Rustam “5TRYK#R” Alimulov, a former CS:GO professional from Kazakhstan, has claimed that he and a number of his former teammates tried to fix lower-tier CS:GO matches seven years ago.
Back then, 5TRYK#R was one of several members of the Kazakh-based CS:GO team PARTY, who were looking to develop a squad good enough to qualify for one of the CS:GO Major tournaments.
However, as they worked their way through a number of lower level tournaments, with prize money unavailable, 5TRYK#R claimed that he and his team mates decided to use cheating and esports betting as a way to raise some cash.
Ostensibly, they would place bets on themselves to lose the first pistol round in each of the three group stage matches in the Starladder Regional Minor Championship closed qualifier which took place in December 2015.
Plans Foiled
5TRYK#R commented that their plans were eventually scuppered when one of their team-mates, allegedly Fitch, let slip about their plans to use the spot-betting fix in their three group stage games.
Somehow, word got through to the betting company Olimp.kz (now Olimpbet.kz) which was a sister site of its Russian sportsbook version Olimpbet. They quickly realised a number of odd betting patterns on the PARTY games and cancelled all bets made on the games.
That meant that instead of the $5,000 in cash each player felt they would earn from the fix, the players not only earned nothing, but also hindered their chances of progress in the tournament as a result.
Indeed, there was a sense of karma about the whole affair as having lost a group game, PARTY then lost a key Match 8 contest and were eliminated from the tournament, halting their progress towards a shot at a CS:GO Major, one of the biggest esports tournaments you can compete in.
Problem For Hobbit
While 5TRYK#R’s claims may seem outlandish, he has provided evidence including chat logs, snapshots of betting prices as well as YouTube videos of some of the gameplay from the affected games to back up his claims.
While many of 5TRYK#R’s teammates only had lower-level careers in esports, one player in particular has gone on to bigger and better things and claims such as these could have a massive impact on his future as a player.
That player is current Cloud9 star Abay “H0bbit” Khasenov.
Khasenov has played for top level CSGO teams such as Hellraisers, Winstrike, AVANGAR, Gambit Esports and Cloud9.
With Gambit Esports, he and his team won the PGL Krakow Major in 2017, just two years after the incidents alleged in 5TRYK#R’s comments are said to have occurred.
Following the comments from 5TRYK#R, H0bbit tweeted the following response on Twitter:
“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.”
Team Breaks Up
5TRYK#R has confirmed that the PARTY team broke up shortly after this incident after a further lack of success in match fixing in another event, plus poorer than expected competition results.
5TRYK#R remarked:
In 2016, my career was strong as a captain and a player. I was in the elite Kazakhstan CS:GO players. I knew AdreN, mou, hobbit, fitch, keen, fantastika and others but after I stopped talking due to them wanting to fix matches I was pushed out.
I did not get into the national team anymore and players from my country stopped talking with me.
5TRYK#R has revealed that he has a ‘serious diagnosis’ and it is this which has prompted him to come clean.
I want to put my morale in order by telling the whole truth about the former PARTY team and live with peace of mind.
ESIC have already started a preliminary investigation into the claims which they say they are taking seriously.
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