IEM Rio 2023 is turning hot as we turn to some of the bigger matches tonight. We are at the business end of Group A. With BIG facing NaVi and NIP going against Heroic, we have two top matchups of this tournament. With high stakes on the line, we take a look at the matches and come up with predictions for these two matchups in group A of IEM Rio 2023.
IEM Rio 2023: Group A
Group A of IEM Rio 2023 started off with some top world-class teams. The likes of Heroic, BIG, MOUZ, NIP and NaVi are all in group A. But now it’s time for the upper and lower bracket semifinals. BIG will be facing Natus Vincere in the upper bracket final first and then Heroic will be going against Ninjas In Pyjamas.
BIG vs. Natus Vincere
Rosters
BIG
Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz
Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann
Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa
Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne
Marcel ‘hyped‘ Köhn
NaVi
Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj
Our Prediction
NaVi vs BIG seems to be a bit of a straightforward matchup in our opinion. NaVi has won four of their last five competitive matches while BIG has won only two. The last time the two teams faced each other was at the IEM Rio Major 2022 where NaVi won 2-0. The NaVi team looks stronger on paper and has a better recent form heading into this match. So, we predict a win for NaVi tonight and they’ll be moving forward to the next stage of the tournament.
NIP vs Heroic is a bit of a tricky matchup in our opinion. NIP has a better form going into this match winning three of their last five matches. Heroic has a decent form as well winning four of their last six matches. The last time the two teams have faced each other was at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2022. Heroic won that matchup 2-1. But it’s NIP that won 3/3 series before that. While this matchup can go any way, we predict a win for Heroic.
Both NIP and NaVi would look forward to making it into the next round of IEM Rio 2023 as they had done so in their first matches. Let’s see what the night has in store for them!
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IEM-Rio-2023-Group-A-Predictions.png321845Laurahttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngLaura2023-04-19 16:31:462023-04-19 16:31:53IEM Rio 2023: Group A Upper & Lower Bracket Finals
We are back with CS:GO action and it’s getting hot at Blast Premier Spring Groups 2023. Day 3 of the tournament saw one of the most exciting matches which was NaVi vs NIP. How did the action turn out and more importantly, who won? Find out only at Gamopo!
NaVi started off well on Inferno winning the pistol rounds. However, NIP was quick to respond picking up the next three rounds. Till the end of the first half, things kept going back and forth. However, advantage NIP as they were up 7-8 on their own map pick. But NaVi did well to recollect themselves from the start of the second half. Five straight round wins saw them picking up frags after frags. They continued to remain untouched as they picked up their map pick 16-9.
Map 2 between NaVi vs NIP was where the real action took place. NaVi started off well picking up the first round but NIP was quick to respond. NIP’s latest recruit, headtr1ck was annihilating everyone from the start of the map. The first half ended 7-8 in favor of NIP on NaVi’s map pick. NIP continued to bulldoze over their rivals from the beginning of the second half. But NaVi did a great job at coming back later tying the score line 15-15 and heading into overtime. In overtime, NIP looked determined to pick up the map. They won the first three overtime rounds and while NaVi showed some resistance, it was too little too late! NIP picked up their fourth overtime round and won 17-19 on Mirage.
Overpass was the remaining map that both teams tried to ignore. Right off the bat, NaVi looked determined to wrap up the series in their favor. Picking up from Mirage, s1mple was reminding everyone why he was the best picking up one frag after the other. But it was not just s1mple, the entire roster looked well coordinated and flawless in terms of strategies executed. The first half ended 11-4 in favor Natus Vincere. Second half saw NIP’s efforts go in vain as NaVi continued to dominate. The map ended 16-8 in favor of electroNic’s team.
With NaVi vs NIP over at the Blast Premier Groups 2023, Natus Vincere walks away with a win. While it was not a walk at the park for NaVi, NIP was far behind in terms of quality of strategies executed. Talking about the IGLs, electroNic surely put in a shift but the same couldn’t be said about Aleksib. S1mple continued to be himself even though he was slow in the first half of Inferno. Well, that’s what you expect from the number one CS:GO player in the world. All aside, if there’s any positive that can be taken away from the series, it’s the two young guns- headtr1ck and npl. Both have thoroughly impressed the audience with their energetic performance. We hope to see more of that in the future!
NaVi will be facing G2 next at the Group C upper-bracket final. The two teams faced each other not too long ago in the quarter finals of ESL Pro League Season 16. G2 came out on top beating their arch-rivals 2-1 but later conceded to the champions, Team Vitality in the semi finals.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Untitled-design-21.png321845Laurahttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngLaura2023-01-22 07:27:172023-01-22 07:47:58NaVi vs NIP at Blast Premier Spring Groups 2023
We have finally stepped into the Champions Stage of IEM Rio Major 2022. With only 8 teams remaining, the quarterfinals will commence from tomorrow. Let’s check out the top 8 teams and present our predictions of the IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals!
IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals
Top 8 Teams
Here are the top 8 teams of IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals:
Cloud9
MOUZ
Fnatic
Outsiders
Heroic
Team Spirit
Natus Vincere
FURIA Esports
IEM Rio 2022 Quarterfinals Predictions
As we can already see, there are an abundance of big names among the top teams this season. It’s gonna be tough to pick up the victors in all of the matchups but here we go with our IEM Rio quarterfinals predictions:
Fnatic vs Outsiders
We have Fnatic vs Outsiders as the first series of the quarterfinals. And this should be a good one! Both the teams have had a similar form throughout this tournament so far. However, Outsiders picked up a two-map win over Fnatic last week. Fnatic would definitely want to take revenge for their earlier loss but it’ll be tough. It seems like Outsiders will be picking up another win over Fnatic but it might be a close one.
The second match of day 1 of the quarterfinals see Cloud9 facing MOUZ. The two teams had very different starts to the tournament. MOUZ were table toppers during the Challengers Stage picking up consecutive wins against Outsiders, Evil Geniuses and Fnatic. However, they couldn’t replicate the dominance in the Legends Stage losing against BIG and Outsiders. On the other hand, Cloud9 started off sloppy losing against Fnatic and Grayhound in their two opening matches. Over time, they regained their form and now look to dominate MOUZ.
Cloud9 should be the easy favorites to win the series here. We know how good they are on maps like Overpass and Mirage where they have far better winrates than MOUZ. MOUZ always tries to ignore Dust2, so if C9 picks that up then it will be game over then and there. So, we’re siding with Cloud9 as the clear favorite here.
Heroic vs Team Spirit
Heroic vs Team Spirit could go either way. Both the teams have displayed some amazing Counter-Strike in this tournament. Heroic’s wins over Fnatic, Outsiders, and Team Liquid have impressed the crowd quite a bit despite being annihilated by C9. Team Spirit did pick up a well-deserved win against Liquid but losses against FURIA and Outsiders were uncalled for.
This matchup will boil down to the map picks and bans. If Heroic gets both Nuke and Overpass in their favor, they should be picking up this series. This series should be an amazing matchup!
Natus Vincere vs FURIA Esports
FURIA, overall, have had a better performance at IEM Rio thus far. They won all of their Legends Stage matches against ENCE, Team Spirit and BIG. Including those three, FURA have won six consecutive matches. With all of that in mind, Natus Vincere is surely in trouble. They started off the tournament on the wrong foot losing against Cloud9 and Team Liquid. With current form in consideration, we don’t see NaVi making it out alive. FURIA just might get the best of them this time around especially with yuurih in such great form.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Untitled-design-13.png321845Laurahttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngLaura2022-11-10 06:48:512022-11-10 06:48:51IEM Rio Major 2022 Quarterfinals Predictions
The stage was set as Natus Vincere (NAVI) met FaZe Clan in the finals of IEM Cologne 2022. What started off with 24 teams earlier this month now trickled down to only them. The two teams clashed with guns blazing as FaZe Clan emerged as the victor.
Rosters of the Finals
FaZe Clan
Finn “karrigan” Andersen (IGL)
Håvard “rain” Nygaard
Helvijs “broky” Saukants
Russel “twistzzz” Van Dulken
Robin “ropz” Kool
Natus Vincere
Denis “electroNic” Sharipov (IGL)
Oleksandr “s1mple”Kostyliev
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev
Map Picks
FaZe bans Dust2
NAVI bans Vertigo
FaZe picks Inferno (First map)
NAVI picks Overpass (Second map)
FaZe picks Ancient (Third map)
NAVI picks Mirage (Fourth map)
Nuke left (Final map)
First Map (Inferno)
With Inferno being FaZe’s first pick, you’d expect them to win it. Right from the get go, they played accordingly. FaZe Clan won the first 5 rounds without flinching at all. For the first time in the map, things went NAVI’s way and they won the next 4 rounds thanks to team efforts. Things went back and forth a little before NAVI picked up the lead for the first time making the score 6-7 in their favor. The two finalists kept going at each other as the scoreboard read 12-12. FaZe put it into fifth gear to win 3 rounds back to back making it 15-12. There was a little bit of resistance but FaZE picked up the first map 16-13.
Second Map (Overpass)
It was the first map pick for Natus Vincere but FaZe took the first round. S1mple then took the risk of buying an AK despite losing the first round and it paid off. They picked up the second round thanks to his brilliance. For the first time after the 2nd round, the scores were levelled 5-5 between the two teams. The first half of the second map ended 8-7 in favor of NAVI. After the half, it continued to be balanced for the next few rounds as well and things started tipping in favor of FaZe. But the lead didn’t last for long as NAVI took 7 consecutive rounds. While things seemed a little shaky as FaZe Clan won the next two to make 15-13, perfecto stepped up and defused the bomb right in time to win the map.
