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

What is CS:GO skin gambling, and is it illegal? Learn more in this article.

Yesterday, two YouTubers responsible for videos about Counter-Strike gambling site CSGO Lotto, were found to be the owners of said website. Which is awkward. Not only were the videos not marked as promotions, but the videos also promoted a website in which the creators had quite a significant stake.

Following that revelation, another prominent YouTuber PsiSyndicate has revealed that several of his own CS:GO weapon skin videos were actually rigged. As he explains in a video (embedded below), PsiSyndicate was approached by CS:GO betting site Steamloto, who provided him with valuable weapon skins to "randomly" unbox. PsiSyndicate then acted as if they were random wins, thus making the whole racket look very worthwhile for anyone keen on gambling CS:GO weapon skins.

"The idea was brought to me by Steamloto, they proposes [sic] rigging in return for a Dragon Lore, [and] I just fell right into it," PsiSyndicate says, referring to an especially valuable CS:GO weapon skin.

"The total takings was $3200 in skins, Dragon Lore / Ruby, $1,200 ($4,000 really, $2,800 of my own skins) of which I gave away," he continued.

Whether PsiSyndicate's experience is a one-off, or if it's quite a common phenomenon among streamers and YouTubers, isn't clear. He won't be doing it again, though. "CSGO is a tempting, weird place for all CSGO YouTubers and Twitch streamers alike, I fell down a weird place and don't plan on going back there. All paid for videos should be clear, and will be from here on out!

"Why even make a PsiSyndicate exposed video? I don't know, no one else did."

Watch his full confession below:

The recent success of G2 has marked one of the most exciting developments in professional CS. Barely scraping into the ESL Pro League finals in May, G2 shocked onlookers by dominating their group pool. After defeating Fnatic they went toe-to-toe against the world number one, Luminosity Gaming, in a thrilling five-match finale. Though LG took the crown in May, the ECS Finals in June provided the perfect opportunity for revenge, and this time the French did not falter. During the tournament, G2 s Adil ScreaM Benrlitom and Richard shox Papillon discussed the revitalisation of French CS.

 Headshot kings

As a star player, adored by fans for his legendary one-taps, Benrlitom presents a surprisingly reserved persona bordering on shy. Speaking after G2 s quarter final victory over NiP, discussion of his expectations is assured, but equally restrained. This quiet level of confidence is echoed by G2 s captain, Richard. Both men give the impression that they believe strongly in their team, but clearly understand the level of work needed make it to the top.

Individually if we re gonna be really good, we can win against everyone, but if we don t play well individually, we can lose to anyone, says Adil. Right now we re more reliant on communication and individuals... we re trying to mix everything and find our own game style. We re still searching for it but we need some time and it s going well right now.

Since the ESL Pro League we lost some matches in ELEAGUE against teams like NiP, mousesports and Gambit at the major qualification so that was pretty hard, Richard says. After this we just came back home and worked on what we needed to fix mistakes. At the moment I m pretty happy with the team because we re finding again the way we want to play. We still have a lot to improve of course because we need more experience, we re a young team but we re going in a good way.

 Team mentality

This shared ideology is core to G2, and reflects the long history between the players. Both men have had long careers in French CS, and much of that has been spent together. If one thing has been established by G2 s recent performance, it s that Richard and Adil, both players of phenomenal skill alone, combine to form one of CS:GO s most formidable double acts.

The thing with me and ScreaM, it was back in 2010 in CS:Source, I saw his aim and realised he had definitely got talent, explains Richard. So in the same month we were creating a team and I wanted to pick him. I took [him] under my wings and wanted to help him learn more about the game. Even if we managed to split after because, I mean we were all young you know and when you re very young it s hard. We were like 16, 18, something like this. Between him and me we always liked playing together. Not only outside the game everything is good, but inside because we have the same vision.

Shox and me, we have been playing together for a long time, Adil says. He s always been really good, I had some good times as well and now we re feeling good in this team. That s how we work. The whole team... the relationship we have is really good actually, I mean we re not kids, we just like each other but some of us have known each other for ten years, six years, something like that so we really know each other and it s important to feel good outside the game also.

 The French shuffle

This team-wide positive approach is is core to G2 s survival as a French squad. Despite a dizzying amount of talent, French CS has always been hindered by near incessant roster changes, swapping players back and forth between teams.

