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With the meteoric rise of esports in the past decade, traditional sportsbooks and esports-focused bookies alike now offer a wide selection of odds from almost every title for bettors to choose from. VALORANT live betting, in particular, has become one of the most popular betting markets, with its fast-paced gameplay and intense moments that keep you at the edge of your seat.
Get to know all there is to VALORANT live betting in this article!
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When looking for a bookmaker for live betting on VALORANT, keep in mind that each bookmaker is different within its own right, which is why you must evaluate which ones are best suited for live esports betting.
Among the top factors you should consider when choosing a betting platform are: diversity in betting markets available, how long until they close betting lines when a match starts, competitiveness of odds, and ability to livestream games with a user-friendly interface.
When you have a bookmaker with those features and offers generous bonuses with a responsive customer support, you can rest easy that your live betting experience will be smooth sailing.
Going deeper into our recommended bookmakers for live betting, we have further handpicked a select few of the best betting platforms based on all the considerations mentioned above.
GG.BET is a dedicated esports bookie that is perhaps the best live betting platform for VALORANT. It offers all of the betting markets for live betting from moneylines to prop bets, which are hard to come across even in pre-match betting. Furthermore, their betting lines do not close right away, thus allowing you to bet on the continuously changing odds across the map. This gives you more opportunities to understand the current the game state and make smart bets.
bet365 is another bookmaker that appears at the top of lists when it comes to generous betting markets in esports live betting. This bookie offers a wide variety of live betting markets from standard moneylines, total maps, map handicaps, correct scores, and even prop bets like team to win a map or team to win first map. But what makes bet365 stand out is how it features play-by-play match stats for its matches in-play. This allows bettors to get a closer look at the action and make bets with better judgment.
Last but not the least, 1xBet is a trusted bookmaker that you can rely on when live betting. 1xBet offers a decent variety of betting markets from match winner, map handicaps, and total maps; and even betting lines for more particular bets such as team to win at least one map. All of which are nicely complemented by the bookmaker’s generous esports betting bonuses and number of accepted payment methods.
With today’s tech, no matter where you are, you can bet on any VALORANT match live on any platform, including mobile. Top live betting platforms such as GG.BET and 1xBet have a dedicated esports betting apps that make it easier to place bets from the convenience of their mobile phones. Even the rest of our recommended bookmakers also have easy-to-use mobile ports of their betting platforms.
This makes it easier for bettors on the go to place wagers on live matches that are scheduled across the day. However, do note that with a smaller screen, you are limited with regards to the space you can watch games live while betting on them in real-time.
When it comes to live betting on VALORANT, there are a number of go-to markets and betting lines that punters like to place bets on. From lines as simple as match winner to more complex props, such as team to win the first half, get to know the most popular betting markets for VALORANT live betting below.
Moneyline bets are just as simple whether in pre-match or in-play betting. You simply choose which team you think will win and then place your bet. In VALORANT live betting, you can opt to bet on the outright match winner or map winner for each map played.
Odds for moneylines change quickly based on who is poised to win the match. But in exchange, you will only have a small window of time to take advantage of skewed odds before bookmakers close the betting lines mere minutes into the match.
As its name suggests, correct score bets involve guessing the exact score of a game or match. For individual games, correct score bets are in the form of rounds, so anywhere from stomps like 13-0 to close games reaching 13-11. You can even bet on the correct score for the first half of a map.
Meanwhile, correct map score bets can be anywhere from 2-0 or 3-0 stomps to close 2-1 and 3-2 matches, depending on whether games are in a best-of-three or best-of-five format. These betting lines are much harder to guess correctly, which means that the odds are generally higher for correct score bets.
Total bets are much like over/under betting in traditional sports, where you predict whether a certain metric in-game will go over or under a preset number. However, the advantage to betting on total bets live is that you get a feel of the level of competition between two teams, which can help you decide if a game will be close or one-sided.
There are a number of total betting lines available for play in VALORANT, such as total rounds played, total rounds played of each team, total rounds of the attacking/defender side, and total maps played. Knowing how the teams are playing up to expectations on game day itself will help you gauge when you should put your money on these bets.