Third Map (Ancient)
Right from the start, FaZe’s pick seemed to have been NAVI’s. NAVI won the first 8 rounds straight without any problem whatsoever. The form continued as the scoreboard read 15-4. It should’ve been moments before NAVI picked up their second map in a row but this is Counter-Strike! When it matter the most, FaZe responded. They won 11 rounds consecutively to tie the map and head into overtime. Natus recollected themselves and won it in overtime thanks to a 200 IQ defuse by b1t. They were now just one map away from becoming champions.
It was NAVI’s pick again in the fourth map of the finals of IEM Cologne 2o22. They started off well as they picked up the first 3 rounds, no issues whatsoever. But then issues started arising out of thin air. FaZe levelled it 3-3 and then went on dominate the rest of the first half. They ended the first half 10-5 in their favor. NAVI did show some fight in the second half but it just wasn’t enough. FaZE picked up the fourth map winning it 16-9.
Interested in CS:GO betting? Check out our recommendations for some of the top CS:GO betting sites!
Fifth Map (Nuke)
The fans asked for a fifth map and the finalists, FaZe and NAVI delivered it in the grand finals of IEM Cologne 2022. NAVI started off the best way possible picking up the first 5 rounds. However, they couldn’t hold onto their lead for long as FaZe Clan responded drawing the map 6-6. But the first half ended 8-7 in favor of Natus Vincere. FaZe turned the map around in their favor and had a 4-point advantage making it 13-9. NAVI responded and won 4 straight rounds, the 4th being a clutch by perfecto. 13-13 soon turned into 14-14. And just when it looked like it’ll go into overtime, twistzzz and karrigan stepped up to pick up the next two rounds. And that is how FaZE Clan finally won it all at Cologne!
With yet another major under their belt, FaZe Clan are now the best CS:GO champions of the entire world.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FX5aS6mXwAQU72l.jpg10801920ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2022-07-17 21:09:062022-07-17 21:09:06FaZe Become Champions of IEM Cologne 2022
Cologne has witnessed the best teams from across the world clash to win the Masters. With the competition at its final stages, few remain to become a victor. We now finally have our first pair of semi-finalists with Astralis facing NAVI today.
Team Astralis
Astralis has always been one of the most fierce teams in the Counter-Strike world. The pride of Denmark- Astralis has picked up multiple titles, the last notable one being the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019. While 2018 and 2019 served as their prime years, Astralis is still a force to be reckoned with. They surely have proved so with their current run at IEM Cologne 2022.
Astralis Roster
Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander (IGL)
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
Asger “farlig” Jensen
Martin “trace” Heldt
Astralis’ Run at IEM Cologne 2022
Astralis was one of the 16 Play-In teams that made it thanks to their ESL World Ranking. Following a Bo3 format, the first opponents to face Astralis at the lower bracket were Complexity and BIG. Both Complexity and the winners of the 2022 Roobet Cup lost to the Danish squad. Placed in Group B, Astralis faced some big, big names of the Counter-Strike scene. In round 1 of the upper bracket, Astralis clean sweeped FURIA Esports. They went on to do the same to Cloud9 in round 2 of the upper bracket. Their first loss came against FaZe Clan in the following round. While FaZe directly proceeded to the semi-finals of the competition, Astralis faced MOUZ (formerly known as mousesports) in the quarter-finals.
Astralis vs MOUZ
MOUZ was not at all expected to make it this far at IEM Cologne 2022. But they did. They beat the likes of Heroic, Team Vitality and Ninjas in Pyjamas to name a few. With new recruits torzsi and JDC, MOUZ gave Astralis a run for their money. MOUZ started off strong winning their pick of Mirage 16-8. Astralis took Nuke as their first pick and they leveled the series 1-1 winning 16-9. Ancient was the decider and Astralis just clinched it 16-12 ending what can be considered as a dream run for MOUZ. While Astralis have done a good job at taking care of Mouz, their biggest challenge yet awaits- NAVI.
Natus Vincere
NAVI has proven many times in recent years that they will destroy anyone that comes their way. Before we look into what may be in store for us, here’s how NAVI is lining up this Major:
Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
Oleksandr “s1mple”Kostyliev
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev
Astralis vs. NAVI Preview
Astralis vs. Natus Vincere will be taking place at 19:30 ALMT today. It will be streamed live on Twitch right from Cologne. Since 2020, the teams have faced each other a total of 11 times. Astralis has only won thrice out of those 11 matches. NAVI has a win rate of 70% in the last 30 days while Astralis has won 62% of their matches. So, the odds are heavily in favor of Natus Vincere.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FXye7aIUYAErBRn.jpg10801920ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2022-07-16 15:17:462022-07-17 15:23:02Astralis to face NAVI at IEM Cologne 2022 SemiFinals-1
In early 2016, Counter-Strike:Global Offensive was becoming more and more popular mainly because of the CS:GO skin gambling, buying, trading, and betting. A lot of people were creating inventories filled with luxury knives and other weapon skins, and they were always coming to play the game mainly because they invested a lot of money into it.
