One of the most anticipated StarCraft 2 tournaments is just around the corner, with the world's best players getting ready to fight for their share of $500,000 in prize money.
A legendary esports event, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice is a CS:GO tournament held in Poland. In this guide, we'll go over all the participating teams, details about the schedule, as well as everything you need to know about IEM CS:GO betting!
The Dota Pro Circuit is in full flow. The next big tournament in this seasonal circuit is the PGL Arlington Major. Texas is the location, Esports Stadium Arlington is the venue of choice, and seventeen brilliant Dota 2 teams will be eyeing their chances here.
The LEC (League of Legends European Championship) is entering a new decade starting with the inaugural Winter split. From team rosters to an all-new tournament format, the league will be seeing much more competition.
The ESL Pro League (EPL) is one of the biggest events in CS:GO esports in which top teams from Europe, the Americas, and other regions battle it out for glory. Divided into two seasons per year, the entire competition culminates in a Grand Final. If you’re interested ESL Pro League betting, read on as we take you through the ins and outs of the league, including the latest odds, participants, favourites to win, and more!
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The ESL Pro League series is one of the most prestigious and action-packed CS:GO events out there, packed with a rich history. Matches take place across many outstanding venues, with each one providing plenty of thrilling action guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!
Naturally, punters are treated to many betting opportunities for such a massive event. The ESL (Electronic Sports League) is still at the very top of the food chain in terms of production quality – not just for CS:GO, but esports tournaments in general. The IEM Katowice spectacle in the Spodek Arena serves as the perfect example.
If you’re a CS:GO betting expert, there’s no way you should miss out on this one. If you’re a beginner, this is the perfect opportunity to get your feet wet!
As for the actual process of how to get things rolling for ESL Pro League 17, here’s what you’ll have to do:
After you've set up and verified your account, you can get started with ESL Pro League betting! Below, we've listed the most popular markets for the event that you should keep an eye out for.
Betting can be fun hobby, but only as long as you know what you’re doing. Never chase your losses and be sure to manage your bankroll well; otherwise, you may end up suffering a great deal financially.
The best way to deal with this is, as we mentioned above previously, to do your due diligence and research all pertinent information beforehand. For further guidance, we recommend our article on esports betting strategies for a few useful points and tips. You can thank us later!
Overall, when it comes to the ESL Pro League, you can expect some pretty balanced odds across the board. The tournament itself features plenty of strong teams from various esports countries, making for some pretty tense yet exciting competition.
That said, prices tend to weaken for markets such as Match Winner and Map Winner, especially if a team is a clear favourite. Therefore, always make sure to give yourself ample time to look for value bets that can give you as much bang for your buck as possible.
As with most CS:GO tournaments, the ESL Pro League offers many stats you should look out for, as they can help you place smarter and more accurate wagers.
For starters, you want to take a look at predominant team stats, such as:
Analysing the above can shine light on teams with a strong record against a particular opponent, along with their likelihood of winning in a given match.
Meanwhile, important player stats include:
These stats can help you gain a betting understanding of a player's strengths and weaknesses – which ones specifically you'll need to look at will depend on the game and the role of the player in question. The important thing is that you'll be able to assess the individual's impact on an overall match so that you can make the right decisions as a punter.
New to betting on the ESL Pro League (or betting in general)? We've listed some useful points below to help you on your way.
It is important to do your homework before placing your wagers. This includes sifting through various bookmakers to find the most competitive prices for what you want to bet on – doing so can increase the profitability of your wagers and maximise your potential payout.
Although the odds of a team winning may be impressive, it is important to have other statistical insights to understand the teams that are favoured to win. Some of these statistics include ESL World Rankings, team form, previous match results, and fixture history, among others.
While watching matches, take note of how a team goes about a match. Which player is assigned a specific role and what is his success rate? This is important because you want to see whether or not a player is sticking to the playstyle or being selfish, ultimately hurting his team.
Ideally, you need to understand the ‘real’ odds for a match. In most cases, betting on a favourite with the odds of 1.2 means that if you bet $100, you will only receive $20 as profit. On the other hand, betting on an underdog can also be profitable. Let’s say that the team's odds of winning are 20%, but from your research, they have shown much improvement in recent matches. Betting on them in this case will bring you more profit, even if the odds don’t reflect the team’s improvement!
Ultimately, the best way to find out which bets are the most profitable is to actually play CS:GO yourself. Once you do so, you’ll begin to better understand each team’s playstyle as well as important in-game callouts that might have eluded you previously. As games go, CS:GO is generally very easy to learn, so it won't be too long until you get used to how things work from a team or player's perspective.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was first released in 2012 by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment. One of the most popular games in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, over the years, it has become one of the top esports as well.
The ESL Pro League was established in May 2015 by renowned esports organiser ESL Pro Gaming. Ever since ESL Pro League Season 11, there have been two seasons every single year. The organisation also introduced Partner Teams – esports organisations that have teams in permanent spots in the EPL. These are the majority stakeholders in the ESL Pro League and enjoy the privilege of getting a direct invitation.
In essence, the EPL rewards teams for continuous strong performances and consistency, something we don’t often see in esports. As such, each team will have to play to the utmost of their ability which provides everyone – both viewers and punters – with a lot of entertainment!
The CS:GO EPL has been around for seven years, with a total of 16 tournaments having been held. This has resulted in a storied history rich with unfathomable performances and victories for underdogs as well as champions and favourites.
