Two YouTube stars appear in court charged with advertising unlawful gambling on video games

TWO vloggers appeared at Birmingham Magistrates' Court today charged with advertising unlawful gambling, in what's believed to be the first case involving betting on video games.

Craig Douglas, 31, and Dylan Rigby, 33, both from Essex, are known for making football gaming content on YouTube.

Both have been accused of promoting a lottery and promoting unlawful gambling, using a website based around Fifa's in-game coins.

Douglas, who uses the name NepentheZ and has more than 1.3million subscribers, has also been charged with inviting children to gamble, while Rigby, who ran the now deactivated channel FUTgalaxy, has been charged with including the provision of facilities for gambling.

The prosecution was brought by the Gambling Commission, which has been investigating the rise of video game gambling.

The commission has warned parents that kids can be drawn into betting with "skins", or virtual items such as weapons or clothing for avatars.

The global market in betting on video games is estimated to be worth as much as £4billion.