However, not everyone acquired expensive inventories by purchasing skins, a lot of people earned their first knife by gambling on numerous different websites.
In late 2016, Valve started sending out cease and desist letters to all of the popular skin gambling websites, and this was the downfall of skin gambling industry.
However, in mid-2017, many moved to other types of skin betting sites like the ones where you can trade in a cryptocurrency called Skincoin, or CSGO gambling sites where you are required to do all sorts of skin gaming tasks to acquire skins for CSGO.
So, despite the projected downfall, the industry started to recover in the years that followed and is still going strong to this very day.
Before we continue and tell you all about skin gambling and buying we don’t advocate skin gambling at Gamopo.com. We only recommend trusted CSGO betting providers , 99% of trusted providers don’t offer skins gambling. If this is your thing please be careful as most providers have no licenses and may only be out for your money. With that said lets get into it.
HOW HUGE WAS THIS MARKET?
Some reports say that CS:GO skin gambling related to esports was worth over $5 billion dollars in 2016. This is a ridiculous amount of money for a market based on virtual skins.
Ever since skin gamblers had a chance to turn their skins into real money, they started playing more and more. Websites like bitskins.com and opskins.com were blooming, and they were stacked with skins 24/7.
Sometimes, Valve would ban a couple of bots on certain gambling websites, thinking that they could seize their operations if they lose money, but that never stopped anyone. You can only imagine how much money they earned that they had no problem if their bot gets banned with over $300,000 worth of skins on it.
However, things have cooled down as of late, mainly because trade ban for each skin has been introduced. Basically, if you trade a certain skin you will get a 14 days trade ban on that same skin, and you will not be able to trade it for that period of time.
Skin gambling websites were earning so much money that they decided to sponsor different Esports teams and organization. For instance, Hellraisers were sponsored by csgopolygon.com. On the other hand, hellcase.com was one of the biggest sponsors of StarSeries i-League, and they even added drops to the live stream. They tried to create a similar atmosphere to the Major with those skin drops.
Due to bans and controversies, the skins betting industry began to decline in 2017, but this was not the end by any means. Players continue to bet on skins to this day, without much trouble.
It was first thought that the industry would fall apart, but in reality, it just continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate. At first, the predictions were that it would be worth more than $20 billion, but it is now estimated that the CS:GO skin betting industry is worth $13 billion in 2020.
This is still significantly higher than the $5 billion back in 2016, which certainly shows a lot of promise that the industry will continue to grow despite the many controversies and problems.
NOT ALL OF THESE WEBSITES SEIZED THEIR OPERATIONS
One of the most popular gambling websites is definitely CSGOFAST.com. They have been live ever since skin gambling was introduced to the scene. However, ever since trade bans were put in place, their business has been very bad. So they followed other popular websites and decided to offer real-money gambling.
So yes, there are a lot of operational websites that used to offer CS:GO skins gambling, but almost all of them have switched sides and now they are offering real money wagers.
TYPES OF CS:GO SKIN GAMBLING
CSGO skin betting is not as simple as some believe it to be, and one thing that proves this is the size of this industry. However, more importantly, the answer lies in the many types of CS:GO skin gambling that exist.
In the following sections, we’ll talk about methods like Counter-Strike; Global Offensive skin jackpot, CSGO match betting, Counter-Strike roulette, and many others. Keep reading to learn all about them.
COUNTER STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE SKIN JACKPOT
csgofast.com
Almost all of the skin gambling websites had skin jackpot put in place. You are probably wondering how did they earn so much money if they only provided jackpot and other players competed in it. Well, they would take 5% minimum commision, some of the websites even 10-15%. The math is simple if there is a $1000 pot and the commision is 10%, that is $100 every 60 seconds or so. Now you can imagine how much money there were able to earn.
CS:GO SKIN BETTING
Another very popular skin gambling method was betting on Esports events and in particular CS:GO match betting. A lot of websites started adding this section of gambling, simply because people were enjoying betting on numerous Esports events. Needless to say that viewership was insane in every single tournament.
Best CSGO Skin Gambling Sites
There are plenty of sites where you can bet on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins, but not every one of those is the best CS GO gambling site. Only a couple of them can be considered as the best in the business, and we wanted to share the ones we believe to be the best for all players:
Unikrn
Pinnacle
GG.bet
Betway
CyberBet
How to Bet on CSGO skins?
If you are one of those players who are new to the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin betting, you are probably quite confused with how this type of betting works.
