Is CSGO and CS2 Skin Gambling Legal?

CSGO and CS2 skin gambling is still a prominent part of the wider Counter-Strike betting market. Instead of betting real money, players can wager the value of skins in their Steam inventory on professional match results and casino-like jackpot games.

The reputations and legitimacy of some of these sites have always been a major debate point within the Counter-Strike community. But is the act of skin gambling itself legal?

Can You Gamble Using CS Skins?

Gambling using CSGO and CS2 skins is legal, depending on the country or U.S. state you are in. You also have to be 18+ to gamble in any country or state where it is legal.

Up until 2018, it was illegal in the United States to gamble on sports using cash outside of the states of Oregon, Delaware, Montana, and Nevada, under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.

Because of this, several sites used skin gambling as a way to navigate around these laws, as virtual items were not prohibited. Even as gambling laws in the U.S. have changed, these laws don’t explicitly cover the gambling of virtual items like skins.

While skin gambling is not illegal, the skin gambling industry has been in the crosshairs of Valve since 2016. Valve was hit with a number of lawsuits in 2016 that were directly tied to various skin gambling sites.

Since then, Valve has sent several cease and desist letters to dozens of skin gambling sites and threatened them with legal action. The developer has also limited several features through Steam that contribute to skin gambling sites. As a result, many of these sites went dark or closed down completely.

Most sites now don’t let you wager skins directly. Instead, you can sell or trade in these skins for a site-specific currency. Then, you use that currency to either wager on matches or play casino-like games. If you win, you can use your currency to buy new skins or open cases on the site.

What are your thoughts on skin gambling? Let us know in the Insider Gaming forum.

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