CS:GO BETTING | The Ultimate Guide
CS:GO is one the biggest esports betting markets in existence.
With our Ultimate Guide to CS:GO Betting, we will introduce you to the gambling aspect of this legendary FPS.
What is CS:GO?
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the fourth installment in the Counter-Strike series, which has shaped the first-person shooter market for the previous twenty years. Furthermore, it is the direct sequel to Counter-Strike: Source, a game many players feel failed to capitalize on the popularity of the legendary Counter-Strike 1.6. CS:GO has been one of the most popular video games in the world for the past ten years and a mainstay of the competitive esports scene.
The game divides players into two teams of five players: terrorists and counter-terrorists. Terrorists seek to plant a bomb or kidnap hostages, whereas Counter-Terrorists seek to prevent the bomb from being planted or to rescue hostages. Rounds are played, with teams switching between attacker and defender roles. The match is won by the team that wins the most rounds. While there are many different variations, CS:GO is most commonly played in a best-of-30-rounds format.
Competitive CS:GO
The competitive CS:GO scene is one of the biggest and most popular in all of esports. Apart from attracting numerous players and millions of fans, competitive CS:GO is also the main staple of esports betting. Players participate in a range of leagues and tournaments, from amateur and semi-professional to professional, with varying levels of prize money, status, and publicity.
At the amateur level, players and teams participate in online competitions where they can win modest cash prizes and gain useful experience competing against more experienced players. These competitions are mostly seen as a stepping stone for up-and-coming talent. They give players and teams a chance to demonstrate their abilities and perhaps catch the attention of professional teams and organizations.
As players and teams advance through the ranks they can enter tournaments at the semi-professional and professional levels. These competitions are often held offline, in front of live audiences, and attract large viewership. They also feature notably higher prize pools, as well as other rewards.
Among the wide plethora of tournament organizers, BLAST and IEM Pro Tours stand above the rest. Both organizers run a circuit of yearly events that make up the majority of CS:GO’s most prestigious tournaments.
CS:GO Betting
Simply put, CS:GO betting refers to the practice of betting on the outcome of professional matches and tournaments. Simply put, CS:GO betting refers to the practice of betting on the outcome of professional matches and tournaments. When it comes to the world of esports betting, CS:GO is the undeniable king. Valve’s lax approach to gambling regulations, as well as Counter-Strike’s iconic status over the last two decades, have put the game in a league of its own.
CS:GO Betting Markets
CS:GO bettors can choose from a variety of betting markets.
One of the most popular CS:GO bets is predicting which of 2 teams will win the round. To this, you can add handicaps, round scores, and more.
- Match Winner – Wager on the outcome of the series
- Map WInner
- Handicap
- Total number of rounds
- Pistol round
- Race to rounds
- Tournament winner
MATCH WINNER
This bet is your traditional “pick who you think will win the game”, and everyone should be familiar with it.
It is a staple for anyone wanting to engage in CSGO match betting. Though it looks very straightforward, there can be a ton of factors that can impact the odds of this bet. If you have a good idea of what is happening across the scene, you can use it to your advantage. If not, there are always our CSGO betting advice you can utilize to your gain. Some key factors to look at are the players and map pools of both teams.
MAP WINNER
Here is another bet where having knowledge of the game comes in handy. If you have watched both teams and know their strengths and weaknesses on different maps, it can be a good way to deduce who will win when they play each other.
Selecting individual map winners while match betting requires knowledge of both teams and how they perform. It is not an easy bet to make unless you know the matchup intimately.
HANDICAP
The handicap bet is an interesting one. Sometimes in CSGO match betting, odds makers will give a team a map advantage in a series in order to create less lop-sided odds. In other cases, some teams will be added or deducted rounds in the final score to determine the winner.
TOTAL NUMBER OF ROUNDS PER MAP
This bet can be a bit more of a gamble. Instead of betting the winner of a game or a series, you bet on the over/under of how many total rounds will be played.
