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.
Already one of the world's most enjoyable and popular first-person-shooter video games, CS:GO has been elevated to a professional esports game as well as a punter's favourite. In this article, we've listed the top CSGO betting sites, the most popular tournaments, a couple of betting tips, and more!
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While the game is well-known for skin betting, CS:GO does arguably have the most prominent esports scene, as evinced by the number of esports tournaments held in its honour each year. And, although esports teams generally don’t stray too far away from the current meta, each match is still pretty unique.
For example, there are plenty of CS:GO maps in which certain teams excel; however, there’s always a possibility of an upset.
All of this makes CS:GO the perfect esports game for betting, no matter which esports country you come from. So, how do you start betting for real money on CS:GO, and what should you look out for? Find out below!
Thanks to the game's popularity, millions of people now watch professional CS:GO esports competitions – and, naturally, this means that many want to bet on them, too. We've compiled a few of the best CS:GO esports betting sites below, which all boast stellar reputations and are licensed by the proper authorities, meaning that they're completely safe to bet with.
bet365 have been recognised time and time again as one of the best betting sites in the world. On top of their sportsbook, poker, and casino products, they also offer odds on most major esports competitions, including for LoL, Dota 2, Rocket League, and StarCraft. bet365's CS:GO offerings include tournaments like cs_summit, Dreamhack Open, ESEA Premier, IEM, and more. You can also bet on Map markets, Game markets, Lines, and Outrights.
GG.BET is a specialised esports betting site, offering odds on a wide variety of markets – among which include Dota 2, LoL, and, of course, CS:GO. You can also bet on smaller titles, such as Rainbow Six Siege, King of Glory, Overwatch, StarCraft II, and VALORANT. Their selection of CS:GO markets is very advanced, offering even more events than most other professional bookies.
Betway is one of the major options for many when it comes to CS:GO betting. The site allows you to bet on most CS:GO events, including ELEAGUE, PGL, Dreamhack, FACEIT, ECS, and many more. They're even one of the main sponsors of ESL, so you can be sure they know which events punters enjoy. Moreover, you can watch many competitions and enjoy live esports betting on their site, with all features displayed in a way that gives a great overview of what's going on.
Beginners oftentimes find themselves struggling with teething issues when trying to place their first couple of online esports bets. If you’re among them and you’re not sure about some of the basics, here are several CSGO betting tips for your convenience:
Odds in general appear in three main formats: American, decimal, and fractional.
Bookies set CS:GO betting lines the same way they do for any other sport – they decide what the chances are for each team to win based on previous data. At the same time, these lines are influenced by the punters themselves.
As bookies see more money coming in on one side, they will often move the lines to make sure they balance their books. Because of this, any betting lines you see displayed may no longer accurately reflect the true probability – the good news here is that they could offer highly improved value as a result.
Often, betting on stats and over/under markets is a lot easier to predict than the outright winner, so make sure not to neglect these markets in your overall betting strategy.
While we’re talking about the different types of esports betting markets, here’s what you can expect in terms of CS:GO betting options:
A completely different segment of the CS:GO betting market revolves around proposition bets. More commonly known as props, these bets are based on all sorts of in-game events. They allow users to bet on stuff like player vs. player kills, the highest map win rate, the highest headshot percentage, and more.
While the internet does contain useful strategy templates that can be used for esports betting, you’re better off creating your own.
Use your personal betting patterns as a template and base your wagering mechanics according to your bankroll. Don’t go overboard, especially if you’re just starting out. Another thing you should be careful with is overcomplicating things. But, then again, it can’t be too simple either. Balance is key in terms of esports betting strategy.
We have a plethora of great CS:GO esports tournaments this year. If you’d like to know more, here’s a closer look at all the biggest upcoming CS:GO tournaments 2023 has to offer:
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we didn’t find any officially scheduled events for 2024. But we can safely assume that all of the following will be held next year:
We’re likely to see way more events taking place than just these, of course. However, patience is key here as we have no official confirmations just yet.
With the recent announcement of Counter-Strike 2, we just got the news that the first CS Major of 2024 will feature the all-new Source 2 powered game. PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 is going to be the first ever CS2 Major. Denmark’s capital will be on fire from March 17th through March 31st. It’s going to be wicked, that’s for sure!
When talking about the top teams in 2023, five names come to our mind. They are the following:
Here’s a closer look at each of them:
First things first – G2! NiKo and m0NESY are in exceptional form right now. Even though the same can be said for other G2 members, we have to emphasize NiKo and m0NESY. They’ve been the driving force behind G2’s recent successes, no doubt about it.