It’s actually quite simple. There are plenty of third-party betting sites where you can gamble your skins on CS GO tournaments and matches. You only need to use the software tools offered on the site, which are always extremely simple to figure out. The software of the site is the mediator that will take away your skin if you lose the bet, or award you with one if you win. It’s essentially the same as any other form of betting, so you don’t have to worry about the actual controls, only about finding a great CSGO betting site.
www.drakelounge.come
CRASH
As the time passed by, everyone got fed up with skin jackpot and similar games. So a new idea was needed to attract more and more players, new and old ones. The crash game was introduced to almost all of the gambling sites. And it was a big hit. The game itself was very simple, the bar would start at 1.00, and the longer you stay in the game before withdrawing the more you can win. The trick is to hit the collect button before the bar crashes, and everyone who did not collect their money would lose their initial bet. This was a very interesting and tense game mode, but its downside was that the game can crash at 1.00 and everyone can lose their money before the game even started.
csgocrash.com
COUNTER STRIKE ROULETTE
This is probably the most popular gambling game in the entire world. A simple jackpot with red, black and green. However, there were alternations on various sites, where they introduced x2, x5, x10, x100 lines. Not much else to say about this game, very simple and easy to understand.
csgoroll.com
CS:GO CASE OPENING WEBSITES
Just like crash game mode, case opening became very popular after players got bored of old games. Someone did the calculation and it turned out that Valve was earning a lot of money on case opening(the official one). There was only 0.20% chance to get a covert skin(red), while websites like hellcase.com, farmskins.com, and many others offered a much higher chance of winning a rare skin.
However, the official case opening was also banned in numerous countries around the world.
hellcase.com
CS:GO SKIN TRADING SITES
Even though this is not considered as a gambling method, most of these sites got their bots banned as well. If we take csgojar.com as an example. Their bots got banned with inventories worth around $250,000. To be honest, they were not offering anything illegal, it was a simple procedure of skin trade. If you do not enjoy your skins anymore you can trade them on this website for another one. Of course, the price of selling was way lower, and the price you were paying was a bit higher but still, this was a fair and square deal. I personally used this website a lot, and I never had any problems with it. But, they were tampering with Valve’s profits and they had to go.
cs.money
How Did CS:GO Skin Gambling Start?
The first skin gambling website was csgolounge.com. Once this website was launched, it was mostly considered as a trading post where people could trade skins between themselves without any fees. However, after some time, they introduced the first skin betting platform related to Esports. All of the matches were based on a percentage wins, so there was no way that website will lose money. The more money you place, the more will the percentage drop. Very easy to understand and yet a perfect way to earn money without any risk.
Csgolounge.com is the first website that got cease and desist letter from Valve, and ever since they stayed out of the business.
CSGOFAST.COM
This skin gambling website has been a go-to place for a lot of high rollers. Most of the popular skin gambling YouTubers played on it, and their pots were insane. At their peak, their average daily pot was well above $600. You can imagine how much money owners of this website made.
You can also find a lot of videos on YouTube were people won crazy amounts of money with a very low chance of winning. Overall, csgofast.com started off with skin jackpot, but after a while, they had a big variety of games to play on. They have also introduced skin betting to their website, followed by slots, case opening, crash, hi-lo, and many others.
To conclude, csgofast was one of the most popular skin gambling providers, and after the series of cease and desist letter, bot bans, and other trading restrictions their traffic is lower than ever. But still, they are average around 3000-4000 unique players every day, even though they switched to gambling with real money.
csgofast.com
CSGO500.COM
Another very popular website that had over 7000 unique visitors per day back in 2016. They were the first website who introduced a different method of roulette to the skins gambling industry. Instead of ordinary, black, red and green roulette, csgo500 decided to introduce something that is more rewarding to their players. Black(x2), red(x3, blue(x5), gold(x50).
Ever since it was released players were swarming to play there, and to be honest, it was not that easy to win there, simply because there were a lot more options to bet on, and logically you had bigger chance to lose. Just like csgofast, this website was one of the first ones on the Valve’s list, and their bots were banned all the time.
However, after trade bans and limits, they decided to switch to the VGO, cryptocurrencies and other Dota 2, H1Z1 skins, but you can still deposit Counter-Strike:Global Offensive skins. Furthermore, most of their business is now made through BitCoin deposits and withdrawals.
csgo500.com
CSGOLOTTO.COM
Probably all of you know what happened with csgolotto. For you who are not that familiar with it here is the quick breakdown. This skin gambling website was owned by two YouTubers, Trevor “Tmartn” Martin, and Tom “Syndicate” Cassel. They were both promoting it on their YouTube channels without ever disclosing the part that they are running this gambling website. And we are not talking about small YouTubers. They even played on the site, and they were winning crazy amounts of money, and you can guess why. Because they rigged the system in their favor.