That s always been a problem in France, admits Adil. It s just a communication problem I guess, they re not being honest with each other, they re not trying to fix problems by talking. They think that by changing players it s good. It s good in the beginning but later you re always going to have problems and you re always going to have to fix them with talking. I think it s getting better now and I hope it ll get a lot better in the future.

To be honest, the thing is, you know it s the French scene, Richard says. When everything is good, it s okay, but when things get bad some people want to try different things. I think we ll not have this problem because we all five have the same mentality and same goals. This is key because we had this same problem with EnVyUs when we had some problems we didn t fix them because we didn t talk. What people don t see behind the scenes is that even we have had some internal problems but we managed to speak and solve them. Since then our results have gotten directly better.

By ensuring good communication across the team, G2 have established an extremely dangerous roster, with SmithZz, RpK and boddy all offering standout moments at the ECS Finals. As captain, Richard is keen to highlight the rest of the team.

For me it s really important, he says. A lot of people just see the scoreboard and the rating. What they don t see is that yeah, sometimes we re gonna get a double or triple kill, but that s because one of our teammates has just made the perfect flashbang and we re killing people that are blind. People don t see this so I m really happy this is improving. To have a good team, you need good chemistry, you can t have five fraggers, you have to have roles. People need to see what roles they play and people will realise how good they are.

With strength in unity and victories over the best teams around, G2 have shot up the rankings, dragging France back to the limelight. If their recent form is maintained, G2 look to be serious contenders for the CS throne.

What is CS:GO skin gambling, and is it illegal? Learn more in this article.

Update: The message warning Steam users logging into the CSGO Lotto site that it could be engaging in phishing, scamming, spamming, or delivering malware in no longer in place. The warning was initially created by a Steam moderator, not Valve itself.

Original story:

CS:GO's weapon skin lottery is in the spotlight again with the discovery that two YouTubers who promoted the skin-gambling site CSGO Lotto in the guise of 'content' are, in fact, its owners.

Valve is already embroiled in a class action lawsuit over whether its crate-and-key system of skin drops and the ability to indirectly trade skins for cash should be classed and regulated as gambling. This case is more obviously egregious.

YouTubers Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin and Tom 'ProSyndicate' Cassell ran a number of videos several now set to private in which they would gamble weapon skins on CSGO Lotto and win. Sometimes they would win big, resulting in videos with titles like "HOW TO WIN $13,000 IN 5 MINUTES".

That reads like a banner ad I would avoid, and research into CSGO Lotto's incorporation details by HonorTheCall revealed its president to be none other than Trevor Martin. Its VP? Thomas Cassell.

The discovery that a number of content creators were failing to disclose sponsorships or promotions caused uproar quite recently. It's illegal, after all. To actually own the company being promoted a gambling site, no less and not disclose that is a step further. It also calls into question the legitimacy of the gambles portrayed in their videos.

Responding to the revelation in a vlog, Martin says, "This is something that has never been a secret". However, extensive research by h3h3 Productions failed to find any instance of his interest in CSGO Lotto being declared. Indeed, in an earlier video Martin announces, "We found this new site called CSGO Lotto so I'll link it down in the description if you guys want to check it out. We were betting on it today and I won a pot of like $69 or something like that, so it was a pretty small pot, but it was like the coolest feeling ever. I ended up following them [CSGO Lotto] on Twitter and stuff, and they hit me up and they're talking to me about potentially doing like a skin sponsorship ..."

Martin appears to be using "they" to refer to a company he himself owns.

Defending himself against the allegations, Martin continues, "The problem with [owning CSGO Lotto] would be if I didn't divulge that information, and I do: you can look in the descriptions of every single one of my CSGO Lotto videos ..."

However, a search of Google's archives for 'HOW TO WIN $13,000' using Wayback Machine reveals that the sentence, "Video made possible by CSGOLotto," was added after the video was uploaded. Others still lack the (fairly flaky) disclosure.

Speaking to YouTuber Scarce via Twitter, Martin has also said, "I do own the site now, I didn't back then. At that point it was a feeler video to see if my viewers would enjoy that type of content and whether or not I should invest in the business."

This also appears to be false: Martin's name can be found on CSGO Lotto's articles of incorporation as the incorporator.

