With a prize pool of a whopping $1,000,000 on offer at CS:GO’s Boston 2018 major tournament, there’s a huge amount of money to be won by the world’s best CS:GO esports players. Fancy getting in on the action? Each CS:GO tournament provides punters with a huge number of betting opportunities, so you’ll have the chance to win big too! Not sure where to start? Our beginner’s guide to betting on CS:GO is sure to bring you up to speed in no time.
Beginner’s Guide to CS:GO
What, Where and When?
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a first-person shooter esports game, developed by Hidden Path Entertainment in association with Valve Corporation. The game has sold more than 40 million copies and is today one of the most popular esports titles in the world.
There are a number of major tournaments organized each year. Competitions like the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 4 and Intel Extreme Masters XII World Championship attract the CS:GO community’s biggest and best pro players. With so many events throughout the year, it’s safe to say you’ll never struggle to find a CS:GO betting opportunity.
Who to back?
Many bettors head straight for the bookies favourites when placing esports bets. There are certain teams and players to keep an eye out for. Teams such as SK Gaming, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, Astralis and Mousesports rank among the world’s best, while Marcelo “coldzera” David, Finn “karrigan” Andersen, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub make up the list of the top CS:GO players.
While you may manage to win more often than not when backing these odds on favourites, it’s always a good idea to run through some key statistics before placing your bets. Looking for a nudge in the right direction? Take a look at the head-to-head records, recent form and overall win records. While you’re never guaranteed to win just because you’ve done your homework, many believe that these statistics are a great indicator of future performance.
CS:GO Betting Markets
If you’ve figured out who to back at the bookies, it’s time to check out the betting options available to you. Let’s take a look at the most popular CS:GO betting markets:
- Tournament winner: here, you are betting on a certain team to win a particular tournament.
- Tournament finalist: here, you are betting on a certain team to qualify for the Grand Final of a particular tournament.
- Match winner: here, you are betting on a certain team to win a particular match.
- Map winner: here, you are betting on a certain team to win a particular map within a match. CS:GO matches are usually played in a one-off, Best-of-3 or Best-of-5 format.
- Handicaps: You’ll often find there are matchups with a huge gulf in ability between contestants. In these instances, you could struggle to find some value. The handicap levels the playing field and gets you a much better price. You’re simply betting that a certain team will win a particular match while starting with either an advantage or a handicap, such as being 1.5 maps behind or 1.5 maps ahead.
- Total number of map rounds: for this type of bet, you must predict that a certain map will have more or less than a given number of rounds. For example, if you bet that the first map of the match will have less than 25 rounds, you’re predicting that either team will win before the 25th round.
- Round winner: here, you’re betting on the result of a certain round within a map.
How to play CS:GO
The very best esports players have spent thousands of hours mastering the game and gaining a deep understanding of its components. Becoming a successful CS:GO bettor won’t require you to do the same, but it’s definitely good to develop a basic understanding of how the game is played. Let’s take a closer look.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a multiplayer first-person shooter contested by two teams, with give players on each side. The two adversary lineups (the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists) confront each other on a given map over a series of 16-30 rounds (plus overtime rounds if the score is tied at the end).
At the start of each round, the teams spawn in separate and predetermined map locations. Players are locked in place for 15 seconds and during this time they can buy equipment and weapons. They can also exchange weapons with their teammates, so if one player has funds to spare, he can buy weapons for multiple members of his team. One player from the Terrorists team receives a bomb which needs to be planted in one of two areas (marked A and B respectively on the map). After the bomb is planted, the Terrorists have to prevent the Counter-Terrorists from defusing it.
Each round lasts for 2 minutes and 10 seconds or until one of the teams reaches a win condition. For Terrorists, killing the entire enemy team or planting the bomb and having it explode are the two win-conditions available. For Counter-Terrorists, defusing the bomb (once it has been planted) or killing the entire enemy team (if the bomb hasn’t been planted) are the two ways of winning. If none of these conditions is reached during the round’s regular time, the Counter-Terrorists win by default.
Players are rewarded with money every time they kill an enemy, win a round or lose a round. Of course, winning a round grants a much bigger reward than losing it, so the team that wins a round will have a money advantage going into the next one. This usually translates into better weapons and equipment. Money can be gathered from one round to the next, up to a maximum of $16,000 per player.
By default, each player receives a pistol at the start of each round. Purchasing an upgrade will come at a cost. After the first 15 rounds, the two teams swap sides (Counter-Terrorists become Terrorists and vice versa), all equipment is lost and balances are reset to their default value of $800. The first team to reach 16 round victories wins the game.
Bet on CS:GO
Now that you’re all clued up on CS:GO, you’re probably ready to have a punt on the next big tournament! Looking for a top sportsbook? Check out our list for the very best esports betting sites on the market. It’s packed full of the best bonuses, markets and promos available online. Simply compare, sign up and place your bets!
