The Counter-Strike brand has been around since the year 2000, and as long as Counter-Strike has existed, people gathered together to form teams and compete. In many ways, the entire eSports industry, as well as the eSports betting industry, wouldn’t exist without Counter-Strike. In this article, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about CSGO betting, as well as our top CSGO betting tips.
Top 11 CSGO Betting Sites
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bet365
If you’ve ever peeked into the world of online betting sites before, then you’ve definitely heard of bet365. Many consider them to be the top dog of sports betting, and that stellar reputation extends to their CSGO betting options too. I love their vast match coverage and the long list of betting markets that are available.
It’s no surprise that I chose bet365 to top this list, bet365 provide some of the best odds out there. Those odds combined with their regular array of promotions create a betting experience that I think many punters would be very pleased with. At the end of the day, we all love a bookie that creates great value.
Pinnacle
If you’re a fan of sports betting in general, then you’ve definitely heard of Pinnacle before. Pinnacle is a well-established, user-friendly bookie that has an entire section of their site dedicated to eSports betting. Where a lot of bookies out there list eSports as a single sport, Pinnacle separates eSports betting from their regular sports betting page, and each individual eSport is treated as an individual sport, as it should be.
It isn’t all about the great user interface, though. Pinnacle offer their users some great odds, as well as a top-notch live betting experience. They even run an eSports betting blog where you can get CSGO betting tips and CSGO betting predictions. The only thing missing is live streaming, but with so many options to stream eSports matches out there (more on this below), it’s a small footnote on an otherwise stellar eSports betting experience.
Betfair
If you’re the kind of punter who likes their in-play betting, then Betfair is likely the bookie for you. Not only do Betfair have great value odds, but their live betting area is fantastic. They’re one of the few bookies out there that embed live streams of matches into their live betting pages whenever possible, which really puts their in-play betting offering at the head of the pack.
Betfair are known for their eSports betting, and even have a whole section of their site dedicated to it. In addition, they also run regular eSports-specific promotions, meaning anyone who’s into CSGO betting isn’t just in for a wild ride, but a great value ride too.
Types of CS:GO Betting
When it comes to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting, there are actually two different forms of betting available: real money CSGO betting, and CSGO skins betting. Of course, we don’t really recommend CS:GO skin gambling websites, as these are regularly shut down by Valve, the gigantic company that owns and publishes CS:GO. Real money CSGO betting sites, however, never have those issues.
Real Money CS:GO Betting
This is the standard eSports betting we all know and love, where punters wager real money on tournament matches. These are generally bookies who provide betting opportunities for tons of regular sports, as well as eSports, and are the brands that punters already know and recognise, like Bet365, Unibet, and Betfair. This is the kind of betting that we’re going to focus on in this article, as these sites are reliable, and (most importantly!) regulated, guaranteeing punters’ safety.
CS:GO Skins Betting
This is the more controversial side of CSGO betting. CSGO skins betting uses in-game, cosmetic, virtual items (known as “skins”) instead of real money to wager on bets. These sites tend to be unregulated, have a bit of a shady reputation for money laundering (as many of these skins are worth quite a bit of real money), and are often shut down by Valve, the company that owns, publishes, and distributes Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. We recommend steering clear of CSGO skin betting sites, as you won’t be covered by the same protections that are in place for real-money, licensed CSGO betting sites.
Best CS:GO Betting Sites
When it comes to CSGO betting, punters are lucky enough that they literally have dozens of options available to them when trying to choose a bookmaker. The question remains, though: which one is right for you?
How do I find the best CS:GO Betting Site?
We have our own top picks for the best CSGO betting sites, but finding the right bookie for you is a very personal decision. There are, however, a number of things you need to look out for when selecting the right bookie:
- How many CSGO tournaments they cover
- If they have a reputable gambling licence
- The variety of CSGO betting markets on offer
- eSports or CSGO-specific promotions, offers, and/or bonuses
- Whether they offer live betting for CSGO matches
- Whether they include live streaming of CSGO matches on their live betting offering
What are the Rules of CS:GO?
