The TmarTn CSGO Lotto scandal furthers Valve’s rapidly developing underaged gambling problem. The YouTube star has taken heat recently due to allegedly lying to his fans about his relation with underaged gambling site CSGO Lotto.

[toc]CSGOLotto is the latest skin gambling site to come under fire from the competitive video gaming community following allegations that an owner of CSGOLotto promoted the site without revealing his financial interest in the company to viewers.

The accusations, leveled against Trevor “TmarTn” Martin, and material connecting Martin to CSGOLotto were first publicized on the YouTube channel of HonorTheCall.

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. Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin is undoubtedly one of the most controversial people in the CSGO gambling scene. The YouTuber who was also the owner of the CSGO skin gambling website CSGO Lotto hid the fact that he had no involvement with his own website whatsoever while making YouTube videos of his winnings in CSGO Lotto. TmarTn’s CSGO lotto apology roundly criticised, then pulled. That at least 75 people appear on the cusp of suing both Martin and CSGO Lotto’s co-owner Thomas ‘ProSyndicate.

Financial interest not revealed in promotional videos

At the heart of the controversy is a simple allegation that doesn’t seem to be in serious dispute at this stage: Martin recorded and published videos where promoted CSGOLotto without fully disclosing his financial connection to the site.

You can view an example here, and clips from other examples here and here. Martin appears to have removed or blocked access to videos connected to skin betting from his various social channels.

Following the video from HonorTheCall, Martin generally confirmed his ownership interest in CSGOLotto via a video and a Twitlonger post that has since been deleted. In both, Martin stressed that he had never hidden the fact that he had an ownership interest.

Regulations in several jurisdictions, including the U.S. and the U.K., require some level of disclosure when paid promotion is involved in online content, although the rules in question are often broad and involve case-by-case interpretation.

Unique game integrity issues

This story comes only weeks after a separate controversy involving a prominent figure in the esports community and promotion of a skin gambling site.

In mid-June, popular CS:GO streamer mOE, who had a disclosed promotional relationship with skin gambling site CSGODiamonds, revealed that Diamonds had provided him with game outcomes ahead of time in order to make mOE’s videos “more entertaining.”

CSGODiamonds is a house-banked virtual dice game where players compete against the house (not unlike craps). While providing mOE with advance knowledge of outcomes was troubling on several levels, that knowledge couldn’t have been used by mOE to gain any sort of advantage over other players.

CSGOLotto, on the other hand, is a game where players are competing against other players in a lottery-style game. Advance knowledge of outcomes in that scenario would provide an individual with a significant advantage at the expense of other players.

There is no evidence that Martin engaged in that specific behavior, but a site owner competing against other players in a lottery-style game naturally raises the question of what mechanisms were in place to prevent such abuse.

Connection to Team EnVyUs may raise stakes

Martin reportedly owns a small equity stake in Team EnVyUs. That’s the same team that made headlines earlier this year after securing financial backing from SierraMaya 360 and announcing related plans for a training center and esports venue in Charlotte, North Carolina.

EnVyUs isn’t the only esports organization to receive backing from a VC firm. But the organization’s high-profile nature and direct connections to both the investment community and local government could focus additional attention on this situation.

Team EnVyUs released a statement regarding Martin earlier today. Excerpt:

Trevor has never been involved in the operational or decision making process of our team or company. He is not a managing partner, does not sit on our board and has a very small, minority stake in the business that operates Team EnVyUs.

As a company and as managing partners, we have absolutely no involvement with or ties to CSGOLotto.com. Recently, a few of our CSGO players have been offered sponsorship with CSGOLotto.com among many other lottery driven or skin marketplace type web destinations on an individual basis. Our organization does not manage those relationships and have advised our players to avoid further relationships with any company that may be deemed as negligent by the vocal community.

We have always rejected lucrative offers from groups who operate unregulated marketplaces, lottery or wagering type properties and will continue to do so. At this time, we will fully cooperate with any publisher, partner or party we are engaged in business with in order to maintain this position we have dedicated ourselves to all along.

