Steam Warns Users Against Gambling Site After YouTube Stars Discovered As Owners

Tom Phillips, reporting for EuroGamer: Steam has begun warning users not to use a high-profile Counter-Strike: GO gambling website after its ownership turned out to be two YouTube stars -- who were also using YouTube to promote the site. Trevor "TmarTn" Martin and Tom "Syndicate" Cassell are listed in newly-uncovered business records as the president and vice-president, respectively, of online gambling site CS:GO Lotto. The news of CS:GO Lotto's ownership came as a surprise to viewers who have watched the pair promote the site on their channels, where both YouTube stars can be seen gambling -- and winning big money -- while using it. Neither had publicly disclosed their full roles in the site. TmarTn had not even disclosed his videos as being promotional tools. Attempt to log in to CS:GO Lotto now and you are greeted with the following warning message: "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."

Comments

We did this to ourselves.

[Anonymous Coward]

When we made it possible for any random douche with a computer and a webcam to become a "star," we opened the door for this kind of assbaggery. Our culture of celebrity was already bad enough until we gave the other 99% of the population the ability to join.

Re:We did this to ourselves.

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem here isn't the douche with the camera. Focusing on the douche with the camera ignores the bigger problem: the parallel - and thus, unregulated - economy built on top of Steam.

As with any parallel economy, you have fraud, scams and other abuses. Since the only police is Valve, and Valve has no interest in putting a stop to it because it is massively profitable for them, the abuses won't stop.

Occasionally, Valve puts their foot down, but, usually, they are more concerned about the attention that this might attract. More attention can potentially mean an official investigation, followed by regulation, and that would hurt Valve's business. So they suppress the more visible cases, while maintaining the status quo.

Re:We did this to ourselves.

[fustakrakich]

That still doesn't make the casino's fault. The gambler is only person to hold responsible, regardless who his "victims" are.

Re: It's because people no longer follow Caveat Em

[tysonedwards]

The problem here is that people with an existing and loyal fan base who trusted and respected them decided to create said gambling platform and mislead their viewers to believe they "found it" versus "founded it" and were using it to win money. As such, there might be a case of fraud (in the literal letter of the law) by anyone who acted upon said claims by these YouTubers.