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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.
Korea stands out as one of the most successful nations in LOL competitions, boasting a vibrant gaming scene that surpasses many others. As all rosters have been locked and teams are primed for action, we present our complete LCK Summer betting guide.
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Esports betting has become a popular pastime for many bettors due to the increasing number of esports games and tournaments. And, thanks to the efforts of dozens of esports betting operators, punters have never had so much choice to enjoy.
But how do you start LoL LCK betting? Here are a few basic of steps you need to complete through before placing your first bets:
Due to the sheer number of games that will be played in LCK Summer 2023, you’ll definitely have your pick of the litter when it comes to betting.
Moneyline bets are still as simple as ever even in a best-of-three tournament like the LCK Summer Split 2023. You can either bet outright on the outcome of the series and/or choose to bet on who will win the individual maps (from Game One to Game Three). So if you’re looking for a market to start with, moneyline bets are one of the simpler ones to get into!
Best betting sites to use for Moneyline betting: bet365, Betway
After getting moneyline down to a tee, you can move on to the trickier bets to predict propositional or prop bets. Prop bets involve predicting which team will be the first to take objectives in-game such as those mentioned below. Although it varies what bets you can place depending on the operator, you can generally place bets on objectives taken such as Dragons, Towers, Baron Nashor, and Inhibitors.
In Rivalry, you can put bets on occurrences such as:
Furthermore, you can even guess the correct score that the series will go (whether 2-0 or 2-1 in your chosen team’s favor). As you can see, it can be quite a headache to correctly predict how games will go to win your bets. But with adequate research, you can easily see how teams play and if they are likely to take the first tower or First Blood by looking into their stats such as with platforms like Games of Legends and Oracle’s Elixir.
Best betting sites to use for Prop betting: Rivalry
Total or over/under betting works in the same way in esports when compared to traditional sports. Total betting asks one to predict if the game at hand will go over or under a chosen metric on the Rift such as towers taken, dragons slain, and game time.
Since the LCK runs in best-of-threes, you can choose to place total bets per game of the series or on the match outright. First and foremost, you can bet whether the series at hand will go over 2.5 or under 2.5 maps played. So if you bet on the former, it’ll be a three-game series. Otherwise, you need the series to be closed out in a 2-0 sweep to win the bet.
These bets are simple and straightforward, and just like prop bets, you can look towards past data to help you decipher trends that will decide whether you win your bets. Check how aggressive teams are in Games of Legends by checking their number of average kills per game or if they prioritise getting Dragons over Rift Heralds.
Best betting sites to use for Prop betting: GG.BET
Finally, there are handicap bets which can be hard to figure out at first. But once you’ve gotten the hang of them, it can be a reliable way for bettors to make cash off the underdogs!
Handicap betting is a way for operators to balance out the odds between the competition. They do this by putting a ‘handicap’ on teams. This means the team you’re betting on or against needs to have a significant lead or margin against their opponents to be considered a win. The lead can be in the number of kills a team is ahead by in individual games or by games won in best-of series.
Pinnacle explains this in their own platform saying that a -1.5 map handicap means that the team needs to win two straight games to get the payout. Meanwhile, a +1.5 map handicap is more of an advantage, meaning that if the team gets at least one win, you get your payout. The kill handicap functions similarly.
Remember, the outcome of the match doesn’t matter if you placed a bet on the wrong handicap. For example, even though you predicted that Dplus KIA would win Game 2 of their series, they couldn’t meet the handicap you bet on, having only three kills up compared to your +4.5 kill handicap.
Best betting sites to use for Prop betting: Pinnacle
The LCK is packed with strong teams but T1 is seemingly the best LCK team at the moment. This means the odds for betting on T1 won’t be as good since they’re the clear favourites. However, if they falter at the start of the LCK Summer Split, you can expect the bookies to level the odds.
Betting on some other incredible teams such as Gen.G, Dplus KIA, etc. can be profitable for placing match-winner bets which is the safer option. In any case, the odds aren’t available at this moment but we will update this section as soon as they are released.
