Sports betting is a huge pass time for many and often the cause of hijinks and capers in movies where our beleaguered protagonists need to find an excessive amount of cash before having their knees broken. Fortunately I doubt such consequences will fall on the heads of seven CS:GO players involved in the Australian Mountain Dew League (Embrace the meme, Mountain Dew) but they’re certainly in trouble after it was discovered that they were betting on their own matches and have thus been suspended from the game for a whole year.
The Esports Integrity Commission was rather annoyed about all this, releasing a statement within which it said, “As a result of the joint investigation between ESIC and ESEA, ESIC has discovered that seven current CS:GO professionals playing in MDL [Mountain Dew League] Australia placed bets on MDL matches during their participation in the MDL.
Some of these individuals engaged in betting activity related to matches they were playing in themselves. Further to this, ESIC has identified that several associates of the Offending Parties also participated in betting activities related to the matches being played by the Offending Parties. In some instances, the associates placing bets mirrored identical bets to those placed by the Offending Parties.
What all the official language means is that some players were caught betting on their own games and even had friends (probably) betting on those same matches. Now there’s nothing wrong with betting on sports but maybe don’t do it if you’re involved in the match and may have a direct effect on who ends up winning. That just screams match-fixing and as a South African that’s one of my least favourite things to do.
The following players have been banned, and haven’t yet blamed the devil for making them do it:
- Stephen “sjanastasi” Anastasi (LAKERS) [now playing as “stvn”]
- Akram “akram” Smida (Rooster) [now playing as “ADK”]
- Daryl “Mayker” May (Ground Zero)
- Corey “netik” Browne (Rooster) [sometimes spelt “nettik”]
- Damian “JD/The Real Goat” Simonovic (Rooster 2)
- Carlos “Rackem” Jefferys (Rooster 2)
- Joshua “jhd” Hough-devine (Rooster 2)
One of the teams involved, Rooster, released a statement and acknowledged that they knew about the betting but figured it was harmless as the players only bet on themselves to win and thus wouldn’t intentionally throw games to make some extra cash. Apparently the players also deeply regretted their actions because yeah, I’m fairly certain they would right about now. Just goes to show, kids. Gambling can be fun and a decent way to spend a Saturday evening but it’s also super dumb and risky, especially if the person rolling the dice hasn’t thought it through.
Winners know when to quit!
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Last Updated: October 27, 2020
For the Emperor!
October 27, 2020 at 09:27
I think it should be sorta ok to bet on yourself, but obviously the ethics of the league would still frown on it. Each time my Half-Orc War Cleric goes into a death match, he bets it all on himself. Because hey, if he loses he is dead any case. Ok, maybe D&D and real life are different.
Mark Treloar
October 27, 2020 at 10:41
When fantasy and reality clash
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34fvl4
For the Emperor!
October 27, 2020 at 11:48
Bwahahahahahaaa!
MechMachine
October 27, 2020 at 12:54
LOL, It just occurred to me. Reno 911 is GTA played out in television form.
Gavin Mannion
October 27, 2020 at 11:27
It’s illegal simply because the the lure of putting “spot” bets against you for big money is too large.
Want to see something horrifying..
Here is a spot bet I can place right this second on an IPL cricket game later. The bookie is offering odds of 51-1 on the first ball being bowled being a no ball.
So I put done £5000 on it and then pay the bowler £100k to step over the line on the first ball and I walk away with a £155k profit.
That’s R3.2 million for one ball being a no ball…. You’re telling me some esports player wouldn’t be tempted to accidently kill himself or whatever for £10k?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/269e80bf9dc061915649b0c06627322c6faf0cb1bfb5af41b52ce82f4408910b.png
For the Emperor!
October 27, 2020 at 11:43
I meant more like “bet on yourself to win”, where you still do your best to win and not do thinks like “drop a map” or “bowl a no ball”. Spot betting, throwing maps/kills etc. or as in your example in cricket I 100% agree with. We saw it more than once with cricket players from certain areas being caught out and banned for doing that. And of course as you say if allowed to “bet on yourself to win”, it can be a lure into more nefarious betting. So I understand the reasons behind not betting in a sport you are involved in.
We even saw it during the RWC last year, where one of the Welsh Coaching team got sent home for it. And also good old Hansie “chase but don’t get too close oh no Gibbs forgot there goes my new leather jacket” Cronje…
Insomnia is fun
October 27, 2020 at 09:43
Australia? I would’ve though if someone was band it would be because they were caught sandpapering someone peripherals
For the Emperor!
October 27, 2020 at 11:53
What a burn on the Aussies https://media0.giphy.com/media/WtDhaE4JDJDnHmd3Qz/giphy.gif
MechMachine
October 27, 2020 at 10:03
Funny comment. Also, my Band mates and I are in total agreement that those Aussies are a bunch of cheaters and should be Banned……
Insomnia is fun
October 27, 2020 at 11:10
?
For the Emperor!
October 27, 2020 at 11:53
What a burn on the Aussies https://media0.giphy.com/media/WtDhaE4JDJDnHmd3Qz/giphy.gif
Insomnia is fun
October 27, 2020 at 12:10
?????
Gavin Mannion
October 27, 2020 at 11:24
The team knew about it and didn’t do anything? Wow….
That team, and those who run it, should be banned for life from all esports. It’s blatantly wrong and clearly against the rules. What the team is saying is they don’t care about cheating
For the Emperor!
October 27, 2020 at 11:48
Yeah, the team knowing about it…wonder if some of the owners/admin were also in on the betting, but just hid it better?