Results-wise, G2 have been good lately. Winning at BLAST Premier World Final, IEM Katowice, and successful qualifications for the BLAST Premier Spring Finals. A good trend of results might mean that we can expect a lot more from them in the months ahead!
What about Heroic? While they are still one of the best teams out there, they’re not nearly as consistent as they used to be. Don’t get us wrong, they are still playing good CS:GO, but they often fall into major oscillations in form.
They do have more of a wild card feeling these days, with cadiaN doing absolutely brutal things out there. Their map pool is relatively healthy and they’re pretty good when it comes to clutches. Heroic is an experienced team and we expect great things from them this year.
Team Liquid is not to be taken for granted… not anymore! The boys in blue are back at it again; they are once again the best American team out there and will be fancying their chances on big international tournaments this year.
Liquid finished in the semifinals of BLAST Premier Fall Finals and IEM Katowice, and almost went all the way on BLAST Premier World Final where they lost against G2 in the grand finals. Form-wise, NAF and YEKINDAR are the ones to look to. YEKINDAR’s arrival is what pushed Liquid forward. If the Latvian youngster can regain his lost form (yes, he’s been way better than this), Liquid could be a force to be reckoned with.
Faze Clan had massive success last year… and while we expected them to continue in the same fashion this year, things didn’t really go as planned. Yes, they did qualify for the BLAST Premier Spring Finals but had a disastrous outing in Katowice. Let’s just say that FaZe Clan’s IEM Katowice performance left much to be desired.
So, how do they go from here? Well, the obvious answer would be to continue doing the same. Despite poor performances in Katowice, FaZe are looking fine once again. If they can keep this form up, they will become a real menace!
Natus Vincere are worth mentioning too. While they are not exactly in the best form right now, they have a lot of room for growth. Most importantly, they’re in an upward spiral. Ever since boombl4’s departure, NAVI hasn’t been the same. But now with npl getting used to the team atmosphere, we might see them rise once again. It’s not going to be easy, but NAVI have a reputation for making difficult things seem easy enough.
If you’re serious about betting on CS:GO, you shouldn’t blindly trust your gut. Instead, you should organise your bets, keep track of your progress, manage your bankroll, and dive deep into the statistics.
The latter is what oftentimes differentiates winning bets from losing bets. If you’re to be profitable in this hobby, you’ll need to get accustomed to doing a lot of research. But, what should you look for?
Well, besides up-to-date information on transfers and recent results, you should explore the following stats:
This one goes without saying – the KDA ratio is the holy grail of CS:GO esports statistics. No matter what sort of CS:GO betting options you’re interested in, chances are high that you’ll greatly benefit from knowing the individual players’ KDA stats. Kills, deaths, and assists – that’s what the abbreviation is for. It will give you a raw look into each player’s performance so you can make further assumptions based on that information.
This statistic represents the rounds in which a player either got a kill, an assist, survived, or got traded by a teammate. It’s slightly different to the KDA ratio and works nicely when compared with the overall HLTV 2.0 rating. If you’re serious about your CS:GO betting action, you shouldn’t sleep on these!
Map Pool stats bear massive importance, not just with bo3 clashes but bo1s and bo5s as well. If you can predict which maps a team will go for and how exactly will they set up their game plan for that particular map, you’ll have a much better picture of what to expect in terms of the final result. You can easily find map pool stats on HLTV, just like you can find KAST and KDA numbers we talked about earlier.
Head-to-head encounters paint a good part of the story too. Not only are they important purely because of the final results, but they’re great for seeing how teams square off on certain maps and in certain positions…. Of course, assuming both teams had (roughly) the same lineups in previous h2h matches, which often isn’t the case.
It’s rather difficult to be giving long-term betting predictions for the entire year. However, we’ve done our best.
Here are two bold CS:GO betting predictions for 2023:
G2 kickstarted their short stint as the best team in the world late last year. A quick reminder, NiKo and the boys won BLAST Premier World Final after beating Liquid 2:0 in the grand finals. Shortly after that, G2 justified their title as the favourites on the BLAST Premier Spring Group Stage and went on to win another massive title – IEM Katowice.
And right when we all thought G2 is back, they got swept aside by ENCE (of all teams) following a nerve-racking contest on Ancient. Still, that shouldn’t be too big of an obstacle for NiKo and the boys. The Kovač connection is alive and kicking, and m0NESY’s rise to stardom ought to be enough to push G2 to even greater heights by the end of the year.
