It is no secret that CSGO has been making it big in the gaming industry. Valve has been pumping big money to make CSGO a big thing ever since the Arms Deal update – an update that changed the way that CS was played. Cosmetics fueled the game to become even bigger than it ever could have imagined – allowing Valve to put the money into tournaments that created one of the biggest esports scenes to ever exist on the face of the planet. Cosmetics became a part of gambling, betting, and every other “economic activity” possible because they had an economic value attached to the – one of the shenanigans used to promote the use of Steam’s Community Store.
The gambling of CSGO items forms one of the biggest avenues of income for folks having the budget to set up shop for the same. There are several forms of gambling – including roulette, blackjack, jackpot and so much more. Jackpot is possibly the most used format, where you spin the numbers and get returns based on the output of the machine. Roulette and blackjack are slightly more sophisticated – meant for people who have some insider knowledge into how the games work and how to manipulate the system into winning. Slots and keno are increasingly becoming a part of the system too, even though they are relatively new and hence a bit more “suspicious” for consumption by the audience. Online keno games as well as online slots have been popular for some time now – and it will take some time before people get used to this format. The world of gambling will only expand as long as there exist people who are brave enough to challenge the house for what it is (even though the house always wins in the end).
Betting is increasingly becoming a more conventional way of making money from people who are a bit more invested in the esports side of things. The growth of the esports scene means there are more people who know about esports in general and have fat wallets waiting to be thinned out. Fans start from betting randomly on the people’s favorites to learning out formations, strategies, players, maps and so much more while coming up with a strategy to come back richer than they were before. Tournaments run throughout the year, so betting is something almost anyone can get into as long as people have some money to invest upfront. Gambling sites generally are more numerous and grant some free deposit which can be used on the website before you play their games (and inadvertently lose all of it thanks to your lack of experience) – most betting sites require some money to be put on games before returns become a thing. Of course, returns are much lesser here, given that the risks taken are much lesser and more calculated than in the gambling world, where numbers are luck rule the roost.
Valve’s recent bans on gambling and betting sites as well as the change in the terms and conditions to prevent “unauthorized” use of the Steam API has reduced the number of operators in this sector. Despite this, money is an ever-fleeting resource in the world of CSGO – it’s just that the prime of the gold rush is over. Enterprising men and women can still turn a big profit if they want to (and should Valve turn a blind eye to them).
