Richard Lewis Talks About Match Fixing in Competitive CS:GO

ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) had launched a match-fixing investigation in September earlier this year with MDL (Mountain Dew League) being under the scanner. A month later ESIC handed bans to seven Australian CS:GO players in connection with the match-fixing investigation while stating that there is still more to come.

Addressing the issue veteran esports journalist Richard Lewis recently spoke at length about match-fixing in CS:GO stating that "It's rife guys, I'm not going to lie any more. It's not just China, it's not just Russia, it's here, it's NA, it's Europe, it's Australia, so much more than you think, so much more than we can prove."

RELATED:  ESIC Currently Investigating 15 Potential MDL Match-Fixing Instances in CS:GO

Richard Lewis On Match Fixing In CS:GO

In a recent marathon of a stream Richard Lewis addressed the issue of match-fixing in CS:GO, unearthing a lot of information from past and present. Talking about the current professional CS:GO scene Lewis says that “It’s too far gone. Our entire semi-professional scene is compromised.”

He says that a lot of information about match-fixing comes his way as players leak chat logs after getting cut from bets “because they want to make more money”. Talking about the numerous ways players profit from leaking inside information to betters Lewis reveals how information is supplied to them in the first place.

• The people who have access to skins approach various pro players and strike a deal with them. In exchange of skins, these players pass inside information pertaining to various matches and teams to these betters.
  
  
• Information on how scrims were played out between teams and upcoming roster moves are also shared with the betters.
  
  
• This information is then used by the betters to change the odds. Giving a personal example Lewis said that “I had access to the biggest database of information, from an inside betting circle in NA, and it would take information and screenshots from other pro players, who were feeding them info in exchange for money or skins.”

RELATED:  ESIC Bans 7 MDL Australia CS:GO Players For Betting Related Offences

Lewis goes on to reveal that some of the players involved in this practice are still around in the scene. Turning towards the tier two scene he says that these days match-fixing is rife at this level because “They know they’re never going to play in a Major, so what’s the punishment?”

Not afraid to lose out on anything the tier-two scene according to Lewis work with organized criminals to “fix entire seasons worth of games. That’s what is going on in your tier two CS.”

Towards the end of this section, he talks about how ESIC is fighting alone against this onslaught of match-fixers who are on a rampant rise. The slack of funds has slowed down their ongoing investigation, while the lack of manpower means that ESIC’s efforts are scattered scare across various investigations.