- CS:GO matches are played by two opposing teams of 5 players each
- Most tournament games are played in a best-of-three or best-of-five format
- A match is played on a single map, over 30 rounds. The first team to win 16 rounds wins the match
- Each individual round in a competitive eSports tournament typically lasts around 2 minutes
- Teams earn in-game currency each round which can be used to purchase weapons in subsequent rounds
- The 1st and 16th rounds are known as “pistol rounds” when the teams switch sides and start armed with just pistols
- Each team takes the role of either terrorists or counter-terrorists, and the teams switch roles at the 15-round mark
- The terrorist team has to plant a bomb at one of two possible locations on the map, and then keep the bomb safe during its 35-second detonation countdown
- The counter-terrorist team needs to either prevent the bomb from being planted, or disarm the placed bomb before it detonates
- Either team can win a round by successfully killing every member of the opposing team, which is how most competitive rounds are won
- Players do not respawn when killed in a round, but can play in subsequent rounds. Similarly, their character’s health does not regenerate during a round
- Players can only withstand a small amount of shots from a gun before being killed, unlike in most other video games
CS:GO Betting Markets
When it comes to eSports betting in general, the betting markets doors are pretty much blown off their hinges. eSports take place in virtual spaces where no one can get hurt and the laws of physics are programmed to do whatever the game designers want. This means that things happen in eSports that would, and could, never happen in traditional sports, such as using magic in League of Legends or shooting a terrorist in the head in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Being not only one of the biggest eSports out there, but one of the longest established eSports, bookies have come up with a wide range of CSGO-specific betting markets over the years which have now become standard in the world of CSGO betting sites. Of course, outrights are available, though there are other, game-specific markets available for punters to place bets on.
Map Winners
CSGO takes place in a number of in-game maps, and when eSports teams compete at tournaments and events, they face off against each other in a best-of-three or best-of-five format, with each match taking place on a single map, and each map consisting of 30 rounds. This is done to make sure that no team has an unfair advantage because they spent more time practising on a specific map.
Punters can, however, place bets on who will win a specific map. If Astralis face off against Ninjas in Pyjamas, while Astralis might win the overall match, punters can still collect winnings for predicting that Ninjas in Pyjamas might win playing on the iconic ‘Dust 2’ map.
Rounds Played
In a best-of-three/five format, the total number of rounds played isn’t guaranteed. We’ve seen victories of 16-0, 16-12, and more, and punters can bet on how many maps will be played in a best-of format.
Bookies can offer this as an “over/under” bet, or an “odds or evens” bet, so be sure to check out how your bookie of choice presents this type of bet to make sure that it’s one that fits your own betting style.
Round Winners
This is similar to the ‘Map Winners’ market but focuses on specific rounds. Like we said above, a match is made up of multiple maps, and maps are made up of multiple rounds, and punters can bet on their predictions for who will win specific rounds in the match. To continue our Astralis versus Ninjas in Pyjamas example, even though Astralis might win the overall match, you can still place winning bets on Ninjas in Pyjamas winning a specific round.
Similarly, you can bet on teams to win or lose a minimum number of rounds, meaning if you expect Astralis to take the victory but think Ninjas in Pyjamas will win at least 3 rounds, you can place a bet on that.
Biggest CS:GO Tournaments to Bet on
So you know how the game works, you know about the specialised betting markets, and you know what the best CSGO betting sites are. Now, what are the biggest and best CS:GO events to start placing bets on?
ESL One
ESL One is a tournament series organised by the Electronic Sports League. There are several ESL One events each year, ever since ESL One Frankfurt 2014, the first ESL One event. While not every single ESL One event features Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, at least two or three ESL One events a year. ESL One tournaments tend to draw the biggest and most famous CS:GO teams out there, like Natus Vincere, FaZe Clan, and Team Liquid.
BLAST Pro Series
The BLAST Pro Series is an international live Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament in which six of the best CS:GO teams in the world come together for a lightning-paced 2-day tournament. First appearing in November 2017, the BLAST Pro Series is one of Counter-Strike‘s newer recurring events, though quickly became one of the hottest and most sought after champion titles for a CSGO Team to hold.