What used to be the best team in the world (shortly after Astralis’ breakdown), is now a mediocre side that just can’t connect more than a few stellar wins.
The fans believe they have a solution – let npl go and get boombl4 or flamie back. But, knowing the details behind their exits from NAVI, we really doubt that’ll happen. But there’s a silver lining in this narrative. You see, npl is finally improving his gameplay. He’s not necessarily getting quantifiable contributions in, but his support is getting better and better with each passing match.
If NAVI can shake off their recent issues and continue working on good results (such as their Katowice campaign), they could be onto something here. The only real problem could be the lack of patience regarding npl’s position. If they give him a few more months, we're confident in them making a proper comeback after the summer break.
CS:GO odds are based on a variety of factors on which the probable result depends on. While there is exceptional depth to the story behind betting odds, the average bettor doesn’t need to dwell too much on it.
However, you have to know how to determine valuable from worthless odds. It’s not as straightforward as one might think. Here’s the gist of it:
Value basically represents the probability of a bet having a positive outcome in the grand scheme of things. It’s based on the odds and other factors that play a part in the matchup. If a bettor manages to find a valuable bet, it means he’ll have a theoretical advantage over the bookmaker.
There are several different odds formats, but the most popular ones are the following three:
CS:GO is quite a lucrative esports title. Perhaps it’s not as lucrative as Fortnite and Dota 2, but it’s right up there with them. Some might consider that the names below indicate the best CS:GO players to bet on.
Here’s what the top-earning CS:GO players of all time have made playing the game:
It’s real, ladies and gentlemen. Valve has officially announced Counter-Strike 2. The series of videos recently posted on the Valve YouTube channel give us a closer look at the changes we can expect this summer. The changes are massive, to say the least.
Counter-Strike 2 is going to come out sometime this summer. It will be a free upgrade for CS:GO, meaning the core gameplay will be similar, and for those owning an expensive inventory, all of your skins are safe. What’s not safe are CS:GO mods and custom servers, though Valve has already shown us their community modding toolkit which looks like a legit upgrade as well.
There are three videos in total, each of which walks us through a key alteration. Here’s what we’re referring to.
This is perhaps the biggest change of the upcoming CS 2 upgrade. We all know how big of an issue smokes are in CS:GO. They tend to cause too many issues and cannot be trusted. Even at the highest levels of competitive play, CS:GO smokes were just inconsistent. However, CS 2 has introduced a major overhaul for the smokes. They are now volumetric, can be swept aside with grenades and bullets, and fill space in naturally.
We still don’t know much about the net setup of the game. However, Valve’s video explains the difference between the old setup which just measured users’ interactions with each tick and compared them to the new sub-tick system. In short, CS 2 should be more fluid and bring the action that much closer to players’ interactions.
In addition to smokes and server-wide changes, Counter-Strike 2 will also have an overhaul of its map pool. We’re talking more than just mere graphical changes here; the Source 2 engine gives this game a different feel and, when coupled with the map overhauls, it will be interesting to see how the pros react and adapt to the new settings.
CS:GO betting can be an entertaining pastime. It can even be profitable for those who know what they’re doing and aren’t afraid to put hours into research. Esports betting in general still continues to show exceptional growth. Even though it isn’t as exponential as it used to be, the trends are still pointing upward.
You’ve got plenty of choices when it comes to CS:GO betting and the bookies that support it, but you’ll have a great time with the ones we mentioned in this article. Out of those, we’d say that GG.BET and bet365 are perfect for beginners.
That depends where you live. In many countries, states or territories, online betting on sports or esports is legal and regulated, whereas in some countries, there are no specific laws to regulate online betting. Most importantly, you’ll need to see whether or not it’s legal in your country.
To place a CS:GO bet, head to your chosen bookie, create an account or log in, and choose your market. It’s also recommended to compare and contrast a few bookies beforehand to determine which one suits your needs best.
Denmark’s “dupreeh” Peter Rasmussen is currently the highest-earning CS:GO player, with a total of $2,044,164.40 winnings from tournaments alone.
The biggest and most prestigious CS:GO tournament was the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, with a total of $2,000,000 in prize money. However, CS:GO tournaments are devised in such a way that there’s no literal ‘biggest’ one. BLAST Premier events and Majors are generally considered top-of-the-line events.
Through our in-depth guides and reviews, we are focused on providing the best insights into esports betting.