fair on the website currently leads to nowhere.

How many people are gambling?

Conservatively, tens of thousands of people are gambling using CS:GO skins. Alexa.com gives csgolounge.com a global rank of 574, a measurement of its average daily visitors and pageviews over the last three months (for comparison, hulu.com ranks 294). In March 2016, 38 million people visited the site. CSGO Lounge s Steam group has more than half a million members. In an ESL One match earlier today between Fnatic and FaZe, 43,840 accounts bet 171,093 items.

Csgofast.com tracks daily unique players on its front page, which today shows 17,500 players. Csgobig.com tells you how many dollars worth of CS:GO skins have been won that day; when I visited around dinnertime, it showed more than $1 million.

How does Valve benefit?

Skin gambling indirectly stimulates the Steam Market. Valve makes 5% off the sale of any Steam Market sale, but they take 15% of the sale of items from Valve games like CS:GO, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2. If an AWP Asiimov sells for $30 on the market, Valve would take $4.50 item seller would receive $25.50. If the owner of that AWP gets bored of it, or the price rises significantly, they can re-list it on the Steam Market and Valve would again take 15% of the sale. In this way Valve benefits from the volume of transactions and the selling price of the items listed.

Is this legal?

There isn t a lot of legal precedent on virtual item gambling. Are skins money, virtual capital, or are they more like arcade tokens that these gambling websites accept like pinball machines? One of the few, somewhat comparable recent cases is Mason v. Machine Zone, in which a plaintiff alleged that the Casino area of Game of War, where players could bet in-game currency in order to receive rewards, constituted a gambling device, and that the $100 she lost was a result of unfair competition.

The court didn t rule in Mason s favor, going so far as to call comparing the value of in-game virtual gold and in-game rewards to the value of real money a whimsical undertaking that has no place in federal court. Because Game of War doesn t offer payouts of real-world money, Mason had transformed her money into valueless play money, the court says. [The] Plaintiff was not wagering with dollars, the decision reads, she was playing with virtual gold. Plaintiff acquired that gold in the gold store, where she exchanged her real-world currency for a nontransferable, revocable license to use virtual currency for entertainment purposes. At the moment of that antecedent transaction, Plaintiff s loss, if any, was complete: then and there she had swapped something of value (real money) for something of whimsy (pretend gold ).

There are major differences between Game of War and CS:GO, especially the presence of an open digital market operated by Valve that provides pricing information on weapon skins in real money. But one small similarity is that secondary markets do exist for selling Game of War accounts for real-world money, a fact that the court didn t seem to give much weight.

What she could not do is cash out of the game. In this respect, while GoW s Casino function aesthetically resembles classic games of chance, the underlying transaction is more akin to purchasing cinema or amusement park tickets. Consumers of such services pay for the pleasure of entertainment per se, not for the prospect of economic gain, the decision read.

Some of the only legal insight on the topic came in an AMA on /r/GlobalOffensive this week, where three lawyers who specialize in gaming, gambling, or esports offered their perspectives on the issues connected to CS:GO skin gambling.

"For my money," Bryce Blum says of the likelihood that skin gambling will be considered gambling by the law, "I think this is a no brainer because the secondary market is prominent, permitted to exist, and skins have widely known value. That being said, there isn't a case directly on point here so it's impossible to say for certain."

[T]he question is whether the skins are a thing of value, adds Jeff Ifrah. Generally, in traditional gambling cases, this means cash or chips. Skins, even with secondary markets, hold their value because of the gaming, which puts it squarely in the virtual world, he continued, If the skins are virtual things of value, using them for gambling would be OK under most laws.

Overall, their legal attitude is that betting doesn t necessarily need to banned in all forms, but that it needs more regulation and protections for participants. CSGO has grown to its current prominence in large part due to betting, and I don't think eliminating all skin betting is necessary or a smart move, writes Blum. We do however desperately need to eliminate the bad actors from the space. The types of fraud that came to the fore in the CSGO Lotto and CSGO Diamond situations are precisely what arises when betting sites operate without oversight or transparency. The entire industry needs to take a stand on this issue, not just Valve.

