Betting on esports is generally a pretty safe practice. You are betting on players’ performances in a league that you yourself are also watching, so you know the stats just as well as they do. And, the sites that regulate and operate fantasy esports leagues are pretty reputable and reliable. But, with many games, and especially with any gambling activity, there will always be foul play. Cheating and match fixing are not unheard of, even in the glorious world of esports.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about match fixing in esports is that it has been going on for quite a long time. There are numerous stories, going as far back as 2013, that illustrate how even one of the newest sports, and one that has maybe the youngest demographic, can still be corrupted by greed. Whether it’s the coaches, players, or even the broadcasters, incidents of match fixing, match throwing, and game altering have been practiced for profit.
In 2014, South Korean League of Legends pro Cheon “Promise” Min Ki was hospitalized after accusing his manager of match fixing, and jumping from a 12-story building. The team’s manager, No Dae Chul, convinced the team to throw matches during the 2013 Champions Spring Tournament, saying that if they didn’t, the league organizers would kick them from the tournament entirely.
It turned out Chul was throwing matches for his own benefit. And when finally confronted by his team, Ahq e-Sports Club Korea, Chul simply came clean, and tried to recruit the team into his illegal activity. The team turned him down, unsurprisingly. After Chul then sold much of the team’s equipment, claiming they needed to pay rent, the team began to investigate. It turned out Chul was betting against his own team, and then telling them to throw games. He was in over his head in gambling bet. After going public with this information, teammate Ki allegedly leapt from a building.
In a game held on Aug. 21, 2014, American CS:GO team iBUYPOWER threw a match against NetcodeGuides.com—a match they should have had no trouble winning. Keep in mind, iBUYPOWER is one of the top CS:GO teams in America, but were seen using strange tactics while playing, and even laughing as they lost. They could have at least pretended to try to win.
Screengrabs of conversations with players from iBUYPOWER, as well as text messages, stated that the match was fixed, and strange bets were placed to against iBUYPOWER. Valve has since banned at least seven players tied to this scandal, from participating in the majors.
In 2015, 12 individuals were arrested in a StarCraft 2 match fixing scandal. Of these 12 people, only three of which were coaches or players, and were given lifetime bans by the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA).
"Since 2010, the association has worked alongside the rest of the industry to fight against the illegal betting that has continued to threaten the foundation of eSports," said KeSPA director Cho Man Soo, in a statement translated by Team Liquid. "It is extremely regrettable that a related incident has occurred again, and we apologize to all of the fans who have shown eSports their love and support."
Considering the sheer number of people playing esports and betting on the games, the number of accounts of match fixing is pretty small. It is certainly a thing that any involved need to be aware of, but we wouldn’t say it’s a huge problem. If you’re betting on esports, or taking part in betting on fantasy esports leagues, I wouldn’t worry too much about whether the match you’ve put money on is fixed. The bad apples that may be tempted to take part in such shady activity may be weeded out by the now mandatory drug testing in esports, as well. Of course, drug testing probably won’t affect match fixing, however there is already a huge concerted effort to make sure esports doesn’t become the next Sumo Wrestling, a sport in which Freakonomics pointed out the occurrence of match fixing is mathematically obvious. With continued diligence and judges, sponsors, and team captains keeping teams honest, hopefully esports can avoid the same taint and continue to be a growing market in the betting community.
