From the news: kids gambling thousands on Counter Strike

[Rath Darkblade]

The news article - Aussie teens gamble thousands of dollars on skins in the Valve game Counter Strike.

This has now hit the mainstream news, apparently. Is this a new story? As far as I'm aware, skins have always existed in Valve games (e.g. boxing gloves for the Heavy in Team Fortress 2).

Whose responsibility are these "gambling" websites? The last time I played a Valve game, I struck a few deals with fellow gamers to trade TF2 "skins" (e.g. the Heavy's gloves in exchange for a gun for the Medic). Is this gambling? I wouldn't have thought so.

Should the kids be held responsible for their own actions, or is there something else behind it? And you can put up all the warnings you like, but if this is not moderated, how can you stop teens from doing such things? I'm confused. Any ideas?

[adeyke]

The article is talking about third-party sites that let people play games of chance with skins as currency/chip. That doesn't mean that all interactions involving skins automatically become gambling. Trading one item for another isn't a game of chance, so you weren't gambling.