The reason this can be more difficult is you can never know if a team is going to perform decently and win more rounds than they normally would while still losing the match.
RACE TO ROUNDS
Another volatile bet that offers great returns is the Race to Rounds option available in the dynamic markets section. The idea behind it is to select the team that goes to a specific round count first out of the two teams. To place this bet you need to be aware of which map the teams are playing and which team is playing which side of the Attacker/Defender dynamic. Some maps heavily favor the defending side and some the attacking. On top of that some teams are excellent at protecting a bomb site, but quite bad at taking control of one or planting the bomb.
This market offers great odds, but comes at the cost of being very well informed about the teams. You can read our CSGO betting advice guide if you want to get into researching specific matchups and potential outcomes.
PISTOL ROUND WINNER
Pistol rounds in professional CSGO have often been a point of discussion. The nature of them is that they are often a coin flip, regardless of who is the better team. This means that there is a lot of volatility in this bet, making it a risky but fun one to make. The bet can be extended as well, as you can bet on both pistol rounds in a match.
TOURNAMENT WINNER
This one is fairly straightforward. Before the tournament, you place a bet on who you think will win the tournament. Generally, this bet has decent payouts due to how hard it can be to predict a tournament winner. This is a good bet to make with multiple friends where you all pick your favourite team.
CS:GO Match Betting
CS:GO Match Betting has plenty of prop bets, and detailed bets on in-game events or stats. Bet365 has some of the most detailed betting options.
CS:GO Map Betting
You can also find more detailed CS:GO game betting with map betting. Here, you will find bets divided per map, including various over/unders, exact predictions, and handicaps.
Basic Guide to CS:GO betting odds
CS:GO esports betting lines work the same as any other set of odds. As with other types of esports bets, bookies let you choose between American, Decimal, and Fractional Odds.
- Decimal Odds: Decimal odds the easiest kinds of odds to understand, and are most commonly used in Europe. They show you what multiple of your stake your payout will be.
- American Odds: American Odds are most common in the Americas. This format show you how much you will win if you lay down $100 (plus odds), or how much you have to lay down order to win $100 (minus odds).
- Fractional Odds (UK Odds): Fractional odds are easy to understand, though you may have to make more calculations in your head. These are mostly used in the UK and Ireland. The right part of the fraction is your wager, and the left part is the return on that wager.
CS:GO Betting Lines
CS:GO esports betting lines the same way they make lines for any other sport – they decide what the chances are for each team to win based on previous data. At the same time, these lines are influenced by the bettors themselves.
As bookies see more money coming in on one side, they will often move the lines to make sure they balance their books. Because of this, the CS:GO betting lines you see at many bookies may no longer accurately reflect the true probability, meaning they could offer excellent value.
Often, betting on stats and over/unders is a lot easier to predict than who will actually win, so make sure not to neglect these markets in your overall betting strategy.
CS:GO Betting Tournaments Overview
ELEAGUE
ELEAGUE is responsible for many major esports tournaments, including Rocket League, FIFA, Call Of Duty and more. Originally, the league was broadcast on US television showing championships for CS:GO, while games like Streetfighter and Rocket League were added in later on. These days, you can watch their events on Twitch, Youtube and Betway. The 2019 Invitational was won by Faze Clan, who also won the Premier in 2017. So far, only smaller online tournaments have been announced in 2022.
PGL
The PGL (Professional Gamers League) is one of the oldest esports leagues. It was formed back in 1997 for (now classic) games like StarCraft, Command & Conquer Red Alert, and Quake. These days, it hosts competitions for various esports, including Quake Pro, DOTA 2, FIFA and Counterstrike. They organise various tournaments for CS:GO, including the PGL Major, various minor championships, the BLAST Pro series, Perfect World and more. The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 was won by Natus Vincere, who went home with the $1,000,000 main prize. Dates have yet to be set in 2022
DreamHack and ESL
Dreamhack is an online regional championship that sees teams duke it out for a slice of the $250,000 prize pool. The competition has a division for Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia, with Virtus.pro declared the winner of their former major event.
