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The first skin gambling sites sprang up a decade ago following an update bringing cosmetic enhancements or ‘skins’ to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO). If you want to get into skin betting, using only legitimate sites is essential to avoid scams.
To help you, I reviewed several Counter-Strike betting sites to pick the best options. CSGOLuck offers a unique welcome offer, CSGOFast prioritizes quick deposits and withdrawals, and CSGOEmpire features a fully functional sportsbook. Read on to learn more about these excellent sites and how to wager your CSGO Skins on them.
Skin gambling is a relatively new practice of using virtual goods, often cosmetic elements (skins) from video games, to place bets on esports games. The practice started after the introduction of cosmetic skin on the popular first-person shooter game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO). Today, you can bet with skins on games like FIFA, CS2, and Dota 2.
Skin betting generally takes place outside Steam. The 2013 Arms Deal update for CSGO birthed a flurry of third-party websites or CS2 skin markets letting players trade their skins for money, as Steam didn’t allow betting back then. Soon after, some of these sites started allowing users to gamble on various games using the skins they’re trading on the platform, giving birth to today’s generation of CS2 skin gambling sites.
Most skin gambling sites will let you wager your skins on various games, including esports and traditional table games. Many of the sites I’ve used offer roulette, slots, coin flips, and even poker, essentially offering a casino experience where your CSGO or CS2 skins are used as the chips required to play. Additionally, there are typically no restrictions on what items you can wager, from low-value, free CS2 skins to sophisticated weapons with designs costing several hundred dollars.
Betting with CSGO skins has been around for a while now but it still has its benefits and drawbacks. Here are some pros and cons you should be wary of while betting using video game skins:
Skin betting is easy to get into, especially if you already play CSGO or CS2 extensively. Here’s a quick guide to skin betting for beginners:
The first and most essential prerequisite to skin gambling is getting the skins in the first place. You can get CS2 skins in two main ways: playing patiently until you get the skins organically or buying from third-party skin markets. Skins vary greatly in price and rarity, but you should find some at literally any budget range to get started with CS2 skin gambling.
Purchasing skins from third-party sites is usually the better option when trying skin betting, as free CS2 skins typically have very low value, making them not very useful for betting. Free skins can be precious too, but you must be a dedicated, experienced gamer to get high-value skins for gambling on CS2. When buying from third-party sites, you want to be extra vigilant, as there’s is a possibility of fraud, although you can use any of the sites we mentioned, as we only review licensed skin gambling sites.
Once you get skins, the next step is finding a legitimate skin gambling site to wager your CS2 skins. Using some random site you found on Reddit or the first site that comes up after a Google search is generally not a good idea as you may end up on a scam website. I’ll recommend some really good CS2 skin betting sites shortly to help you choose right and avoid scams.
The way skin betting works on most supported games is that you sign up for them using your Steam account and allow them access to the skins in your inventory. So, legit skin gambling sites asking you to sign in using your Steam account isn’t unusual; just double-check to ensure you’re not entering your details on a hacker’s page. Better still, stick to my recommendations below to keep safe from skin-betting scams.
Once your CS2 inventory is synchronised with the betting site, you can proceed with wagering your skins on your favourite games. I discovered an impressive variety of games, but they’re mostly divided into two categories: Player vs Player (PvP) games like coin flips and Player vs Environment (PvE) games like baccarat, crash, and slot games.
You can even make selections on traditional sports betting markets using your skins, but most skin betting sites will only let you bet on esports games.
Once you’ve placed your bet, you’ll then receive a reward in CS2 or CSGO skins as agreed upon on the site’s terms of service. The payout process should ideally take minutes, especially if you use a site like CSGOFast with a promise to pay all user winnings between five and thirty minutes.
The legality of CSGO betting sites is an ongoing argument so the best course of action is to check your country’s laws on it. For instance, Norway and Denmark have outlawed skin betting so if you’re from there, we are sorry to say you won’t be able to place bets using skins.
On the safety front, things get murkier. While there appears to be a higher incidence of scams on skin betting sites compared to conventional licensed casinos, you can generally avoid scams by reading reviews and following recommendations from friends already familiar with the best CS2 skin gambling sites. An alternative is simply checking out my recommendations below; they’re legit and feature rewarding bonuses to get you into skin gambling as a beginner.
Following the Arms Deal update that made skin betting possible on Dota 2 and CSGO, the betting industry saw a proliferation of new sites allowing users to bet using their skins. I’ve tried many of them, and here are the best skin gambling sites to try:
Founded in 2015, CSGOFast is one of the pioneers of skin betting on CSGO and it has since grown to become one of the most trusted names when it comes to gambling on in-game items from CSGO and CS2. While skins remain the primary currency on CSGOFast, I found alternative payment methods on the site, including Visa, MasterCard, Skrill, and cryptocurrencies, allowing me to participate in games without directly wagering CS2 skins.
CSGOFast offers several unique game modes for betting: Classic Roulette, Baccarat, Case Battle, Hi-Lo, Crash, Wheels, Cases, and even regular slot games, to name but a few. I tried Crash and a few rounds of Case Battle, and I noticed no hiccups, so I’d give the site a thumbs-up in the games category.
