CS:GO Lounge to try for gambling license

Tuesday 2nd of August 2016

One of the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin-gambling sites, CS:GO Lounge, is attempting to acquire a license in order to become a legitimate business, local media reports.

In late July, game company Valve Corporation issued cease and desist orders to over 20 different gambling sites, including CS:GO Lounge after it announced plans to shut down illegal “skin-betting” websites.

Skin betting is a concept in which players bet with weapon skins /decals which they acquire with real money. These websites allow users to bet skins against match outcomes, or use them to gamble in a variety of casino-style browser games.

In an update on the CS:GO Lounge site, founder Borewik said that it was seeking a license in order to legally operate in many countries and accept eSports bets made by the community.

According to Borewik, the site is now limiting access to betting for users from regions where eSports betting is legal, affecting customers from UK, US, and large parts of Europe.

“After all the recent events around virtual items and the official letter by Valve, which we have received as well, we were left out alone without any additional information or communication by Valve on this matter. We had to make a decision on how to proceed with Lounges as community place and entertainment service,” Borewik said.

“The situation is highly confusing - we are not offering games of luck, we are not offering any transactions with real money or equivalents. Despite those facts, in order to avoid or reduce the confusion, we have decided to acquire a license to legally operate in most of the countries and be able to accept the eSports bets by our community, as if it would be real money.

“Starting from Monday, 1st August 2016, we will start limiting the access to the betting functionality for users visiting us from countries and regions, where online eSports betting is forbidden. We will add additional registration and verification process and we require you to comply with our new Terms of Service if you want to keep using our service. We also remind that our service is only for users who are at least 18 years old.”

Sports Betting License ESports Skin betting