Ever since that information became known to the public and to the CS:GO community, csgolotto closed and never opened again. But they still made an insane amount of money, as they attracted all of the popular skin gambling YouTubers, and their pots averaged around $800 per day.
csgolotto and one of its owners, Tmartn
CSGOSHUFFLE.COM
Another scandal related to skin gambling. The most popular twitch streamer at that time, James “PhantomL0rd” Varga was primarily a gambler on twitch. He barely played any games on twitch, and he was attracting over 50,000 concurrent viewers. He was always doing crazy giveaways, giving back to the community, and most of his YouTube videos are based around him giving away luxury knives to the underaged kids. You can only imagine how it must feel when a 15-year-old kid gets a $2000 knife for free.
However, everything was not so perfect for James. Most of the time he spent streaming, he was gambling on csgoshuffle.com. But at one point, his skype was hacked and hackers got his chat logs. That chat was between him and his developer of csgoshuffle. It can be clearly seen from the messages that he was adjusting odds so he can win. It backfired massively on him and he had to flee the country. No one heard from him for a long time, and he recently came back to streaming. Furthermore, he can not stream on twitch anymore, and now he is streaming himself PLAYING video games on YouTube. And guess what, he is averaging 100 viewers per day.
If all of this weren’t enough, for the past two years, James and Twitch have been in a lawsuit limbo. Varga wanted $35m in damages for the fact that Twitch banned him, while Twitch argued that the damages should be capped at $50,000. The trial is set to begin in October 2020, and hopefully, it will be resolved soon after. As for the site csgoshuffle.com, it’s no longer in operation.
phantomL0rd playing on csgoshuffle.com
Of course, csgoshuffle seized its operations and it never reopened again.
DRAKELOUNGE.COM
After csgolounge.com stopped offering betting content someone had to step up and take their players away from them. Drakelounge was a part of “drake” series of gambling websites. They were operating with numerous different websites, mostly based on roulette, case opening, and their latest addition drakelounge.
What players mostly enjoyed is odds betting. No more percentage bets where you would see your winning potential shrink everytime someone places a big bet. Alongside decimal odds, they were one of the first skin gambling websites that offered 24/7 live support. They were never involved in any scandals and they were always rewarding their players and community overall.
Even though skin gambling is not as viable as it was in the past, this website is still going strong, as they switched to the direct skin deposit through opskins.com, gift cards, and BitCoin deposits.
To conclude, in my personal opinion this was the best skin betting website on the entire scene.
drakelounge.com
HELLCASE.COM
This is not mainly a skin gambling website. They offered exactly the same thing as Valve itself offered. They publicly stated that they are offering much higher odds to win more expensive and luxury items than Valve is.
This is the main reason for their popularity. But they have taken this one step further. They invested a lot of money into hosting numerous smaller tournaments where lower tiered teams could compete and prove themselves on the scene. However, they did not stop here, they are the main sponsor of StarSeries i-League, and that says a lot about owners of this website.
At the moment, they are still alive, and they are doing okay. They were always around 2000-3000 unique visitors per day, and that number did not get any smaller despite recent events and restrictions.
hellcase.com
CS.MONEY
Last but not least, cs.money is a trading platform, but the second party is the website itself. So technically you can not call this a skin gambling website because there is no game of chance attached to it.
I feel sorry for cs.money, because their bots were banned on regular basis, and they did nothing wrong. Yes, their values were higher once compared to other websites like opskins and bitskins, but still, people could use this website to exchange their old skins to get new ones.
No one ever had any problems with websites like this, and it feels like they are treated unfairly. But to this day, they are still offering quality skins. And also, some of the rarest skins can be found on their bots. For instance, while I was writing this they had one of the most unique skins on one of their bots. Souvenir Factory New Dragon Lore with a JW sticker. They are selling it for a whopping price of $27,000.
cs.money
How do you feel about scandals related to some of these skin gambling websites? Also, do you justify CS:GO content creators on YouTube sponsoring some of these shady gambling websites? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
CONCLUSION
The biggest problems that skin gambling occurred was underaged gambling. There was no way of stopping kids from taking part in the gambling scene. The only way to limit them from visiting these types of websites was not efficient. The only thing they could do is add a box to confirm that you are 18 or older, which is totally stupid, and it does nothing. But still, on the legal sides of things, they did the correct thing.
Furthermore, skin gambling really ignited the community, and it was growing rapidly. But the money they were acquiring from these websites and the amount of scamming that was flooding around the game and its community was unreal, so I understand why this had to be done by Valve.
However, this is not the end of skin gambling. Not only that there are websites still going strong, but there are also numerous lawsuits filed against many of these sites, mostly related to the underaged gambling.
Stay tuned for the second part of this article, where we will talk about the most popular skin gambling websites out there. If you are interesting in CSGO betting and learning more about it head over to our CSGO Betting for the best advice and tips.
What do you think, did Valve to a good thing with cease and desist letters? How do you think CS:GO scene and community would look like if skin gambling was still a thing? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
After yesterday’s perfect predictions, we are moving on to the semi-finals of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018. There was barely any surprises so far in this event, except in the opening matches of day 1.