As the name implies, CSGOFast claims to prioritise quick payouts, promising users will receive rewards from games within five to thirty minutes of the game being settled. I didn’t get a welcome bonus when I signed up on CSGOFast, but the site offers a slew of deposit bonuses and bonus codes to unlock free coins and skins to wager on games.
CSGOLuck is one of the oldest sites to first support skin gambling with CSGO, and it has unsurprisingly grown to become one of the best skin betting sites ever since. As you’d expect, CSGOLuck focuses uniquely on CSGO (now CS2), and it supports a wide range of games, especially for a skin betting site.
When I first signed up on CSGOLuck, I discovered I could deposit knives, gloves, machine guns, pistols, rifles, containers, and other elements from CSGO and wager them on any of the site’s games. Another interesting thing about CSGOLuck is that you don’t have to be an avid CSGO user to play on the site; the website accepts real money and cryptocurrency deposits and will allow you to wager and withdraw CS2 skins directly to your Steam account.
Additionally, I received a decent welcome bonus when I signed up. Since I know of its reputation as one of the best CS2 Crash sites, I spent the welcome bonus on Crash, while also checking out Coin Flip and Case Opening. You can head to the banners on this page to find out exactly which bonus offer you could receive, as the exact amounts may vary depending on where you live. CSGOLuck also has a sportsbook for esports with a diverse selection of games, so thumbs up. In addition to the welcome bonuses, CSGOLuck offers free CS2 cases that you can wager on Case Battles or unbox for CS2.
PLG.BET isn’t just one of the oldest CS2 skin gambling sites; it’s also one of the best.
Like most competing sites, PLG.BET will let you deposit skins from your CSGO/CS2 account and wager them on a diverse selection of games, from coin flip, dice, and crash to more conventional casino games like slots, roulette, and Baccarat.
PLG.BET rewarded me with $0.3 after I connected my Telegram to my account and followed the site’s official Telegram channel. While there are no official bonuses on the website, the CS2 skin betting site promised to publish promo codes users can redeem for bonuses on its Telegram channel. I’ve yet to get any bonus codes, but my initial deposit and $0.3 Telegram bonus were enough to get me started on Dice and Coin Flip. Still, it would have been nice to actually receive or attempt to claim the bonus codes so as far as that goes, it’s a thumbs down.
CSGOEmpire claims it’s the largest CSGO betting site by bet volume, and it would appear so, as it’s one of the few to hold a valid gaming license from Curacao with a verifiable license number. Like most similar sites, it allows you to deposit, wager, and withdraw using CSGO skins, real money, and cryptocurrency. CSGOEmpire offers free CS2 cases to all new users, and I got one immediately after creating an account.
I wouldn’t call CSGOEmpire’s gaming library huge by any means; the only game options available are Roulette, Coinflip, Cases, Case Battles, and a sportsbook. The sportsbook is pretty extensive however, featuring conventional sports like soccer, basketball, and cricket, as well as esports like CS2, Dota 2, and League of Legends. I tried Coinflip and Case Battles, and the games worked as well as I hoped.
Apart from being one of the best skin gambling sites, CSGOEmpire is also a massive skins market. It features a marketplace with a massive collection of Counter-Strike weapons and skins you can buy for wagering or to use in the game.
| Site | Features |
|---|---|
| CSGOFast | Lightning fast rewards |
| CSGOLuck | Real money and crypto deposits available |
| PLG.BET | Rich selection of conventional casino games |
| CSGOEmpire | Sportsbook and many esports betting markets available |
Skin betting sites are more than just markets to stake your CS2 or CSGO skins on coin flips. Sites like CSGOEmpire now hold full gambling licenses, allowing them to offer casino-style games like slots and baccarat, while still allowing you to play the games by wagering your video game skins. CSGOLuck, PLG.BET, and CSGOFast are excellent skin gambling sites for CS2 based on their game selection and generous bonuses. If you’re considering getting into skin betting, don’t hesitate to jump onto one of those sites, create an account, claim applicable bonuses, and start playing.
Skin gambling sites work by letting you wager skins and other in-game items on fun little games like dice and coin flips. Many of the newer skin betting sites don’t require depositing skins to play, as you can now make deposits in cryptocurrency and real money if your skins aren’t valuable enough.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for everyone, as the best skin gambling site for you depends on your preferences. CSGOEmpire is best if you’re after a site with a strong license and a decent sportsbook, CSGOLuck is best if you want a generous welcome bonus, and CSGOFast for its unique game modes.
CSGOEmpire has a gambling license from Curacao, so it’s a legitimate betting site that accepts deposits in CSGO and CS2 skins. However, you don’t have to deposit in skins as the site also accepts alternatives like cryptocurrencies and real money.
Most jurisdictions have no legislation against betting on skins from video games so it’s legal in most of the world, but countries like Denmark and Norway have disallowed skin gambling. Check the local laws and regulations of your country or area to determine whether or not it’s allowed.
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