YouTuber TmarTN issues apology video following CS:GO Lotto betting revelations

Update: TmarTN has pulled his apology video, claiming he was "disappointed" in it when asked by a fan. He offered no further reasoning. The video has already been re-uploaded by another user and is embedded at the foot of this article.

Original Story: YouTube personality Trevor 'TmarTN' Martin has addressed the recent controversy surrounding his undisclosed involvement in a Counter Strike: Go weapon skin betting website that he heavily promoted in multiple videos sent to his millions of followers.

Martin was found to be the founder and president of CS:GO Lotto, but failed to disclose this in videos depicting him winning hundreds and thousands of dollars on the website. In the video he offers an apology to his subscribers and addresses many of the concerns surrounding the controversy.

Fellow YouTuber who had been using and promoting the site through their videos - ProSyndicate -was discovered to be the site's vice-president, while Twitch streamer JoshOG revealed he owned equity in the site he too had been promoting.

The lack of disclosure lad to accusations that TmarTN and ProSyndicate had broken US laws regarding the disclosure of promotions on social media, and further accusations that the pair's access to the website could potentially have made it possible for them to rig bets in their favour for videos.

CS:GO Lotto is one of numerous websites that allow players of certain games - such as Counter Strike and Dota 2 - to gamble in-game cosmetic items acquired randomly through access to chests and crates the keys for which are sold through microtransactions by developers - in this case Valve.

The unofficial websites allow users to gamble with skins which have real-world value due to their desirability and rarity, meaning some wagers can be worth thousands of dollars at a time. A player's ability to sell these skins on Valve's digital marketplace Steam for credit in the store means they can be "cashed out" for real money through the purchase and selling-on of games.

In the video, Martin says: "My connection to CS:GO Lotto has been a matter of public record since the company was first organised in December 2015. However I do feel like I owe you guys an apology. I'm sorry to each and every one of you who feels that was not made clear enough to you."

No mention of his affiliation with the site were included videos about CS:GO until he edited them in after his connection to the company was revealed.

"I am committed to making sure that my YouTube channel as well as all my other businesses are in compliance with the law," he continued. "This is why I do not condone minors under the age of 18 to use CS:GO Lotto. This is and always has been a clearly-stated policy available in the both the terms of service as well as the intial sign-up page of the website. I've seen a lot of people focusing on the 'Under the Age of 13' section of our privacy policy. All this section states is that we do not knowling record information of children under the age of 13 yeas old in compliance with the COPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). This has nothing to do with and does not mean we condone the minors under the age of 18 to play on the site."

This is in reference to the legal grey area the site and others like it exist in because they aren't subject to the same strict laws and regulations that 'legit' gambling sites are. While Valve has no official involvement in such sites, it is currently being sued for "allowing an illegal online gambling market" to exist.

Martin ends his video by saying: "I believe that every game offered on CS:GO Lotto has been legitimate and I've been committed to making sure that remains true," before reiterating his love for his fans.

ProSyndicate meanwhile has said on Twitter: "I'll be responding to everything soon. I want to make sure I address every issue possible when I do."

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