Tag Archives: gambling

TLEP #053 – How To Bet CS:GO Skins Online

In the course of everyone sharing their thoughts about the recent CS:GO gambling fiascos involving several prominent YouTubers, many reports on the subject involve a brief description of how making money on CS:GO skins work. However, the explanations offered in these articles aren’t nearly specific enough and only outline the process. Therefore, I’ve decided to take an entire episode and dedicate it to fully explaining how to gamble with skins.

the lowercase esports podcast isn’t–obviously–sponsored by any skins site, but I’m totally open to that, provided some specific conditions are met. If you represent a betting site, have listened to the podcast and are interested in sponsoring the podcast, my contact page has details on how to reach out to me. If you’re looking for more podcast content, the episode list and the links you’re looking for are here.

An apology, post-unplanned hiatus.

Sorry I’ve been incommunicado these past few days. I would say that I’ve been partaking in the holiday weekend, but that wouldn’t be the truth. I took a break from everything because I wasn’t happy with the effort I was putting into the content I was making for the podcast and on this blog. Therefore, I took the weekend to not think about it so much and delve into some of the sweet deals that Lord Gaben hath made available for real currency–including the entire Deus Ex series for less than $10.

This Thursday, we’ll get back to form with the lowercase esports podcast. I am also considering revamping the episode release schedule (presently Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) so that I can focus on making fifteen-to-twenty minute episodes that have some sort of resemblance of organization, if not quality.

But also, in the light of the CSGOLotto revelations of this past weekend, here’s this summary of what esports betting is all about in less than 140 characters:

A Bloomberg article you should read.

Bloomberg published a lengthy feature about the multi-billion dollar esports betting industry with a focus on CS:GO skins gambling. They’ve even gone so far as to say that Valve is poetntially liable for enabling illegal sports betting in the second-hand market because of gambling sites that are built around the Steam API.

These sites, while independently run, use Valve’s software and pay out in skins. Valve employees also communicate with CSGO Lounge and have given technical support to the site, said Courtney Timpson, a community administrator and spokesman for CSGO Lounge. The Valve logo is prominently displayed on the site, and in one post on its forum, a moderator addresses people—especially the “younger audience”—who feel that they have been scammed. “If something is wrong, don’t post on the forums; contact Valve/Steam,” the moderator writes.

They also fired what I’d like to think is the perfect shot at Riot while defending CS:GO’s ongoing audience growth spurt… in an article that’s largely critical of the second-hand CS:GO marketplace.

With familiar graphics and a spy-vs.-spy structure, CS:GO is far more accessible than fantasy games like League of Legends, which look like an incomprehensible frenzy of bizarre creatures casting spells on one another to the novice viewer.