Below is a brief look at the league's past few seasons:
Based in Malta yet again, the ESL Pro League Season 17 is set to start shortly after IEM Katowice 2023, beginning on 22nd February and ending on 26th March. The event will see 32 top-notch sides fighting it out for bragging rights, with a total of $850,000 in prize money set to be spread across all teams. Out of the latter amount, a whopping $200,000 will be allocated to the winners.
While this upcoming season has a similar format to the previous year’s iteration, there are certain differences, mainly caused by the additional eight participants (EPL 16 had 24 teams instead of 32).
Group Stage:
Playoffs:
No surprises here – the playoffs format has remained intact!
Here’s what the official ESL Pro League Season 17 prize pool distribution looks like:
Here’s a list of all 32 teams set to participate in the 17th season of the EPL:
THE #ESLProLeague SEASON 17 GROUP STAGE! 32 teams. 4 Groups. Starting 22nd February 📅 pic.twitter.com/jy8HVD2Y6W — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) January 27, 2023
THE #ESLProLeague SEASON 17 GROUP STAGE!
32 teams. 4 Groups.
Starting 22nd February 📅 pic.twitter.com/jy8HVD2Y6W
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) January 27, 2023
As things stand right now, no odds have been released just yet. That’s nothing alarming, though, as IEM Katowice needs to end before the bookies can update their algorithmic calculations. With that said, there will be at least two more weeks till we get any sort of futures available for this one.
So, if you’re interested in outright winner betting on ESL Pro League 17, we're afraid you’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Want to know who the top contenders are this time around? We've listed the four most promising title challengers right here:
What a year 2022 was for FaZe Clan. They came into it with guns blazing on all fronts, winning IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League Season 15 seemingly out of nowhere. While they couldn’t keep on winning every tournament they played on, their consistency was definitely on point.
The biggest surprise came in May, when ropz and the co showed off their true colours and dominated their way through to the PGL Major Antwerp title. Detractors will say they failed to close the season off on the right tone, but we'd argue that ending as runner-up on BLAST Fall Finals and achieving a semi-final run at BLAST World Finals tell you enough about this team's consistency.
Coming into this one, FaZe are certainly the number one favourite here… unless their Katowice campaign ends with heartbreak, that is.
Heroic are, alongside FaZe Clan, one of the most consistent teams in competitive CS:GO. They won a whole deal of tournaments last year, but most importantly, they kept reaching far into the playoffs of big events. That tells you enough about the form stavn, cadiaN and the rest of the Heroic boys are in.
Although their chances are strong, this could change depending on how each top team performs in Katowice. Everyone expects FaZe and Heroic to reach far, and we tend to agree with the popular opinion in this instance.
Having said all this, though, Heroic might not be the most valuable future here. The bookies’ calculations value consistency more than anything else, so keep that in mind before deciding to go ahead with any wagers on this team.
G2 finished 2022 off with a bang. Finally, Niko and the boys managed to properly close out a LAN event. BLAST Premier World Final saw all five G2 players rise to the challenge and beat Team Liquid in the grand finals to win $500,000.
The real question now is – can they continue performing like this? Well, it’s difficult to say. For one thing, we doubt they’ll be able to maintain this momentum and make it two titles in a row. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t surprise us to see them in the playoffs. However, once there, their chances of winning against top ten sides will be slim, to say the least.
NAVI should never be underestimated, as long as they have S1mple in their starting roster. Their 2022 wasn’t up to their usual standards, that’s true. In fact, ever since they dropped Boombl4, this team's roster just hasn’t been the same.
Sdy is long gone, and NAVI fans have collectively let out a sigh of relief. But we still don’t know just how much better (if better at all) npl will be. He’s young, prolific, and has a good base… but he’s practically a blank slate at this point, and will have to learn a lot from S1mple if NAVI are to do something notable this season.
You can watch ESL Pro League Season 17 livestreams through the following links:
Any ESL-partnered livestream should also be available in several different languages, including Russian, German, Spanish, French, Serbian, Portuguese and many more. More information about these streams can be found on the official EPL How to Watch page.
Year in and year out, season in and season out, the ESL Pro League brings forth truly unforgettable CS:GO moments. There’s nothing quite like a proper LAN atmosphere, a packed audience, and a ruthless competition chock-full of world-class teams. That’s what’s in the very nature of every event organised by the Electronic Sports League.
If you’d like to test your luck and CS:GO knowledge, we can think of no other competition via which to do so! Be sure to check back here for any updates, and keep this page bookmarked to serve as a handy betting guide as the competition unfolds.
There’s no clear-cut answer to these types of questions. The best esports betting site depends on your needs. Your best bet (figuratively and literally) is to compare the ones listed on the top of this page. They’re all highly reputable sites offering great platforms – pick the one that perfectly suits your needs and you’ll be good to go.
Team Vitality won the last iteration of ESL Pro League, beating Liquid 3:2 following a massive comeback. The grand finals were held on October 2nd.
Even though we still don’t have any concrete betting markets or odds, previous ESL events have taught us to expect pretty much everything in terms of betting coverage. Esports betting sites love massive CS:GO events like this one because they always tend to attract a plethora of punters. That said, you can expect moneylines, lots of props, futures, and even in-play bets. Yep, the full package!
The main favourites to win the 17th season of ESL Pro League are the likes of FaZe Clan, Heroic, G2, and Outsiders. NiP deserve to be on the list too, but with their recent roster alterations, they’re a pretty hefty unknown.
FURIA and Team Liquid seem like the most capable dark horses coming into this one. We shouldn’t count Vitality out either. While their results haven’t been looking that good lately, the latter’s roster definitely has the upset potential needed to take this one home.
Through our in-depth guides and reviews, we are focused on providing the best insights into esports betting.