Read the whole statement here.

Tmartn Csgo Lotto Scandal

In a separate tweet, EnVyUs owner and Managing Director Mike Rufail called on Valve to cut off sites like CSGOLotto from the API for trading skins that underpins skin gambling sites. But Rufail drew a line between casino gambling sites like Lotto and sportsbook-style sites such as CSGOLounge:

I would be one of the happiest to see Valve cut off the skin lotto sites from their trade and API. The match wagering needs regulation too.

— Mike Rufail (@hastr0) July 4, 2016

Speaking of Valve, the company appeared to briefly institute a generic warning (“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”) to users attempting to utilize Steam to log in to CSGOLotto.

I was able to log into the site using Steam without receiving the warning as of 1:30 p.m. PST on July 4.

How large is the skin gambling market?

I recently published an overview of the global market for esports gambling. Skin gambling is the dominant vertical, accounting for over $7bn in total item value wagered in 2016.

As the chart below shows, “jackpot” sites like CSGOLotto are one of the more popular game variants:

Csgo Lotto

Scandal threatens to undermine viability of the market

Partially as a result of that popularity, skin gambling is increasingly registering on the mainstream radar. Gambling regulators in the U.K. are reportedly monitoring the issue, and a recent lawsuit seeking class-action status in the U.S. could be a precursor to additional attention on the legal front.

Situations such as the one involving CSGOLotto and Martin will no doubt fuel additional mainstream attention. But the more immediate impact will likely come on the consumer front. Mounting backlash from players could begin to erode demand for skin gambling, especially if similar revelations emerge around other sites.

Tmartn Csgo Lotto

That backlash could also impede the ability of skin gambling sites to acquire new customers if popular streamers (arguably the most effective marketing tool for skin gambling sites) start to become less willing to promote an activity as a result of popular opinion.

Is skin gambling illegal gambling?

It may be a more complicated question than most on either side would like to admit.

The first layer of complication arises from the fact that every country deals with gambling in a unique way. What may be considered gambling in one jurisdiction may not in another, and what’s required once something is defined as gambling also varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

The second layer arises from the nature of skins. Do virtual items have value simply because they can be exchanged for money in certain circumstances on secondary markets? And, if skins do have value as a prize, does the wagering of skins constitute gambling given that skins can be readily acquired for free?

The answers to these questions will prove critical in jurisdictions such as the U.S., where much of the process for defining an activity as gambling hinges on the question of whether what’s being bet (and what’s being offered as a prize) is actually of a “thing of value.”

Those who argue that skin gambling may not constitute illegal gambling for the purpose of most U.S. state laws often point to a recent decision involving gambling within Games Of War. Background on the Mason V. Machine Zone decision here, text of the decision here. The decision is being appealed.

UPDATE 2.15pm: Shamed YouTube star Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin has not responded to requests for comment on the matter of his gambling site promotion and ownership, but he has appointed a legal team to respond on his behalf.

Seeking answers after last night's apology video, Eurogamer asked TmarTn's legal representatives for more information, but I was told there would be 'no further public comments on the matter'.

For now, at least, TmarTn is staying quiet.

For reference, we had asked for answers to: why TmarTn and others promoted CS:GO Lotto without disclosing their videos as a promotional material, how TmarTn's defence that his ownership was a matter of public record is adequate disclosure and why TmarTn introduced CS:GO Lotto to his viewers as a site a friend recommended.

We also quizzed why TmarTn can be seen in another video logged in under a bot account, why TmarTn pulled many of his videos promoting CS:GO Lotto and why they remain offline, and why his latest apology video from overnight is also gone.

TmarTn has yet to say when he will next address the matter - if at all. His fellow CS:GO Lotto owner Tom 'Syndicate' Cassell has signalled he will make a statement in the near future regarding his part, however.

UPDATE 7.50am: Mere hours after it went live, exposed YouTube star Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin has deleted his own apology video.