The evidence appears damning and, given that both the UK's Advertising Standards Authority and the US Federal Trade Commission have previously slammed creators for failing to disclose product placements, the issue could escalate beyond the confines of YouTube.

Steam is already advising users attempting to access CSGO Lotto that "The URL you are attempting to log in to has been blocked by our moderators and staff. This site may be engaged in phishing, scamming, spamming, or delivering malware."

There are four different sniper rifles in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. They re all useful, and they can all help you win rounds. The key thing you need to know, aside from how to use them effectively, is when you should be using each one.

Why snipe at all?

Is it worth investing in a sniper rifle at all? Why not just buy another assault rifle instead? Sniper rifles work very differently compared to other weapons in the game. Each one excels in its own area. I d say that it s absolutely worth investing in a sniper rifle every now and then, as long as you know what you want to achieve.

Maybe you want to hold down an area of the map and kill the first guy who peeks. If you suspect that they might have an AWP you should get one as well. Why? Because the AWP kills you with a single hit. That s one of the reasons why AWP has become the most popular sniper rifle in the game: it straightforwardly counters all the other sniper rifles.

Maybe you don t expect them to have an AWP and you want to hold down a narrow corridor where they likely will try to smoke you out? Then an auto-sniper might be the gun you re looking for.

And sometimes it s not just about getting kills. You might be low on cash and want to peek certain spots as safely as possible: behind the van on Mirage, for instance. Then the SSG 08 might be the right choice. You can jump and still shoot accurately when compared to the other sniper rifles, but you will need to land a headshot to kill an enemy with one bullet unless they re close and didn t buy armour. The upside is that the SSG 08 allows you to move around almost as fast as you can without a weapon equipped, making it the ultimate weapon to use when you want to peek for information and stay alive at the same time.

When should you snipe?

First of all you need enough money. The AWP costs $4750, the SCAR-20 and G3SG1 both cost $5000 each and the SSG 08 is yours for $1700. When you use a weapon that expensive (SSG 08 excluded) you really, really want to buy armor as well. Sometimes, when you think it s crucial in order to win the game, you can buy an AWP without armor, also known as a glass cannon. Like I mentioned earlier the AWP kills enemies with a single bullet. That s the key to glass cannons being viable: kill them before they get a chance to shoot back. That s not the case with the other sniper rifles, however, which is why I almost never use them without armor.

Next, let s look at the kill rewards. A kill with the AWP will give you $100 and with all the other sniper rifles you get the normal $300. What this means is that if you use the AWP you ll not only get $200 less per kill, but with each kill you ll deny your own team that same amount of money. As you can see it s pretty important that you have a good reason to buy an AWP. In order for the other team to lose as much money as your team does when you die you need to kill either another AWPer or two riflers. You can t however only look at numbers. At the end of the day you need to win 16 rounds. How you do that is up to you, but it s a lot easier if you maintain a healthy economy throughout the game.

Where should you snipe?

Obviously you can find yourself in a favorable position by being creative and snipe from unexpected positions, but there are a few questions you should ask yourself first. Do I have a backup plan? Make sure you can back off safely in case you miss. Your weapon costs a lot of money and you won t help your team win the game if you re dead. Am I likely to win the duel if they have a sniper on the other side? Practice a lot and get comfortable with all the angles you might need to peek. Come prepared!

Here are some examples of spots I like when using different sniper rifles:

By the van on Mirage. Excellent spot to play with the SSG 08. You can peek B-apartments and stay relatively safe at the same time.

This is a spot where I like to use an auto-sniper. Most teams smoke lower before pushing, in which case I can spam the smoke and hopefully pick up a kill or two and stay safe at the same time. When I play from here I like to have a teammate playing around the bomb train peeking upper. After I ve spammed the smoke I m ready to assist my teammate from far back, using the long distance to my advantage.

Ask a teammate to throw a flashbang over the roof towards long and use your AWP to take control over the area. Practice a bit so that you aim at the right spot when you come around the corner. That way all you have to do is to click and you should be able to score the kill. You should practice how to use angles to your advantage no matter what weapons you use, but it s even more important when you ve invested in a sniper rifle.

It s been little over a year since Valve lowered movement speed while scoped in when using the AWP, which means you now have to move around the corner and then scope if you want to be able to fire as fast as possible. Practice the technique, however, and eventually you ll master it and wreck everyone on the server.

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 guide