CS:GO skin gambling operations are not in imminent legal danger, and there are no known suits against them at time of publication. Sports betting is illegal everywhere within the United States with the exception of Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana. Internet-based gambling is prohibited in all but three US states, even if you re older than 18. Unless Valve makes a public statement condemning the activities of these groups, or restricts use of its Steam Market API to groups that it vets, gambling will continue to be a morally and legally gray by-product of one of the world s most popular PC games that s accessible to anyone with a Steam account.

We ll continue to cover this topic and update this article as new information emerges.

CSGO has a gambling problem. Valve is involved in a suit over whether CSGO's key-and-crate loot system and the accompanying skin market should be defined and regulated as gambling, while a handful of YouTubers have been exposed as the owners of a skin gambling site they promoted. Another confessed that his gambling wins were staged in conjunction with the betting site.

This has prompted airmchair lawyers to sit up straight and start dispensing their own dubious wisdom. What counts as gambling? When should we fire up the electric chair? I'm as guilty as anyone.

Thankfully, three real lawyers Bryce Blum, Ryan Morrison and Jeff Ifrah held an AMA on Reddit to dissect the key issues. They often disagree, which should tell you that whatever lies ahead for betting in CSGO, it won't be a smooth ride.

So, is skin gambling actual gambling in the eyes of the law?

"For my money," Blum (/u/esportslaw) says, "I think this is a no brainer because the secondary market is prominent, permitted to exist, and skins have widely known value. That being said, there isn't a case directly on point here so it's impossible to say for certain."

"In our work," Ifrah (/u/ifrahlaw) contends, "the question is whether the skins are a 'thing of value.' Generally, in traditional gambling cases, this means cash or chips. There is a recent court decision from Maryland Mason v. Machine Zone that stressed the distinction between virtual things of value and things of value with 'real world' value. I think this case will be instructive in the future. Skins, even with secondary markets, hold their value because of the gaming, which puts it squarely in the virtual world. If the skins are virtual things of value, using them for gambling would be OK under most laws."

They're even further from consensus on whether the YouTubers at the heart of recent scandals are likely to face criminal proceedings.

"From my perspective," Blum says, "it s pretty unlikely that the government will do anything here. Pretty much every government agency is understaffed and overworked. Whether or not a case is pursued is a matter of prioritization and allocation of limited resources. Remember that the fantasy sports industry was massive for years, but it took a highly public insider trading scandal and one of the largest ad buys in history to give the situation sufficient profile to warrant governmental action."

"I respectfully disagree with Bryce," Morrison (/u/VideoGameAttorney) says, "and think jail time and/or criminal charges are a real possibility here. DAs go after juicy stories to build their careers, and this is that. Thousands upon thousands of kids tricked into spending money on a site that they lied about not owning. There will be one state that goes all in on this, and that's all it takes. I really believe that."

And what about the Valve case? Does it have legs?

"I don't think the lawsuit against Valve will go anywhere," Morrison says, "but it definitely has legal ground. While I expect it to settle quickly and not see a courtroom, keep the following in mind:

"Valve owns every single skin that exists. You don't buy skins, you buy a license to use the skins.

"Valve has been reported as helping to actually run these websites (specifically CSGO Lounge according to Bloomberg article).

"Valve allows you to buy and sell skins on their own market, and allows unregulated gambling websites to use their API to operate with ease.

"So if you own every skin, help run the websites that gamble them, and then turn those skins into quick and easy cash... that's a recipe that some folks may call 'not wonderful.' For what they can do? They can stop letting these insanely popular websites use their marketplace so easily."

If you ve ever played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive you ve probably noticed that assault rifles are the weapons of choice for most players. The reasons are many. Not only do they look cool, but in the right hands they can turn the tide of any game. In this article I ll show you how to use assault rifles and hopefully it ll help you win more games on your road to the Global Elite.

Why should you use assault rifles? The short answer is that, together with the AWP, they re the best weapons in the game. They re accurate and have great armor penetration, making them the foundation of CS. Pistols, SMGs and sniper rifles are used in different and very specific situations: in most rounds you ll find yourself using assault rifles.