After winning the LCK Spring Split, T1 looks to be in pole position to capture the Summer trophy as well. Meanwhile, Spring runner-up Gen.G looks to be the biggest challenger. KT Rolster and Dplus KIA are looking great as well and may be capable of upsetting the champs but only time will tell.
Here are a couple of tips to help you on when LCK betting:
The good news is that most teams have retained their player lineups from the start of the Spring Split but, a few new players joined as recently as December 2022. This means that some teams may not have found their footing yet (in the Spring Split) but may play better in the Summer Split if they’ve managed to work together better during the LCK break.
T1 is by far the most stable in terms of their current roster, with most of the team joining before 2020. Having said that, it’s still worth keeping an eye out for any new roster changes that may destabilise a team, causing it to perform worse.
The League of Legends meta constantly evolves with the addition of each new major patch so don’t base your bets too much on that. Still, each patch has clear favourites regarding champions due to their buffs.
Some players have trouble adapting to these changes so they may perform worse, while others adapt quickly and outplay their opponents with ease. The good news is that Riot Games generally uses a game version that is one or two patches behind the live one when it comes to live events.
Follow analysts such as LS and iWillDominate to get a glimpse of how they think the meta changes as patches get released; which should give you an idea of which teams will thrive and which will fall due to their inadaptability.
Compared to the Western regions, the Eastern regions, such as the LCK and the LPL, adopt a best-of-three tourney format which allows teams to play way more games throughout the course of a split. For bettors like you, that simply means there’s more to bet on! Here, you can choose to bet outright on the series itself or bet on the individual games in the series.
Furthermore, best-of-threes allow teams to adapt and change up their playstyle when the time calls for it. For example, if a team won convincingly in Game 1, they might want to try out all-new picks in Game 2 to diversify their playstyle.
If after going through all that and you’re feeling that this isn’t the region for you, you can check out our betting guides on the LEC, LCS, and the LPL.
The LCK Summer 2023 event hasn’t changed at all compared to previous years and still features the good old, reliable, best-of-three double round-robin structure. Here’s the overall breakdown of the event:
Regular Split:
Playoffs:
At the moment, the LCK has not yet revealed when the event will start and end. We will update this section accordingly once this info becomes available.
*The official prize pool distribution has not been released yet; this info is based on the prize pool distribution in 2022.
In the game’s history, the LCK has been the home to the greatest League of Legends teams and players. From the Korean dynasty that SK Telecom T1 and Samsung built up to the dominance of DWG KIA in Worlds 2020, the LCK has continued to become the pinnacle for competitive esports in the past decade.
Notably, players like Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Kang “Ambition” Chan-yong, and Heo “ShowMaker” Su are but a few of the notable names in the LCK. From the past to the future, we will see how the legacy of the region transforms in the coming decade; whether it continues to rise up or falls at the hands of the LPL or perhaps, the Western regions.
As it stands, it appears that the region is in a toss-up as Korean staples Dplus KIA, T1, Gen.G and Kwangdong Freecs look to be almost certain of at least the playoffs. The coming weeks will tell a lot about how the top teams will shape up for Worlds 2023. This will be their last opportunity to qualify and prove their worth. Meanwhile underdog teams like DRX, BRION and even Liiv Sandbox, the event looks very exciting.
We recommend Betway for moneyline bets, Rivalry for prop and total bets, and Pinnacle for handicap betting!
You can only watch the LCK live on Twitch in English or Korean streaming 2 matchups daily from Wednesday to Sunday!
T1 looks to be the team to beat, as they are the first seed, having won the Spring Split.
The LCK 2023 Summer has teams play in a double round-robin tourney format played out in a best-of-three series. The teams will each play 18 matches, and from then, the top 6 teams will advance to the single-elimination playoffs, where the top two teams will receive a bye and advance directly to the semis.
The champion of the LCK Summer Playoffs qualifies as the first seed to Worlds 2023. The second seed is determined by Championship Points. The third seed is decided in the Regional Finals; meanwhile, the fourth and last seed will be announced and decided in the coming months.
Through our in-depth guides and reviews, we are focused on providing the best insights into esports betting.