Former Major winner hobbit implied in Match-Fixing

Let’s talk about match-fixing –  no, not the long-awaited report that will make the first years of VALORANT irrelevant – the new report by Dexerto that PGL Major Krakow winner Abay “H0bbit” Khassenov is also implicated in the dirty, dirty cheating plague.

We can take from the report that Rustam “5TRYK#R” Alimkulov (Yeah, I’ve not heard of him either) is far smarter than HUNDEN because we’ve got a lot of evidence to get through.

 So let’s do that:

It’s PARTY Time

To give a little background context, back at the end of 2015. H0bbit and 5TRYK#R were two members of a Kazakhstani team named PARTY. Almost the entire team went onto bigger things, but PARTY themselves were bad. The team didn’t last very long.

It seems, however, thanks to this post – not that anyone can read it – from 5TRYK#R that the team got up to a lot in their short time.

The post starts as an announcement of a severe health condition (which we wish him the best in fighting!). Still, it quickly becomes an admission of guilt as he says that the PARTY lineup was often taking place in ‘spot-fixing,’ a form of match-fixing that doesn’t decide the result of the match.

He links three games with three supporting videos. Those are:

• Match vs GameplayDNA
• Match vs vs hard ‘N’ play
• Match vs vs 420pm

While I don’t understand a word he’s saying in the videos, I know that these rounds are weird. 

I’ll break them down for you:

First up, PARTY faces GameplayDNA on Dust 2. It’s pistol round, and we see the T side PARTY team spread across the map with extreme dedication to covering every inch. Somehow, they make it to the A site – ironically, it’s h0bbit and 5TRYK#R who get there – and the former then proceeds to run around with the bomb until the CTs have descended upon him.

Next, we have hard ‘N’ play. Once again, this time on Mirage, the T-side PARTY has decided to treat the map like a cross-country track. The bomb is dropped near spawn, and the man who presumably is meant to receive it dies in B aps for some reason. It doesn’t matter because the split on A happens either way… until it doesn’t.

Just as the team looks to exit conn, they ‘realize’ they don’t have the bomb and go back to get it. Cool, the rounds are back on track. Or it should’ve been, but they split up again and die across the map.

420pm starts the same way: Mirage. T side pistol. Bomb dropped in spawn. 

The only difference is that instead of an A split, they decide to execute on both sites with the bomb on neither. An admirable matchmaking strat to try in a pro game.

This video features more clips, but you get the point by now. This entire thing is downright bizarre, and it’s incredible it wasn’t questioned at the time.

5TRYK#R then gives us screenshots of the betting company they used, olimp.kz (now olimpbet.kz) – which even shows that the company realized ‘the match is a sham’ and proceeded to cancel their bets and ban their team from being bet on. 

Dexerto

This happened because Bektiyar “fitch” Bahytov decided it was wise to tell people outside the team what they were doing. It still took this long to come out.

Some screenshots show hobbit actively being involved, which doesn’t look good for him.

Dexerto

Dexerto

Although he has since responded to these allegations, saying he will cooperate fully with ESIC with the investigation. 

I have never been involved in match-fixing.
Fully prepared to assist in @ESIC_Official investigation.

All that i have achieved, i earned with my hard work and perseverance. My reputation is above all to me.

— Abay Khassenov (@HObbitcsgo) May 16, 2022

Finally, we’re left with a video of a conversation between the members of PARTY, which seems to directly match some of the details given by its former IGL and captain. 

You can watch that below, but it’s long, and you might struggle to understand it. But the highlight is this from Fitch: “We wanted to throw against 8-bit actually – right? – but lost the game against Arcade actually, and it made no sense to throw it, the betting rates were weak, it made no sense money-wise.”

But I also do like this part from 5TRYK#R at 38:42: “Fuck, that shit… happened once, but we lost fuckloads of money because of you, everyone forgave you.”

They Took ‘Er Jobs

Look, the evidence is pretty damning. But it seems worth mentioning that 5TRYK#R also seems like a very bitter person. His Twitter tells a lot about being a forgotten man in history and his role in building teams like forZe. He also spoke to Dexerto about how he was ‘denied access to Kazakhstan CSGO’ after the players stopped talking to him.

It’s also worth mentioning the timing of this news. H0bbit currently finds himself at the PGL Major Antwerp, for the first time competing under his new team Cloud9. It doesn’t help the bitterness angle.

This evidence is self-incriminating, with 5TRYK#R admitting he is aware he will likely face a ban himself. The amount of evidence is also rare. Maybe this is a man wanting to clear his conscience if the worst happens.

We’re sure we’ll find out in 14 months. Maybe.

“It’s a shame about h0bbit, but it’s a time we get all of these match fixers banned.”