What is 322 in Esports Slang
Yuriy SheremetWhile esports was developing and growing at the beginning of the aughties, esports battles attracted some attention from bookmaker companies. They started to accept bets on CS:GO, Dota 2, and LoL matches, as these were popular disciplines. Obviously, some dishonest people saw a chance to make easy money which was the reason for the appearance of the 322 meme.
In our article we are going to tell you about the origin of the 322 notion and educate you with some informative stories about the downfall of some promising esports stars that were caught red-handed.
How the 322 meme appeared
In the summer 2013 the sixth season of the Dota2 prestigious tournament – StarLadder StarSeries Season 6 – was taking place. On 14 June, the last gaming day of the event, ROX.KIS played zRage at the group stage and the final game that already meant nothing for the teams. At that moment ROX.KIS was one of the strongest teams in the CIS region, and zRage was an evident outsider. The difference between the classes of the teams was huge, so bookmakers set big odds for zRage’s victory.
During the match experienced commentators repeatedly spotted inexplicable gaming moves coming from ROX.KIS. It immediately rose suspects: the favourites of the match were losing on purpose. To fuel the flame, the audience blamed the players from ROX.KIS for a bet on zRage’s victory with big odds.
After the end of the battle (as expected, zRage won), some online esports betting sites contacted the organizer of the tournament and confirmed the fact of several big bets on the outsider.
The scandal was inflating with the speed of light. As a result, it was revealed that Alexey «Solo» Berezin wagered against his team. He admitted his fault and got a lifetime ban from participation in StarLadder tournaments. The whole team was temporarily dismissed from performing.
Solo 322 – what is it about?
The scandal about the match fixing was discussed in the esports community for a month. The audience saw a screenshot of that notorious bet.
It shows that Solo placed a $100 bet against his team with the odds 3.22. Therefore, the reward would be 322 dollars. This sum – 322 – became a meme that named fixed matches. And the nickname Solo 322 got stuck with Berezin.
The punishment was fast and ruthless. The cyber club got banned from participation in all tournaments and a fine of 1500 dollars but the players did not get disqualified individually. Their destiny was saved by the fact that Alexey «Solo» Berezin admitted his fault, helped to investigate and acknowledged his action publicly. Berezin claimed that he did not involve his partners from the club into his unfair play.
The outcome may have been much worse for the played, he risked his career and getting a ban from participation in all professional tournaments. A great many people were surprised with Berezin’s desperate decision to risk his career for 322 dollars.
Failed attempt to deceive the bookmaker did not stop other players. Other esportsmen followed Solo 322’s footsteps but their punishment was much stricter.
How 322 ended for Alexey Berezin
It’s no surprise, but the sad story about 322 had a happy ending. Later the ban from participation in matches was reduced to one year. The time of disqualification was useful for Alexey – he was training hard and mastered his gaming skills.
At the beginning of 2014 Solo returned to professional performances assembling the renewed roster ROX.KIS. Together they won a row of tournaments and were close to entering The International 2014. After that Alexey played for этого Team Empire and Vega Squadron and showed a great performance.
In 2016 the management of Virtus.pro offered Solo to gather a new roster. The renewed team became the leader of Dota 2 in CIS and Europe at once, and Alexey has won approximately $1,5 million dollars since the performance with VP.
322 meme
Right after the scandal with SOLO, the Internet exploded with funny pictures on the topic.
Use of 322 meme
The 322 meme has a prominent position in vocabulary of esports fans. At the moment it is used not only in match fixing scandals, but also in situations when a player was too lazy in a game or made a blunder in a simple situation. The reaction would be numerous messages with the phrase 322 as a joke or a reproach of the player’s intentions to do the move on purpose.
Who was caught with 322
No doubt, Alexey Berezin was not the only case of when a player or a team wagered against themselves trying to farm some money with the help of bookmakers.
Belov’s stupid joke
Pavel «Revolver» Belov, a StarCraft II player, followed the illegal footsteps of Solo 322. He was accused of using a name of a different person and trying to convince one of the opponents to fix a match of the nearest match of a small tournament. Due to the fact that he chose the name of the famous esports blogger and commentator Sergey «Pomi» Rodionov to disguise himself, the incident leaked out.
Bizzard dealt with the hooligan severely imposing a life-long ban from the World Championship. All assurance of the unlucky scammer in order to convince everyone that it was an innocent joke was not persuasive. The guy just buried his promising career. Pavel «Revolver» Belov lost his job because of his desire to make 100 dollars.
South Korean cheaters
A scam of the biggest scale was revealed in the homeland of StarCraft II. The police from South Korea were untangling the connection between popular players and criminals. The branched net consisting of players and media managers was headed by Ma «sAviOr» Jae-yoon.
Jae-yoon was a real idol for South Korean fans of StarCraft II. The police officers proved several dozens fixed matches where Jae-yoon participated of which were organized by him. The criminal syndicate’s revenue exceeded three million dollars.
The organizer got a suspended sentence, 150 hours of community service, and a lifetime ban from esports. Other participants of the criminal scheme got milder sentences and punishments.
Jea-yoon’s example did not have any influence on another South Korean player - Lee «Life» Seung-Hyun. When he was 20 years old, he was №1 in the zerg race and won the Global League. The bank account of the star was holding 480 thousand dollars, but it was not enough for Lee «Life». The guy was a gamble addict who could spend 15 - 20 thousand dollars a day.
Seung-Hyun’s sweet life cracked in 2016. The South Korean revealed another scheme where the star participated in two episodes of fixed games. Each of them brought the player 75 thousand dollars. As Seung-Hyun was not in chief of the crime scheme, he was sentenced to a suspended time and a big fine. The top player had to forget about his career.
American 322
The US did not stay away from match fixing. In September 2014 two CS:GO teams had a strange match. These were favourites of iBUYPOWER and outsiders from NetCodeGuides. Despite all predictions, two maps were won by the underdog. The opposition was just symbolic. The insolence of the cheaters made Richard Louis, an independent blogger, furious.
He ran an independent investigation, involved bookmakers and organizers of the tournament. The fix-up was disclosed. The teams were working together and earned 10 thousand dollars.
NewBee 2020
It is hard to say what pushed the five successful pros from China and their managers to this illegal business. The revenue of the team let them have a bohemian lifestyle, the roster looked promising. But they could not resist easy money. The Chinese do not reveal the numbers that emerged during the investigation. It comes to dozens, or even hundreds of thousand dollars.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.