The less-than-three-minute confessional was roundly criticised (see: below) for failing to address most of the concerns raised this week, when it transpired TmarTn had been promoting a gambling site to his young audience without any disclosure - or any word at all that he was in fact its president.

The apology, which has since been reuploaded by other users and so is still available to view via the mirror below, boiled down to TmarTn saying how his ownership was on company records so no one should have been surprised.

TmarTn deleted the video around three hours ago, along with posts on Twitter linking to it. He has not gone into detail about his decision to remove it, but told one Twitter user he was 'disappointed in it'.

I was disappointed in it

— TmarTn (@TmarTn) July 7, 2016

There's no suggestion yet he'll make another. As of writing, his latest tweet two hours ago thanks fans who are still with him:

This has been such a humbling experience. Live, learn, and grow. Thankful for those still with me. Good night guys.

— TmarTn (@TmarTn) July 7, 2016

Here's the apology video to watch via a mirror. If you missed it overnight (the video only went up at midnight) there's a breakdown of what TmarTn fails to address in it below:

ORIGINAL STORY 0.30am: One of the YouTube stars who this week were discovered to be promoting a gambling site they in fact owned has issued a brief apology video in an attempt to calm the controversy.

Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin's piece to camera, embedded below, is short. It fails to address many of the concerns levied at him and fellow CS:GO Lotto owner Tom 'Syndicate' Cassell.

Chief among those concerns - the suggestion that they knowingly mislead viewers by promoting a gambling site they in fact owned, and encouraged others to spend money on it after showcasing themselves apparently winning thousands of dollars worth of items in minutes.

MarTn's defence of himself is that his ownership of CS:GO Lotto was a matter of public record since day one (a fact he at one point himself disputed, claiming he only came on board later).

In short, TmarTn appears to suggest his fans should have researched the company details of a website he himself told viewers he had just stumbled upon, so they could have then discovered he was registered as its president.

'Now, my connection to CS:GO LOtto has been a matter of public record since the company was first organised back in December 2015,' TmarTn states. 'However, I do feel like I owe you guys an apology. I'm sorry to each and every one of you who feels like this was not made clear enough to you.'

It's worth remembering at this point how TmarTn introduced the site to his viewers: '[A friend] has been hitting me up and we found this new site named CS:GO Lotto. I've put a link down in the description, check it out. Anyway, we were betting on it today and I won $69 or something, so it was a pretty small pot but it was the coolest feeling ever! I ended up following them on Twitter and they're now talking to me about potentially doing a skin sponsorship!'

The idea that any viewer could assume TmarTn's ownership from that - or then go researching the company to find out - is unlikely to convince anyone.

TmarTn's apology video continues with a reassurance he is 'committed to making sure that my YouTube channel, as well as all of my other businesses, are in compliance with the law', that users under the age of 18 are not supposed to gamble on the site, and that he believes every game played on the site has been 'legitimate'.

The statement does not address why TmarTn and others promoted the site without disclosing their ownership of and financial ties to the company.

It does not address or apologise for TmarTn pretending to stumble upon the site - rather, it suggests that TmarTn's own viewers could and should have known by themselves.

It does not address video which shows TmarTn logged in under a bot account.

It does not address how his many viewers under the age of 18 are able to log in and gamble by simply ticking a box to say they're 18.

It does not address why TmarTn pulled many of his videos promoting CS:GO Lotto and why they remain offline.

Eurogamer reached out to TmarTn earlier in the week for answers to all of the above. We have since also reached out to TmarTn's lawyer, who declined to comment on any points raised above.

The only thing the video does say, really, is that TmarTn's fans should not feel like he was trying to deceive them, and that he is now looking forward to getting back to 'regularly scheduled content'.

I've since spoken with PsiSyndicate, another YouTuber involved in promoting gambling sites without proper disclosure. He has revealed how easy it is for gambling sites to rig results so YouTubers can be seen winning easily - and how they are paid handsomely at the same time.