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.
Placing a bet before an esports event starts can make watching it an even more exciting experience. But how about placing a bet while the action is taking place? This is where live esports betting comes in! Live odds are dynamic and fluctuate depending on which team is winning, with favourites sometimes becoming underdogs in a matter of minutes. Read on to find out more!
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Whether you're a fan of LoL, FIFA, or Fortnite, many bookies have various live betting markets for a variety of esports games, including map markets, outright winner bets, over/under wagers, and more. Always be sure to sign up to a site that is licensed and that offers an attractive welcome bonus.
bet365 are one of the most popular betting sites in the world, offering a sportsbook, a poker product, and casino games, as well as markets for most major esports events. You can bet live on CS:GO, LoL, Dota 2, Rocket League, StarCraft, and more. Some of the top esports tournaments available include DreamHack, ESL Pro League, The International, and VCT Champions.
When you sign up to bet365, there are tons of esports bonuses for both new and existing players. For your first deposit, for instance, a $10 bet will grant you up to $200 in free bets.
The cash-out feature is another incredible feature you can take advantage of during live esports betting. This is a function that you can trigger before the event in question even finishes, allowing you to recover whatever you've won until that point in time, and thereby cutting your losses if things aren't going your way.
William Hill have long been one of the major betting destinations for sports punters, and they now have an excellent esports betting section as well. You can bet pre-match or live on CS:GO, LoL, Dota 2, and much more.
While the odds during live bets are not as high as for pre-match wagers, they do compare competitively to other top sites, such as Rivalry. Some of the common esports markets and live betting options you will find at William Hill include First Blood, Map Winner, First Baron or Dragon, and more.
New players at William Hill can claim a £30/€30 free bet! Other promotions available for live betting include odds boosts and betting insurance.
Betway is one of the best sites for live esports betting, with markets available for CS:GO, LoL, and Dota 2, as well as plenty of smaller, more niche sports. As sponsors of ESL, you can be sure that this bookmaker takes esports very seriously, even allowing you to livestream many events directly from their platform. As a result, you can easily follow the action as it unfolds in real time while placing bets.
For new players, Betway offers a $/€/£30 free bet if your first acca loses. Meanwhile, existing customers can enjoy a $/€/£10 weekly free bet club exclusively for esports!
Best suited to American customers, LOOT.BET focus exclusively on esports with plenty of live options to boot. You can bet on virtually any game here, from major ones like FIFA, CS:GO, and Dota 2, to more niche markets such as NBA2K and Street Fighter. A wide range of payment methods are accepted, among which you'll find Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, NETELLER, and ecoPayz.
LOOT.BET have several promotional offers which you can claim to boost your bankroll. For instance, their welcome bonus offers 100% up to $100 for new players with a $20 free bet thrown in on top.
Pinnacle are one of the most popular betting sites internationally, with plenty to offer esports punters as well. You can bet live on games like CS:GO, Rocket League, StarCraft, and VALORANT.
Since the operator has a significant focus on CS:GO, you will find numerous live markets during major tournaments such as Blast Premier, IEM, CS:GO Major, and ESL Pro League. These markets include 1×2, Correct Maps Score, handicap markets, and To Win at Least One Map.
Otherwise known as ‘in-play betting', live betting is most suited to those who have a bit of experience under their belt. The more accurately you can predict the outcome of a match, depending on what you see in the beginning or middle of the game, the better chance you have of gaining a clear edge over bookmakers.
For example, a team might be heavily favoured by the bookies to win a map in CS:GO; however, if you notice them under-performing during beginning of the match, you can consider betting against them as soon as possible while the odds are still high.
This makes live betting a very good strategy if you are sharp and are able to closely predict game outcomes as the game is progressing.
Another reason why live esports betting may not be the best option for a beginner is because it requires a sharp understanding of how odds work. Since prices are updated in real time, they tend to be quite volatile. As a seasoned punter, though, you are more likely to identify a potential betting opportunity that might not be available pre-match.
Here are some of the main benefits of live betting on esports:
Hedging your bets means placing an alternative bet that will guarantee you some success, regardless of the outcome. For example, let's say you placed a multiple on two CS:GO matches. You already won the first leg; however, while watching live, it looks like you might lose the second leg. You can now bet on the team who look likely to win instead, securing yourself some profit while doing so.
Another advantage of live betting is that you can often get better odds, as bookmakers are constantly adjusting prices to reflect the current state of the game. This means that if you pay attention closely enough, you can sometimes find some highly lucrative wagering options!
When you bet on a game as it is happening, you can react and make adjustments to your bet as you see fit. This can lead to some great winnings if you are able to correctly predict how rest of the event will play out.
While esports live betting has its advantages, there are a few shortcomings that you should be aware of.
As we mentioned earlier, odds are updated in real time for live markets to go along with what is happening in the game itself. Hence, prices tend to be highly volatile, which can be quite challenging for a beginner. This is because you have a much shorter time window to analyse your options and ponder the possible outcomes of your wager.
Live markets tend to be fewer in number as opposed to their pre-match counterparts. This is because there is a lower variety of outcomes to choose from.
Conventional, pre-match betting makes it somewhat easier to stick to your betting strategy, as you would have already analysed the available markets, odds, and predictions. On the other hand, when it comes to live betting, you are most likely unsure of what the direction of the match will be. You may prefer to set out some guidelines for your wagers, which live betting makes harder to do.
Of course, live esports betting is not a magical trick that can guarantee high winnings. There are several potential pitfalls that experienced punters know how to avoid. Our tips below will show you how to keep a cool head and bet like a pro!
When placing pre-match bets, you have plenty of time to do your homework and think about why you are making your pick. However, when you bet live, you often need to make decisions in matter of seconds without being able to look as closely at any data.
