Former OG support player Tommy "Taiga" Le has been accused of match fixing after a video posted by content creator Morf brought the issue to light. As part of a YouTube video Morf posted on his channel, Morf used chat screenshots and audio recordings to explain how Taiga connected with Valve banned player Aleksandr "Sensibility" Filatov in early 2023, who then engaged the gambling mafia, and they placed bets on OG matches based on information provided by Taiga.
As stated in the video by Morf, the initial arrangement involved Taiga placing bets based on insider information. However, due to impatience and reckless betting resulting in losses, he was compelled to repay by betting on OG matches, specifically focusing on the "first blood” event.
The betting reportedly continued for a long time before Taiga wanted to put an end to it, but was unable to since he was blackmailed by Sensibility, and now gets exposed months down the road.
Dota 2 content creator exposes alleged match fixing history involving Taiga at OG
Initial Conversations with Sensibility
Morf began his video with a reference to Taiga's admission of gambling addiction in October 2023 where he had not mentioned gambling on Dota 2 games and how a particular text in his statement likely referred to his relationship with Sensibility.
According to Morf, Taiga and Sensibility connected on Discord after playing together in a ranked game. He said that both players varied on how they met the first time, with Sensibility stating that Taiga asked him about how he might earn money from games.
Morf showed alleged audio recordings of the conversation between the players which had an arrangement that required Taiga to bet and earn his share from insider information. He was reportedly paid the amount that needed to be bet.
According to Morf's discussion with Taiga, this was money he borrowed for real life debts, which he repaid later with his salary from OG. At the same time, Sensibility tricked him into gambling on fake accounts resulting in losses and a return of the addiction. Taiga also stated that he did not receive any match fixing news from Sensibility to bet on.
However, according to Morf's conversation with Sensibility, Taiga could not control his need to bet on football and other games, and he lost the money he needed to gamble whenever relevant match fixing news had to come in.
Exploiting the circumstances, Sensibility reportedly began asking Taiga for insider insights regarding the performance of top teams, scrim results, and internal developments within OG. An alleged Taiga recording during this period says, “I wanna wait info, I wanna put everything in. 5k, 6k, 8k when you have info.”
Match fixing on OG matches
Since the insider information betting activity did not go as planned, Taiga, Sensibility, and eventually the mafia, purportedly from Russia and China, began betting large sums on first blood. Taiga would aggressively lead his team forward, claiming first blood against opposing heroes.
Taiga was said to have even shared his screen during games with Sensibility at times. According to Taiga, he did so because he was blackmailed as Sensibility threatened to reveal their prior gambling discussions.
So, Taiga had to comply because there was a means for him to settle his debt, however, according to his conversation with Morf, he never gained monetarily from the first blood event and instead only offered information to Sensibility.
At the same time, he consented to bet on OG matches, albeit exclusively on the team's victories.
Morf raised doubts about whether Taiga was truly blackmailed, citing an audio discussion where he insists against working with the Chinese mafia and instead, asks to limit the activity to just himself and Sensibility.
“I’d rather not have China man involved. Just you and me…I don’t care about others (Chinese mafia). I only care about you and me. I am your friend. We just work together,” Taiga says in the audio.
As the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2023 progressed and DreamLeague Season 19 came up, other betting events such as number of kills, and map duration were also discussed.
Later, when some first blood events failed as OG was unable to find it, the betting patterns also changed in some games so Taiga reportedly gave his kill away to feed the enemies' first blood. Morf showcased clips from these games to back up the claim.
According to Taiga, he was blackmailed and forced to feed the first bloods in two games.
As per Morf and Sensibility's conversation, the latter transferred Taiga around $35,000 USD from the mafia in April 2023.
Taiga refuses to continue working together
According to Morf, by the time the next DreamLeague round came along, Taiga realized how crucial it was for the team to do well and qualify for the Riyadh Masters, which had a very substantial prize pool, and so decided to move away from the alleged collaboration.
According to Morf, the blackmail by Sensibility then began as he threatened Taiga with exposed chats if he did not cooperate. He was asked to share the screen during games, and accounts in his name were created to share insider information with others.
During the Berlin Major 2023, Morf stated that there are not enough solid pieces of evidence to recount the complete collaboration, but Taiga was still active in some capacity and got his portion of the profit based on the conversation with Sensibility.
Taiga claimed that he gradually quit working with the mafia but was still exploited by Sensibility. Sensibility admitted this as he reported having an outstanding amount of $1,000 with Taiga and the information that Taiga started working with other betters as a reason for exposing him now.
Validity of the claims in Morf’s video?
According to Morf, Taiga admitted to conversing with Sensibility on Discord, and he was “naive” in using his real name in many places. Furthermore, Morf stated that he was able to connect the links between conversations he had across different social media channels.
He added that it was difficult to forge all of these elements in his opinion, as well as Taiga's voice in audio recording, even though advanced AI softwares are available now.
Morf further mentioned that in Taiga’s confession admitting to gambling, he mentioned seeking help in Bergen, Norway, and that in one of the screen recordings provided by Sensibility, in which Taiga filled out a form, the browser automatically put in the city as Bergen based on his current location.
OG and Taiga’s response
So far, Taiga has not responded to this Morf video. In contrast, OG issued a statement on Twitter. It stated that after receiving rumors regarding the player's involvement in match fixing in 2023, it notified the relevant event organizers, including PGL, suspended the player, and initiated an investigation.
However, no meaningful proof was found, and as such, the organization did not make any claims that may jeopardize the player's career.
It remains to be seen how this development plays out, and whether Valve will step in to perform a thorough investigation into the matter, perhaps reexamining Taiga and getting in touch with the teams he has played for in the previous year.
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