YouTubers TmarTn and ProSyndicate have been implicated in a scandal surrounding the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting scene.
YouTube channel h3h3Productions (in association with HonorTheCall) has alleged that both TmarTn and ProSyndicate have used their channels to advertise a Counter-Strike betting site, CSGO Lotto, without disclosing that they are the site's President and Vice-President respectively.
TmarTn - real name Trevor Martin - has 5 million YouTube subscribers across two channels, while ProSyndicate - real name Thomas Cassell - has 9 million.
CSGO Lotto, like many Counter-Strike betting sites, lets players wager weapon skins they have won in the game's loot crates. Counter-Strike skins can be valued at thousands of dollars, making this a potentially very lucrative or costly practice. One of Martin's videos shows him winning approximately $13,000 worth of skins.
h3h3's video includes clips that show both Martin and Cassell using the site. One clip of Martin shows him discussing CSGO Lotto, saying: "we found this new site [...] I ended up following them on Twitter and stuff, and they hit me up, and they're talking to me about potentially doing like a skin sponsorship."
The video goes on to show another YouTuber, Scarce, reporting that Martin has previously claimed that he originally used CSGO Lotto in the video as a way to decide whether to invest in the company. However, h3h3 shows company incorporation documents that appear to show Martin as the company founder, dated from before that original video was released.
Disclosure lines are present on several of Martin's betting videos, but h3h3 points out that the Internet Archive indicates these were added after Honor The Call released a video alleging Martin's impropriety last week.
Failing to disclose that one owns or is being sponsored by a company while promoting it can be seen to violate USA's Federal Trade Commission Act - if the FTC deemed this a breach of the law, both Martin and Cassell could be punished.
Since h3h3's video went live, Martin appears to have made all of his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Betting videos private, meaning they cannot currently be viewed. Cassell has since made a statement about the situation on his Twitter feed:
I do however stand very firmly behind the fact that @CSGOLotto has never & will never scam/steal from players.
— Mr. Syndicate (@ProSyndicate) 4 July 2016
We'll update you as we learn more.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor. He accidentally stumbled across this incredible Twitter feed that he thinks you should all follow..
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