Then there’s the ESL Pro League which combines both ESL and DreamHack tournaments, giving players from both an opportunity to compete for major prizes. Teams from both will gain ESL Pro Tour points, allowing them to compete in the EPT Championships. The best teams from ESL Pro Tour will then go on to compete in the IEM. Look forward to seasons 16 and 17 in 2022.
IEM
The Intel Extreme Masters, (IEM in short), is one of the biggest CS:GO events in the world, both in terms of prize money and viewership. It takes place every year in the Polish city of Katowice. This invitational sees 24 of the best teams in the world battle to grab a share of the 1,000,000 USD prize money. Teams must compete for points in the ESL pro tour for a chance to take part in this event.
Natus Vincere were crowned champions of IEM Katowice 2020, and they also claimed the first place in IEM Cologne 2021. IEM Winter 2021 was won by Vitality, while NIP managed to claim victory in IEM Fall 2021 Europe.
FACEIT, ECS and Flashpoint
FACEIT is a third-party platform for CS:GO servers. They host tournaments for CS:GO as well as other esports titles.
ECS, one of FACEIT’s events, has offered some of the biggest prizes in all of professional esports, with a total prize pool of 500,000 USD for each of their 2019 London (won by Team Vitality) and Arlington USA (won by Astralis) events, though it is unclear if this tournament will continue in the future.
For 2022, FACEIT will be organizing Flashpoint with a new tournament structure, in conjunction with co-owning teams Cloud9, MIBR, Dignitas, Gen.G, c0ntact Gaming, MAD Lions, Envy Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix. Open Qualifiers run from, April 13 to April 25, Closed Qualifiers from April 27 to April 30, and the Main Event from May 10 to May 30.
BLAST Premier
BLAST Premier is one of newest CS:GO esports betting leagues, launched in 2020. Still, it has been one of the regular CS:GO esports events, with group stages, showdowns and a final for spring and fall, leading to the Global final in January. Denmark’s Astralis won the 2020 Global Final, beating Evil Geniuses. The final had a 1,000,000 USD total prize pool, with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev as MVP.
The 2021 edition had a $500,000 prize pool with an event for 2022 yet to be announced. Russia’s NAVI, the best CSGO team in 2021 took the cake. Even though they were pushed to the lower bracket after losing their first match against 2 – 1 against Team Liquid. They first beat Heroic 2 -0, then had a close 2- 1 over G2, before revenging against Team Liquid, beating Vitality, and finally claiming the title over Gambit. Watch Blastpremier on their Youtube or Twitch channel, or live on Betway.
CSGO Hall of Fame
Many CS:GO players have achieved a small level of celebrity, and won millions in prize money, on top of money gained from endorsements and sponsorships. Some of the best players of all time, and a few recent greats include:
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is a Ukranian CS:GO player for Natus Vincere. He usually takes the role of AWPer. While he may not be the top earning player of all time yet, he has won 19 19 HLTV MVP medals, along with a Major and a grand slam. In 2021, he led his team to victory in BLAST Premier World Final, BLAST Premier Fall Final, PGL Major Stockholm, and IEM Cologne.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut is one of the best French CSGO players. He plays for Team Vitality in the role of AWPer. He was ranked best player by HLTV in 2020, while in 20221 he lead his team to the third place in BLAST Premier: World Final, second place in BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, and first place in Intel Extreme Masters XVI – Winter.
Marcelo “Coldzera” David
Marcelo “Coldzera” David is a 26-year-old player from Brazil who currently plays for Complexity Gaming. He won his first major prize at MLG Columbus 2016 ($500,000 for the team, with $100,000 as his share). He was voted best player of the year in 2016 and 2017 by HLTV.org, and has been voted MVP for 8 different tournaments, including 2 Majors.
Richard “shox” Papillon
Richard “shox” Papillon is another Counter-Strike OG, with a career dating back to 2006. This French professional is considered one of the best players in Global Offensive history, often featuring in HLTV top 20 players and frequently voted an MVP. He has a career prize money totalling USD 487,820.89.
Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson
Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer is widely regarded as one of the best CS:GO players in history. He has played for H2k, Absolute Legends, LGB eSports, Fnatic, and most recently FaZe Clan, with which he won 10 events including: ESL One: New York 2017, Epicenter 2018 and Blast Pro Series Copenhagen 2019. He also reached the final of ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018. Recently, however, he announced a break from FaZe and CS:GO.
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is an AWPer for NIP, formerly for Astralis. This all-time great has been playing consistently and at a very high level since 2014. He is one of the first (along with three of his teammates) players to win 4 majors in CS:GO, and also the first to win 3 majors in a row. He has earned approximately USD $1,921,931.54 from 130 tournaments, making him one of the highest grossing players ever. However, is recently decided to take a breack, citing “mental health” issues. We hope to see him return to active competition soon.
CSGO Top Earnings
| Rank | Nationality | Player ID | Player Name | Total Esports Winnings |
| 1 | Denmark | dupreeh | Peter Rasmussen | $1,937,581.07 |
| 2 | Denmark | dev1ce | Nicolai Reedtz | $1,921,931.54 |
| 3 | Denmark | Xyp9x | Andreas Højsleth | $1,919,480.23 |
| 4 | Denmark | gla1ve | Lukas Rossander | $1,771,642.41 |
| 5 | Denmark | Magisk | Emil Reif | $1,531,040.30 |
| 6 | Ukraine | s1mple | Alexander Kostylev | $1,418,238.65 |
| 7 | Russian Federation | electroNic | Denis Sharipov | $1,271,975.33 |
| 8 | United States | Stewie2k | Jakey Yip | $1,173,840.00 |
| 9 | Brazil | FalleN | Gabriel Toledo | $1,126,438.92 |
| 10 | Brazil | TACO | Epitácio de Melo | $1,085,086.48 |
CS:GO Betting Tips and Betting Predictions
CS:GO esports betting can be a serious challenge. Therefore, we’ve gathered a few useful pointers that should help you make CS:GO betting predictions more easily!
Here are our top 5 CS:GO betting tips:
CS:GO Follow the Pro Streams
The best way to understand CS:GO – or any other esport, for that matter – is to follow esports streams and watch games being played. There are plenty of channels that allow to do so, such as:
- Twitch: Twitch has a multitude of streamers and channels through which you can watch the pros playing CS:GO. Watch and learn to improve your betting strategy!
CS:GO Meta Changes
Even though CS:GO has been around in some form since the early 2000s, the game is constantly evolving. Game updates or patches will often change game dynamics, and this can affect game strategy as well. At the same time, pro teams are constantly developing new and improved tactics to deal with increasingly skilled foes. Because of all this, be sure to always read up on the latest CS:GO meta (most effective tactics available) to keep your game knowledge up-to-date.
CS:GO Overall Statistics
The bookies use stats to decide their odds, meaning it is usually a good idea to consult these stats yourself. This will help you get a better understanding of how a team or player is likely to perform, and can help you decide value and pick winners.
- csgostats shows detailed stats for the ESL Pro League, as well as most other pro competitions. You can also track your own CS:GO stats and get ranked yourself.
- csgo-stats.com offers stats for any Steam ID, match sharecode, Steam profile link, or custom username. You will also find Pro Stats for a number of players.
CS:GO Tournament Structures, Teams and Players
This may seem obvious, but it is very important to know the structure of the tournaments on which you are betting. Learn which players will be playing on each team, their individual stats, strengths and weaknesses. Track the latest results and stats for each team and player and follow their social media.
CS:GO Community, Stay Active and Social
CS:GO has a very fervent betting community where you can find useful tips and predictions. One of the best forums online is the CS:GO betting subreddit. It contains a daily bet thread where you can see pros making their picks. There are also plenty of CS:GO communities on Discord you can join.