Both Vitality and Luminosity dominated their opponents in the lower bracket, and in the deciding matches. Both of these teams did not drop a single map and they have proven why they are one of the favorites to lift the trophy at DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018.
DREAMHACK OPEN ATLANTA 2018 SEMI-FINALS BETTING PREDICTIONS
GHOST – LUMINOSITY
After the initial struggle, Brazilian roster, Luminosity Gaming has been on a terror. They did not drop a single map in their last two games. They managed to beat Envy, which was expected. In their decider, they had to face off against eUnited. eUnited is a hot and cold team, and their best player moose played out of his mind. However, that was not enough, as Luminosity swept them as well, with a 2-0 score.
Furthermore, their best player HEN1 is in a ridiculous form at the moment. In their last two matches, he is sitting on a +40 KD difference. If we compare him to Ghost’s best player, WARDELL we can see a lot of similarities. Both of these players are carrying their team to the victory, and at the moment I feel like HEN1 is in a better shape than WARDELL. This is definitely going to be a good matchup between these two AWPs and I feel like Luminosity’s star will prevail.
On the other hand, Ghost had it easy so far in this tournament. They won both of their matches and they did not have to play any best-of-3 series so far. They even had an extra day to prepare for their opponents. Firstly, they managed to beat Vitality, and no one expected that. Secondly, they played against Rogue in their last match of the groups. They won that match as well, but both of these matchups were pretty close. In the first one, they lost 12 rounds, and in the second one 13.
Map pool is deep for both of these teams. Let’s start with Ghost. Their permaban is definitely Overpass. They do not feel comfortable on this map and there is no way we will see them compete on it. Furthermore, their Nuke is also really bad, but we will not see them compete on it either, because this is permaban for the Brazilian side. I feel like Ghost will definitely have edge over Luminosity on Cache. They even managed to beat the best Brazilian roster on that map, MIBR. Furthermore, Inferno and Train are all decent maps for Ghost, while Mirage is also not something they shy away from.
Luminosity is also very comfortable on most of the maps. As I mentioned above, they are always permabanning Nuke and there is no way we will see them play it. Furthermore, their Dust 2 is also not so good, but they were able to defeat Liquid on it, and that says a lot. Inferno, Train, and Mirage are all good enough maps for Luminosity Gaming and Cache is probably their worst map which they will probably end up on.
These two teams played 2 maps against each other. Both of these maps went to the North American side, Ghost. However, this was the period when Luminosity was in a pretty big slump and they will definitely bring their A game in this match. They lost on Train and Inferno. I think that this time things might change a little when it comes to map picks. Ghost will definitely try to get Cache in, as they feel really comfortable on it. On the other hand, Train or Inferno would be an ideal pick for Luminosity, and decider might end up on Dust 2.
To conclude, there is a great value on Luminosity to win. They definitely have a chance in this match, they have been in a good form, they played on a constant basis and their best player is fragging like a madman. Bookmakers are underestimating Luminosity in this match and in my personal opinion, they have a great chance in this match.
LUMINOSITY TO WIN – 2.55 @ Betway
COMPLEXITY – VITALITY
I was expecting these two teams to face off in the grand final, but we can call this a final match, simply because one of these two teams will probably lift the trophy. CompLexity has been on a cruise mode so far in this event. On the other hand, Vitality had to shake things up and start playing like they are capable of. And they did just that. They did not drop a map in their 2 best-of-3 series. Now they have an ultimate test in front of themselves.
Vitality is heavily relying on one person, that being Zywoo. On the other hand, compLexity is playing a really structured game and everyone is fragging on a high level.
Even though compLexity did not have such a high level of competition so far in this event. But, Vitality had to dig deep to survive and here they are, fired up against the second biggest favorite to lift the trophy. Do not get me wrong, Vitality is not basing their game around Zywoo, that guy is just insane. If he gets going, just give him a weapon and let him win rounds for you. A lot of us thought that the big stage might get to him, that he will feel the pressure, but that is not happening.
When it comes to map pool, I feel like VItality has a slight edge. Overpass is the best map for Vitality, but this is a permaban for North American roster. On the other hand, Vitality hates playing Train and there is no way we will see them play it, especially against compLexity. However, Vitality is a lot better on any other map, especially on Inferno and Cache. However, the only map where compLexity has an edge is Mirage, and that is mainly because of bad T-side of Vitality.
To conclude, Vitality is a lot more individually skilled than compLexity. They have a much deeper map pool, better strategies, more experience and overall they are a better team. If Vitality wins this match, they will probably win the entire thing. I got Vitality in my books.