Handicap bets are offered to level the playing field between competing teams with mismatched skill levels. These ‘handicaps’ in live betting come in the form of round and map handicaps. Handicaps placed on teams can be positive or negative, depending on whether they are the underdog or the favourite of the match.
A handicap simply affects the number of rounds or maps a team needs to win to cash out your bet. For example, a +3.5-round handicap means that your team, usually the underdog, only needs to win 10 rounds to reach the 13-round threshold and win your bet. Conversely, a -3.5-round handicap means that your team, usually the favourite, has to win the map with a lead of at least four rounds — or in other words, a 13-9 score.
Live betting on handicap bets allows you to gauge a team’s performance early on in the match to see if they can score enough rounds to win a positive handicap or have a comfortable enough lead to win a negative handicap. Map handicaps work in a similar way, but with the threshold changing with respect to whether a match is a best-of-three or a best-of-five.
Prop bets are arguably the most enjoyable betting lines in live betting. Unlike moneylines, prop bets bet on outcomes that do not necessarily decide whether a team wins the match. For example, winning the pistol round does not mean you will win the game — even if it gives you a good advantage early on.
In live betting, you can place prop bets on in-game events like pistol round winner, whether a game will go overtime, or first team to reach a certain number of rounds.
Betting live on VALORANT matches can be as exciting as it is challenging with odds rapidly fluctuating minute-by-minute. This is because despite the bookmaker’s set pre-match odds, community’s favourite to win the match, or analyst predictions, anyone can win during game day. And if you can spot a momentum shift right on time, you can win a lot of money betting on matches live.
What makes live betting different from pre-match betting in VALORANT is that first, you can only bet on pre-match betting markets before the match starts, whereas live betting markets are only available once matches are ongoing.
Another difference is that pre-match odds are fixed. On the other hand, live betting odds are constantly changing based on who is currently winning or has the momentum within the match, which can be affected by a lot of different factors. For example, if a player was subbed out for a particular match or if a team’s star player is currently underperforming, odds will adjust to accommodate the tides shifting for one team over the other.
Lastly, as we have seen, the betting markets available during live betting can be very different from the choices available during pre-match betting. Altogether, live betting demands you to pay close attention to every moment in-game so you can take advantage of betting opportunities when they present themselves. These distinctions from pre-match betting are what make live betting so dynamic and interactive.
Being able to consistently come out ahead while live betting is a skill that requires a combination of in-depth game knowledge, smart use of betting strategies, and discipline. Without one or the other, you can fall short to the pitfalls that come with live betting on a fast-paced esport like VALORANT.
Here are among the best esports betting strategies you should remember when getting started on VALORANT live betting:
Before the match kicks off, you want to make sure you have a good understanding of the game you are betting on, the teams about to play, and their lineup for the match.
For VALORANT live betting, you particularly want to have a good idea of the meta with regard to strong agents, whether a map is attacker or defender sided, and how game economy works. If you have these fundamentals down, you can have a good idea of the state of a match and whether a comeback is in the works or not. You can do this by either playing the game yourself at a high level or learning about the game through guides. Channels like Sovereign Guides, ProGuides, and SkillCapped go in depth about the mechanics and game knowledge you need to understand pro VALORANT.
Next, you need to do research on the teams and players that could be playing on game day. Aside from watching their games, look up their past head-to-head record, current form, and player stats that could help you create a more holistic image of their potential in the upcoming match. Platforms like Liquipedia along with stat databases such as VLR.GG will give you a better idea of how teams like to play the game.
With our newfound understanding of how a game of VALORANT plays out, we now have an idea of exactly when teams are on the verge of turning games around in their favour. This means that we need to have the adaptability to change our stances on our bets on the fly.
