Earlier today, it came forward that Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad had scammed a community member for CS skins worth up to $11,000 – a mistake the Norwegian rifler has since admitted to and taken full responsibility for.
In his public statement, jkaem acknowledged struggling with a gambling addiction, which he says ultimately led to the situation.
Only the tip of the iceberg?
Shortly after the news broke, veteran pro Martin “STYKO” Styk added his voice to the conversation.
In a post on X, STYKO described the jkaem situation as “ugly,” but suggested it may only be scratching the surface of a deeper issue.
– Obviously the jkaem situation is just ugly… But the amount of pro players who are addicted to gambling/betting or are in debt because of money mismanagement and dubious “investments” would surprise a lot of people.
– After all, it’s a field where very young people get a chance to earn a lot of money and it’s easy to fall into the wormhole of bad decisions made by you, or get influenced by those who you consider close to you.
“It runs deep”
Well-known community figure and skins trader zipeL backed up STYKO’s take in a reply to his post:
– Yep, it runs deep, zipeL confirms.
– It has become a super casual social activity for many players to do, not just in CS, in other esports and sports too. It’s always a shit thing, some individuals are simply more prone to addiction and are able to keep it going for much longer periods before realising their life has become unmanageable and change is needed. And what is even worse is how easy it is to think you are different and not realise how badly you’ve lost yourself.
The situation involving jkaem revolves around unpaid CS skins worth around $11,000, which he has admitted to and apologized for publicly. He has since promised to repay everyone affected.
You can read the full story here.