VITALITY TO WIN – 1.70 @ Betway
Good luck to anyone who is tailing our CS:GO betting predictions. Let’s hope we can get another perfect score today.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/image1-4.png5851115ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2018-11-18 14:29:522020-09-29 09:10:54Dreamhack Open Atlanta Betting Predictions 2018
There were a lot of surprising results from the first day of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018. Some of the biggest favorites managed to lose against underdogs, but not all of them. Vitality had every chance to claim their first match after a furious start, but they fell short. On the other hand, second favorites to win this event, compLexity is also edging things out versus an average team like eUnited. Furthermore, Luminosity lost their opening game as well, and they were considered as one of the favorites to lift the trophy as well.
Even though this has been a roller coaster so far, these are our betting predictions for the second day of DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018.
DREAMHACK OPEN ATLANTA BETTING PREDICTIONS
ENVY – LUMINOSITY
As I mentioned above, making a correct prediction for this CS:GO tournament has been very hard. However, we are here to try to help you win your bets with our in-depth analysis.
Coming to this tournament, Envy was the biggest underdog to lift the trophy. On the other hand, Brazilian roster, Luminosity Gaming has been rated as the third favorite to win it. So you are probably wondering how did Luminosity end up in a loser bracket versus the worst team participating here at Atlanta.
Let’s start with their performance. One of their star players LUCAS1 did not show up to this game. He has been the best-rated player for this roster, and his performance today was awful. At the end of their opening match, he had a -10 KD difference. I believe that this is just one of those games, and he will definitely have a point to prove in their match against Envy.
On the other hand, Envy had to play against compLexity, and it was easy to spot that they will struggle in this match. After though they linked 3 rounds after losing pistol and eco round, it was not enough to make a difference at halftime. In the end, they only won one round on T-side of Cache, and that concluded their opening match, 16-6 scoreline.
If we are to compare these two teams, there is a huge gap. Mainly in team cohesion and individual skill. Envy has been together for a brief period of time, while Luminosity played together for a while now. Also, individual skill is a huge factor in this match. Brazilian roster has a lot of firepower, players who are capable of winning rounds single-handedly, while Envy can not thrive in those type of situations, simply because they are a CS:GO team filled with washed up players.
Map pool could create a lot of problems for Envy side. They have a very limited map pool, and they are not comfortable on any map at the moment. However, Luminosity is capable of excelling on a couple of maps. Mainly Train, where Envy has zero wins and 5 defeats in the last 3 months. Mirage and Inferno are also maps where Luminosity can show their A game. This leaves Envy with limited map pool. They can hope to get Dust 2 since Luminosity is not that comfortable on it, but they are not either. Envy is decent enough on Cache and Mirage. To conclude, Luminosity has a huge advantage, simply because this is a best-of-3 match between these two teams.
In conclusion, Luminosity is better than Envy in every aspect of the game. There are several bookmakers offering insane odds on Luminosity to win, and we will take the one provided by gg.bet
LUMINOSITY TO WIN – 1.68 @ Betway
VITALITY – FRAGSTERS
Most of you know that there is a lot of hype surrounding this Vitality team. They have a chance to be the best French team on the scene, but they are not playing to their full potential just yet. Yes, their star players are fragging on a great level, but they are lacking that team play and cohesion between themselves. Vitality had a great start versus Ghost, and everyone thought they will run with the game easily. But it was not that simple. Eventually, they had no response to what Ghost was showing on their T-side, and one economy reset sealed the game for the North American organization.
Fragsters are having an awful tournament, mainly because they had to find a stand-in hours before their match starts. They found one in the likes of HS, and it is very clear to see that he can not help them in any way. Furthermore, they were torn apart by Rogue, and they will probably be the first team to be eliminated from this tournament.
There is no need to compare map pools from these teams, as there is a huge difference in individual skill. Vitality really needs to stop messing around and this is their best chance to play a serious and structured game of Counter-Strike:Global Offensive.
Furthermore, this is Vitality’s last chance to prove to the world that they mean business. Even though Zywoo, their best fragger, may not be on his usual level, there is a lot of firepower behind other players in Vitality. Especially NBK and apeX duo. They are two very experienced players, and they will have to step up and carry this newly formed team over the finish line.
To conclude, Vitality needs to show good performance in this event since this is their first LAN tournament. They do not want to be eliminated and I am sure they will play their best tomorrow versus fragile Danish roster Fragster. I feel like this will be a dominating performance from the French roster and they will not drop a map versus Fragster.
CORRECT SCORE 2:0 (IN MAPS) – 2.15 @ Betway
These are our two best bets for the second day of DreamHack Open Atlanta. Considering both of these teams are coming to this matches as favorites, odds on them winning their match-ups are out of this world.
Best of luck to anyone tailing on our CS:GO betting predictions.
https://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/image1-4.png5851115ryan nowehttps://www.gamopo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43049735_2190022561248158_4641806417915805696_n-277x300-80x80.pngryan nowe2018-11-17 17:16:562020-09-29 09:08:46Dreamhack Open Atlanta Betting Predictions 2018