Always Remember: Keep Betting Fundamentals in Mind!
There are three fundamental principles that apply to all bets:
1. Look for value
It is impossible to always predict a winner, and not all odds offered by bookies have value. Even if you agree with the bookie on who will likely win, the odds offered might not be worth the risk. The trick is to look for bets with more value, meaning you see an outcome even more likely than what the bookie odds imply.
2. Manage your bankroll
If you have a finite budget for betting and you wager it all on a single bet, you will have no budget left to win back your losses. The best strategy here is to divide your budget into 100 units and wager no more than 5 units per bet.
3. Spread your risk
This ties in to the previous two points. There is no guarantee you will win all of your bets, or even most of them. The only way to make a profit is to win more money than you lose. You do this by choosing value consistently.
TOP 3 – CS:GO Betting Sites Reviewed
Thanks to the game’s popularity, millions of people now watch professional CS:GO esports competitions – and, naturally, this means that many want to bet on them, too. We’ve compiled few of the best CS:GO esports betting sites below, which all boast stellar reputations and are licensed by the proper authorities, meaning that they’re completely safe to bet with.
Thunderpick
Thunderpick growth in terms of their betting markets and casino offers fueled by various sponsorship and global awereness has been incredible in last few years. On top of their sportsbook, poker you can bet on most major esports tournaments.
You can bet on CSGO, Dota 2, VALORANT, StarCraft among others on their site. CS:GO esports betting section covers tournaments like IEM (Katowice 2022), Dreamhack Open, ESL PRO LEAGUE, ESEA and many more. You can also bet on side markets like first 10 rounds, pistol round and handicap with traditional bets like Match WInner, Map and Map winners, and Outrights.
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Stake
Stake is truly one of the major bookmakers for many bettors when it comes to CSGO betting. They provide odds and cover almost every major CSGO event: including PGL, Blast Premier, ECS, FACEIT, ESEA Open and many more. CS:GO esports live betting is also on the fire when it comes to their site, clean UI design with betting options displayed brings great view of whats happening in front of you.
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GGBET
GGBET is without saying one of the best CS:GO esports betting site, offering competitive odds on variety of betting markets, including Dota 2, Valorant and League Of Legends, CSGO and more. Their coverage also expands to smaller esports titles like Overwatch, PUBG, Call Of Duta, Ranibow Six Siege.
Although betting markets and odds that covers CSGO bets are very advanced, offering even more side betting markets as well as live bets place on certain events.
How big actually they are, says no more than main sponsorship on the latest Dota 2 The International tournament and PGL major who stands for one of the highest ranked tournaments.
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New users can collect €100 first deposit bonus + 35 free spins here, and enjoy future promotions!
CS:GO – FAQs
Is CSGO Gambling legal?
That depends where you live. In many countries, states or territories, online betting on sports or esports is legal and regulated, whereas in some countries, there are no specific laws to regulate online betting.
Apart from operators having different licenses, you should always beforehand check your local laws for tax. since tax-fraud is one of the most common problems.
How can I place bets on CS:GO?
To place a CS:GO bet, head to a bookie that offers odds on the game, create an account, and select which type bet you wish to place. We recommend GGbet, Bitcasino and Stake
Which CSGO skin sites I can use?
Sites like hellcase, csgolive, farmskins, ezy and gocase.pro are the projects that stood the test of time and built up a reputable brand over csgo skin gambling.
What is the best team in CSGO 2022?
The best CSGO team in 2021 is Ukraine‘s Natus Vincere, with a total of 1,000 points, according to the rankings on HLTV. They managed to win BLAST Premier Fall Final, PGL Major Stockholm and IEM Cologne.
BETATESPORTS – Conclusion on CS:GO esports betting
Since it was launched in 2012, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has continued to grow, and it is now one of the biggest multiplayer first-person shooter games in the world.
There are plenty of tournaments and even most mainstream bookies have begun offering CSGO odds, with a wide selection of markets. That being said, it is always best to find the best odds available along with the best promos for better value.