Make sure you have done all your research on both teams before the event starts.
When betting live, you may be tempted to wager your whole bankroll as you see your side becoming more likely to win. This may give you a bigger profit, but it can also be considerably risky to put your entire bankroll into a single bet.
To avoid going on tilt, divide your bankroll into 100 units, bet up to 5 units initially, and increase by 1 or 2 units if you become very sure you will win.
Thinking quickly and responding to in-game events is essential. However, rushed bets can often lead to errors on your part.
The first thing you need to remember is to always stay calm. Stress can cloud your judgement, as can over-excitement. Make sure you are well-rested and prepared before placing live esports bets.
Top bookmakers offer live markets on many esports games, giving you a wide range and catering to different punters’ preferences. Below are a few of the most popular.
CS:GO is the most popular and widely available esport to bet on, with markets for major and minor events like IEM, ESL, ELeague, PGL, and many more. Betting options include Map Winner and Round Winner, as well as plenty of specials.
Under map betting, you will find various markets such as Team to Win #Rounds, Over/Under Total Kills, Round 1 Winner, and Correct Score for Each Map. If you wish to bet on the overall match, you can explore some of the popular markets such as handicap options, Correct Map Score, and Under/Over Total Team Round.
For team betting, you can place live wagers on specific teams on match, map, or round lines. For example, you can bet on which team will win the match, which team will win the map, and which team will win the most rounds.
Live CS:GO betting is available at most bookmakers, including bet365 and Betway.
Dota 2 is the second most popular esport, along with LoL. This MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) offers plenty of in-game betting options, as matches last up to about 35 minutes each. This gives you plenty of time to decide which team looks to be on the winning side.
One of the biggest Dota 2 events available for live betting is The International, which sees many top esports teams like OG, Team Spirit, Fnatic, and Evil Geniuses taking part. Other events include ESL One, Dota 2 Pro Circuit, and Dota 2 Major.
League of Legends is the main rival for Dota 2, with both games sharing very similar betting options. You will find live markets for LEC, LCS, LPL, LCK, and All Stars, as well as plenty of smaller events at the above bookies.
Live betting on LoL is available at most betting sites, once again including bet365 and Betway. Here you'll able to find various League of Legends markets such as moneyline, handicap, and totals. You can also explore some prop bets like which team will draw first blood, the team to get 10 kills first, and the team to kill the first dragon/baron.
Live soccer esports is also gaining in popularity. While not all bookies offer FIFA betting, markets for this game are slowly increasing and becoming easier to find online, with examples being moneyline and accumulator bets.
Popular FIFA tournaments include the FIFAe Club Series and the FIFAe Nations series. You can also bet on the annual FIFAe World Cup at sites such as Thunderpick, GG.BET, and Bethard.
Although it is considered to be more niche than other esports we have mentioned in this list, you are likely to find Rocket League betting on established websites such as bet365 and Pinnacle.
The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is one of the most watched events for this particular game, with bookmakers also offering markets such as Total Goals (over/under), Correct score, and Number of Assists.
For obvious reasons, watching any event that you have bet on is greatly helpful as a punter. If you're not sure from where to start, check out our guide on esports streaming page, as it has links to all major livestreams for CS:GO, Dota 2, StarCraft, LoL, and many more.
Of course, some bookmakers have feeds from streaming sources that are accessible from their platform; others have even developed their own streaming services for their customers. Let's have a look at all these options below.
Betway is the pioneer of livestreaming, and this option is available on popular esports titles such as VALORANT, CS:GO, Dota 2, and LoL. All matches available to livestream have a play icon next to them, with the feature optimised for both Android and Apple mobile devices.
Customers of Galaxy.Bet can livestream esports matches thanks to Twitch streams embedded on the site itself, with games such as CS:GO and Dota 2 covered.
GG.BET have also embedded Twitch streams on their site for punters to follow, covering all major esports and offering competitive odds.
Sites like FlashScore and eGamersWorld have live scores for games like Dota 2, Counter-Strike, LoL and StarCraft. Meanwhile, many bookies also offer the most recent live esports scores.
In some countries, players have limited banking options for betting. That makes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies a handy option, since transactions are untraceable and there are no fees involved either.
Two of the best sites that accept cryptocurrencies are 1xBet, Pinnacle, and Thunderpick, the latter of which supports over six options.
Live esports betting has transformed the overall experience for many punters, allowing more betting opportunities to become possible. With bookmakers such as Betway offering the option to livestream events that you want to bet on, the whole process has become even more seamless.
For more guidance on betting on esports online, take a look at our betting academy.
Live betting, or in-play betting, allows you to place wagers on an event while it unfolds in real time. Odds can vary during the match; however, you will always be paid out according to the odds available at the time you placed your bet.
Betway, GG.BET, and Galaxy.Bet allow you to stream live esports games directly from their site. You can also view live matches from popular streaming platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming.
The legality of betting on any sport or esport depends on which country, state or territory you are in currently. Many countries, such as the UK, many US states, and parts of Canada have legalised and licensed esports betting. In various other countries, such as India, online betting is not regulated, meaning it is neither legal nor illegal.
Any form of betting can be profitable if you select the right odds and strategise well. Take a look at our highly useful esports betting tips, which should give you some helpful advice.
Head to one of the above bookies at the top of this page and create an account. You will find their selection of live odds under the ‘live’ tab. Choose an event, add your pick to your betting slip, and confirm your selection. Good luck!
Hey! Peris here, an ardent content writer and sports fanatic. I have over three years of experience in sports writing, iGaming and esports. If not creating content, you will find me playing FIFA, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch games.