Esports matches are fast paced. To be precise, a game of competitive VALORANT will usually take around 25-40 minutes with a minimum of 13 rounds lasting one minute and 40 seconds each. So in between these game-deciding rounds where momentum shifts could happen at any moment, you need to have the foresight and the decisiveness to be able to move over to the winning side of the bet. Adapt faster than the rest of the competition and you will reap the rewards most handsomely.
In relation to our last point, you have to time when you place your bets to maximise your profits. As we know, in live betting, bookmakers will adjust the odds relative to who seems to be winning at any given moment. This can go against them if they do not properly understand a team’s true potential.
For instance, you can bet on an underdog who is doing better than predicted at the start of the match while match lines are still open. In the VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, Team Secret pulled off a massive upset win against Team Liquid in a 2-0 sweep. Betting on their momentum from their first few rounds dominating on Icebox could have net you huge gains if you spotted the opportunity early on before betting lines closed. To further drive the point home, Filipino VALORANT influencer Razzie Binx won over six times over his €50 bet when he bet on the Philippine representative.
But on the other end of the equation, you could keep your faith on your chosen team to take advantage of their better odds in future maps. One clear-cut example of this is when DRX pulled off a reverse sweep against Cloud9 to knock out the “El Diablo” Yay in LOCK//IN.
You have to be quick, though, as bookmakers will close these betting lines as soon as the tone of the match has been set as to prevent losses on their end.
Lastly, due to the fast-paced nature of esports, it can be easy to win and lose bets in the blink of an eye in live betting. Whether due to poor judgment or ‘bad luck’, it does not matter. What matters is that you set your limits and bet responsibly before you lose all your hard-earned money on bad, low value bets.
As always, bet only what you can afford to lose, avoid chasing losses, and diversify your bets. By staying disciplined and sticking to your limits, you can make sure that you will always have enough left in your bankroll to bet on another day.
To make it easier to understand, we will provide an example of how we can use everything we learned to make smart, value bets. For this example, the round score is currently 8-4 in Split between LOUD and NRG Esports, with NRG now on the defender’s side. It is NRG’s map pick, and the bookmaker’s odds are now skewed heavily in favour of LOUD.
Since we did our research and know that Split is a defender’s sided map (based on data from Valor Buff and community consensus), there is a good chance that NRG can pull it back and do a comeback win. In order for them to pull this off, they would first need to win the pistol round to get to 8-5.
Then, since the winner of the pistol round gets much more economy than the opposing team, it is more likely that NRG can win the next round pulling it closer to 8-6. From then on, NRG, a veteran team with championship-caliber resilience, can build up their momentum towards a comeback win.
As you can see, there are patterns you can observe in-game that can potentially lead to a team winning. If you spot these patterns and opportunities, you can cash out and beat the competition. However, there are many more factors that you should consider when placing live bets, such as a team’s strong side on a map or their mental fortitude. And these are still just scratching the surface to predicting what can go down in a high-stakes game of VALORANT.
VALORANT live betting can be daunting to get into because of how fast odds drastically shift in the course of minutes. However, this is where the excitement and challenge lies in live betting — because if you are able to notice when the momentum shifts mid-game, you can win big by taking advantage of skewed odds.
As such, live betting can be a dynamic and interactive experience for avid bettors who like to follow matches live. And this is what makes live betting so appealing versus pre-match betting. So, if you do your research and pay close attention to matches, there is much money to be made when betting on live VALORANT matches.
VALORANT live betting is a form of betting where you place bets on tournament matches while they are still ongoing. It is otherwise called as in-play betting.
Aside from moneylines, prop bets such as team to win at least one map, and total bets like total maps over/under, are among the most popular betting lines open in VALORANT live betting.
Live betting can be an exciting way of placing wagers because odds are dynamic and constantly fluctuate throughout a match. This allows bettors to take advantage of lopsided odds.
You can check what VALORANT tournaments are currently being held by visiting Riot’s official esports calendar or checking Liquipedia.
Most bettors will be easily swayed by a game’s current momentum and not by research-driven logic. This can lead to betting on high-risk, low-value odds that can end up backfiring.
Through our in-depth guides and reviews, we are focused on providing the best insights into esports betting.