CS:GO betting tips and tricks

Esports betting is taking the world by storm as interest in CS:GO and other gaming titles now attract mainstream attention. Their fast-paced, often team-based gameplay is analogous to sports in many ways, and esports betting has become an exciting way to spice up the tournament viewing experience while potentially pocketing a bit of money on the side. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the premiere esports and a must-watch for any esports enthusiast out there. Here are a few tips and tricks if you’d like to dip your toes into the exciting world of Counter-Strike betting.

What is CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)?

CS:GO is the latest iteration of Valve’s competitive multiplayer FPS series. Released on August 21, 2012, it was the fourth game in the series whose history now stretches over twenty years. At the end of last year, the game became free-to-play on Steam (the same time a battle-royale game-mode called "Danger Zone", was added to the game), meaning there’s nothing to stop you from giving it a try for yourself

Per Wikipedia, the basics of CS:GO are as follows:

“The game pits two teams against each other: the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists. Both sides are tasked with eliminating the other while also completing separate objectives. The Terrorists, depending on the game mode, must either plant the bomb or defend the hostages, while the Counter-Terrorists must either prevent the bomb from being planted, defuse the bomb, or rescue the hostages.”

CS:GO esports exclusively focuses on the bomb defusal game mode. Every match consists of two fifteen-round halves where one team plays as the Counter-Terrorists and the other as the Terrorists for each half. The first team to reach sixteen rounds wins the match. You win by either eliminating the entire opposition team or by achieving your team-specific goal (getting the bomb to explode as a T or defusing it as a CT).

Counter-Strike is notorious for its brutal gunplay, requiring great mechanical skill and rapid reflexes as every gunfight ends in just a few moments. With team roles dynamically changing from attack to defense over the course of a single round based on whether the terrorists managed to plant the bomb or not, the complexities of a CS:GO match quickly rise beyond clicking on heads. Positioning and great utility usage (read: smoke grenades, flashbangs, Molotov cocktails and the like) are pivotal if you want to succeed. This, coupled with the game’s unique economy system, creates an irresistible blend of entertainment, making Counter-Strike one of the easiest esports to understand at a glance while maintaining great depths.

CS:GO betting tips

Map selection matters – Unlike in DOTA 2 or certain other esports, there’s more than one arena to play in across the different games. The top CS:GO teams all specialize on different maps, and the veto-based selection process before big matches can easily swing the odds by itself. Knowing how the competitors’ “map pools” match up is vital. This is something analysts spend a lot of time discussing on the broadcasts, so paying attention to the talking heads between games can also provide you with useful information.

CT and T sides are very different – This asymmetry is part of why Counter-Strike remained a popular game for over two decades now. Certain maps are deliberately designed in a way to directly favor one over the other for specific reasons. Just because on team did well on one side of one map, don’t bet the house on them winning the entire series. Sometimes that’s just par for the course or simply their specialty.

 

Compare the bookmakers – Just like with traditional sports, there are edges to be found by comparing the odds offered across the different bookies. Maybe some of them consider an upset much less likely, allowing you to profit more if you get your prediction right. It’s also quite possible that you won’t find a certain game at a specific bookmaker, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to bet on it elsewhere. We recommend Rivalry.com for CS:GO betting due to their wide variety of offerings and a great free-to-play experience in the form of their Thunderdome promotion. They boast an Isle of Man license alongside many country-specific ones, guaranteeing that your money is safe with them.