As the world of electronic sports continues to expand at a rapid pace, it's not surprising that it gains more interest in a wagerers’ society. More and more bettors, especially the younger ones, choose to bet on cybersport tournaments, rather than classic sports. But it's not just the youth who are captivated by the thrilling competitions of cyber sports. A significant percentage of fans believe that it will soon become a mainstream form of entertainment, and will even be viewed as one of the Olympic disciplines in the near future. And of course, any cybersport lover knows about Counter-Strike: Global Offencive.

The Counter-Strike series is known as one of the oldest cyber sports disciplines. Counter-Strike tournaments entered gamers’  lives in the early 2000s, and over time, with the rise of eSports and its recognition by a wide range of countries and the audience as a sport discipline, the game has taken a leading position in the eSports market. For over two decades, Cyberathlete Professional League has organized Counter-Strike tournaments around the globe, taking place in various regions including the USA, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's release in 2012 coincided with the heyday of online betting, and bookmakers almost immediately began to accept bets on the CS:GO matches, making it one of the first cyber sports that players could wager on. The fact that CS:GO is one of the most predictable eSports disciplines also played a role in its popularity among bettors. There are updates here and there, but the game does not change drastically, so unexpected turns of events happen relatively rarely.

If you are new to cybersports and thinking about betting on CS:GO, you better consider beginning with lower stakes to minimize your losses and get to know the teams. And of course, you can use this guide, prepared by the Dexsport team, to get the CS:GO betting tips that will help you to start.

CS:GO TOURNAMENTS

Let’s start with the very beginning. Counter-Strike: Global Offencive is a shooter, in which the objective depends on the map where the action takes place. Competitive mode (5 vs 5) always has the same scenario: terrorists should try to place a bomb, while counter-terrorists defend the base to prevent it. To win, the team has to destroy all the enemies, or successfully defend or detonate the bomb. One of the teams must win 16 rounds to win the map. After 15 rounds are played, the teams switch sides. If after playing 30 rounds in total there is a tie (15-15), 2 additional periods of 3 or 5 rounds will be played.

BASIC CS:GO BETTING TIPS: 

1. One of the first rules we want you to know is to always choose to bet only on prestigious tournaments, such as ESL, PGL, BLAST as well as any tournaments with the prize pool $100,000 or more. When choosing a team to place a bet on, choose teams in which most of the players compete together for longer than half a year, showing stable results.
2. Just like in classic sports betting you should pay attention to substitutions, illnesses, conflicts and other news prior to the tournament.
3. A good idea for CS:GO bettors would be to skip the first few rounds of any tournament in order to gain the understanding of the match progression and the team’s power and playstyle. If the team easily deals with lesser skilled opponents but struggles in matches with the equally skilled teams, it is dangerous to bet on the matches with its participation.
4. Move on to a detailed analysis of the opponents if both sides show stable performance.

HOW TO ANALYZE THE TEAMS WHEN BETTING ON CS:GO

1. First of all, find the statistics of personal matches between the playing teams.
2. Monitor the news about substitutions and other possible negative factors.
3. Find out the teams’ map pool. The map pool is the number of maps playing on which the teams’ percentage of wins is equal to or greater than 50%. At the moment, there are seven maps that are used in CS:GO tournaments: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Cache and Train. The bigger the team’s map pool is, the easier it is for them to fight against different opponents. Sometimes a team can demonstrate great results, but only when they play on a couple of specific maps. Betting on a team that excels on at least four maps will help you to increase your chances of winning.

TYPES OF BETTING IN CS:GO

Being one of the most played eSports games that has a huge following, CS:GO has plenty of bets to offer. With such a wide range of betting markets you can be sure that you will easily find the one that suits you best. And it’s completely possible that as your experience and knowledge grows, you'll want to make several types of bets. Learn more about the different types of betting markets available in CS:GO tournaments below.

Betting on a match winner

This type of betting is incredibly popular among beginners due to its simplicity. To make a successful prediction all you need to have is just a little knowledge of the two teams involved in a match. Just choose one of the teams that you think is more likely to win and place your bet. A draw (X) result is rare, because the format of the competition often suggests a way to easily identify the winner.

Betting on a tournament winner

Another type of CS:GO bet where you have to choose between two teams competing against each other. It’s very similar to betting on a match winner, the only difference is that you won't be betting on the results of a single match, but rather on the outcome of the entire tournament. It requires more knowledge of the game and deeper analysis of the teams and individual players, but the pay out is definitely worth it.

Betting on a handicap

This type of bet can be offered if one team is significantly stronger than the other. Extra points are going to be assigned to the underdogs before the beginning of the match, which helps to even out the chances. Thus, even if the weaker team loses, its final score can turn out to be higher thanks to the extra points. In this case, if you chose to bet on the weaker team it means you win. Normally the odds are higher when betting on underdogs, therefore placing such a bet can get you a greater profit.

Over/Under betting

This type of bet requires a deeper knowledge of the game. Without it, it’s going to be difficult to make an accurate prediction. When you are placing an Over/Under bet on CS:GO, the oddsmaker will determine the number of total knife kills or headshots in the match. Your task is to guess whether the final number will be higher or lower than the one given you by an oddsmaker.

First kill and first blood betting

The name of this bet is self-explanatory. However, making such a prediction is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. This type of bet requires gaming experience and a thorough analysis of each team and each individual player. 

That’s all for today! We hope our CS:GO Betting Tips 101 Guide will help you to get more understanding of the rising industry of cyber sports and join the list of people who turned their hobby into a way to make profit. To find more guides follow our blog. And if you are feeling ready to place a winning bet, click here and find available CS:GO bets. Good luck!