 Which assault rifle should you use?

By far the most popular ones are the AK-47, M4A4 and M4A1-s, the latter being subject to a massive overhaul late last year. In an update in which many (including myself) thought the weapon would be rendered useless, both the M4A1-s armor penetration and rate of fire was lowered. The lowered rate of fire proved to make the weapon more accurate: it s a lot easier to control the spray than before. This, coupled with the fact that it has a silencer, has made sure the weapon is still being used even at the highest level of competitive CS:GO.

If you can t afford one of the above mentioned weapons you can go for the FAMAS (CT) or the Galil AR (T) if your team decides to go for a buy round. They re both pretty accurate and has decent damage output. They are however inferior at long range and marginally worse at close range.

 Learn the spray patterns

If you learn how to control the recoil of the most popular assault rifles you have a greater chance of coming out on top when it really matters. Teamplay might be an integral part of Counter-Strike, but you ll never reach your goals if you don t know the basics. And your work is never done. You need continuous practice if you want to maintain your skill level.

Let s start with the T-side weapon of choice: the AK-47.

This is what the spray looks like if you don t try to control the recoil.

What can we make of this? Notice how the first two bullets go pretty straight. After that the bullets start gravitating towards the sky and to the left. After a while the pattern goes to the right and stays there for a while before it goes back to the left. Practice to move your mouse to counter the recoil and you should end up with something like this.

Let s take a look at the M4s. The M4A4 s recoil pattern makes the bullets go straight up, then to the left, back to the right and then left again. Here s how it looks both when you just hold down the trigger and when you try to control it.

The M4A1-s pattern is basically the same except it s a bit slower, and obviously stops after 20 bullets instead of 30.

 Long, medium and short range

As you might know there are a few different techniques you can use when you shoot. There s the famous one-taps la ScreaM, the short bursts and then spraying. But when should you use each technique?

As a rule of thumb you should almost never go for one-taps with the M4s because of how accurate the first three bullets are. Instead you should go for short bursts at long and medium range. With the AK-47, things are a little bit different. One bullet to the head and you ll score a kill. Therefore a few quick one-taps can do the trick at long range.

At medium range I prefer to use three bullet bursts with the AK-47. The first two bullets will go in a straight line and for the third i pull my crosshairs slightly down. Like this:

At short range it s almost always best to go for sprays. If you re good you can do some serious damage at medium range as well. That s all individual and what works for one player might not work for another and the other way around.

One small piece of advice is that it s one thing to spray on a wall and another thing to spray down moving targets. Like Jordan n0thing Gilbert said on his stream, the most important part of spraying is to get the height right. If you can do that you ll find more success when you try to spray someone down. I suggest that you take a few minutes to watch this clip.

In the video he talks about how important the first few shots are. A big part of mastering any weapon in CS:GO is to aim properly. Subscribe to a map called training_aim_csgo2.

Practice on different distances. The main reason for this kind of practice is to get used to your sensitivity. I recommend that you turn off mouse acceleration. That way you ll be more consistent. If you can make things easier for yourself you should. I d also recommend a fairly low sensitivity. Even if one might argue that it d be better to learn how to master high sensitivity it s not realistic. Especially on long range and when you have to react really fast. The lower you go, the more precise you ll be. Even if you have really good muscle memory you won t be able to land those insane headshots under pressure if your sensitivity is too high.

Find all of our other Counter-Strike: Global Offensive guides here:

Inferno Counter-Terrorist guideInferno Terrorist guideCache Counter-Terrorist guideCache Terrorist guideOverpass Counter-Terrorist guideOverpass Terrorist guideCobblestone Counter-Terrorist guideCobblestone Terrorist guideTrain Counter-Terrorist guideTrain Terrorist guideMirage Counter-Terrorist guideMirage Terrorist guideDust2 Counter-Terrorist guideDust2 Terrorist guideSupport role guideEntry fragger role guideLurker role guideAWPer role guideTeam leader guideSMGs guideSniper rifles guide