FaZe Clan owner Ricky Banks has revealed that he created a skin gambling website to finance the organization’s CS:GO team. In a recent episode of the BADNWZ podcast, Banks discussed the creation of the website “CSGO WILD” and its original purpose to bankroll the long-term projects of FaZe Clan.
For the unfamiliar, CS:GO allows players to open in-game cases, exactly like loot boxes in other games by using a key that is sold by Valve at $2.49 USD each. Inside each case is a cosmetic skin, with the rarest being considered the most valuable and going for thousands of dollars in rare cases. Once a skin has been acquired, Steam users can trade the item to between themselves, but only for other items.
Banks described the process as, “kind of like a grey area, because it’s a skin and there’s no actual value to it, and the government puts absolutely no value to it. We came up with this idea, with these kids, for a different way to do it. We branded it the right way.”
Since actual trades of skins must be done using the tools provided by Valve from one party to another, the use of third-party gambling sites always falls outside of the Steams Terms and Conditions. At the same time it would be incorrect to label Valve as innocent in the creation of such gambling sites, since they themselves benefits greatly from the ongoing sale of keys to hopeful but naïve players hoping to score big with just one more case, and then one more, and then another.
When Valve first permitted the trading of cosmetic items in CS:GO and Team Fortress 2, the process was quick, simple, and could be completed in a matter of minutes as two users connected online. Over the years Valve has been plagued by hackers who target naïve players on sites like the one created by FaZe Banks, often taking control of accounts to clean out their inventory of cosmetic items to sell and trade elsewhere.
Over the years, trading items has been a far more restricted and drawn out process. Security measures have been put into place to prevent fraudulent transactions, and trades can have holds placed on them for upwards of two weeks to ensure the items have not been stolen.
Gambling sites for any kind of cosmetic item on Steam have always carried a stigma of unethical behavior, fraud, account stealing, and more. Of course, Banks claims that they were the only ones operating legitimately, but it’s hard to believe such a claim given the history of the individual and ongoing legal troubles with Fortnite streamer Tfue. Instead, hearing that Banks operated a CS:GO gambling site is probably the least surprising news one could hear about him.
Source: talkesport.com
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