DreamHack Events
DreamHack have been in the game of organising Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments since all the way back in 2002, when they were still just a small, Swedish organisation. Today, however, DreamHack events like DreamHack Atlanta, DreamHack Summer, and DreamHack Winter are core staples in the CS:GO circuit each year. While they don’t have the largest prize pools around for winning teams, they draw hundreds of thousands of viewers and the biggest and best names in CS:GO talent, creating dozens of betting opportunities each and every year.
Where can I Watch CS:GO Tournaments?
Most eSports tournaments are freely available to stream online, with some CS:GO tournaments drawing upwards of two million unique viewers, far eclipsing the viewership figures of many traditional sports tournaments. While many betting sites will allow their users to watch a live stream on their site, if a live stream isn’t available on your betting site of choice, you’ll likely be able to watch the match at one of the following websites:
CS:GO Betting Tips
Just like with any form of sports betting, the easiest way to gain an edge on CS:GO betting is by learning as much as you can about the game, the tournaments, and the participating teams. Here are our top tips to getting ahead at CSGO:
- Play the game briefly to get a feel for how the game works, the spatial dimensions of the maps, and how each of the in-game weapons behave
- Spend some time watching eAthletes and other professional gamers play CS:GO on Twitch or YouTube. In fact, many players on professional teams live stream their practise sessions, which is a great way to get a feel for how individual players approach the game
- Get familiar with when different tournaments are taking place. The easiest place to go for this is liquipedia.net, but each tournament also has official social media profiles which are worth following too
- Follow the major teams on social media. Players get shuffled around a lot more often in eSports than they do in traditional sports, and it isn’t unheard of for a team to rise from the bottom of the ladder to the top in a matter of three months just from making a few changes to their roster
- Learn about the players as well as the teams. As we said above, players get shuffled around more often than in regular sports, and savvy punters can predict whether a specific roster change will lead to success or ruin
- Only deposit funds into betting sites that are licensed and regulated, for your own safety. The easiest thing to do is to stick to the betting sites listed here, as SportsBetting24 only lists bookies that are licensed and safe for our readers to use.
Legendary CS:GO Players to Watch
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
Born in 1997, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski is one of the only top eAthletes around whose skills lie in more than just one game. Having a history in StarCraft II and even played as a stand-in on Team Liquid’s Overwatch team. His main career, however, is as a CSGO player. At the time of writing, EliGe is a member of Team Liquid, and has been singled out as one of the main reasons that Team Liquid had such a phenomenal 2019, where the team racked up almost $2.5 million in prize money and over 10 championship titles.
Denis “electronic” Sharipov
Denis “electronic” Sharipov may seem young and green, being born in just 1998, but his professional CS:GO career began all the way back in 2015. He currently plays on the world-famous Natus Vincere CSGO team, after spending a couple of years bouncing around lesser-known teams, slowly building a reputation and improving his skills. He’s helped Natus Vincere snatch up a number of champion titles since joining the team in 2017, and in 2018 was recognised as one of the world’s top-5 CSGO players by both HLTV and Thorin.
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
One of the older members on this list, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz was born in 1995 and has been playing Counter-Strike since the days of Counter-Strike: Source. At the time of writing, dev1ce is on team Astralis, and has been since early 2016. This isn’t his first time in a top-tier team, though, as he spent all of 2014 on Team Dignitas and all of 2015 on Team SoloMid. He’s, of course, now one of Astralis’ core members, and is considered to be one of the reasons that Astralis has dominated the league boards in recent years. He’s received 10 MVP awards and has ranked in the world’s top 5 CSGO players since all the way back in 2015.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
This French CS:GO player is often considered to be the best CSGO pro in the world, a title he shares with s1mple (listed below). Born in 2000, ZywOo has been a professional CS:GO player since he was just 14 years old. After spending four years with lower-tier and lesser-known CSGO teams, he joined Team Vitality in late 2018, where he’s been since (at least, at the time of writing). Team Vitality may have had their ups and downs, but many of their successes are attributed to ZywOo. At his age, ZywOo definitely has several years left in his CSGO career, and he’s definitely one to watch.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev shares the title of “Best pro-CS:GO player in the world” with ZywOo (listed above). This Ukrainian pro, who has been a pro-CSGO player since way back in 2013, has spent the last few years dominating the Counter-Strike circuit. s1mple is one of the most highly decorated players in the industry, with multiple MVP awards, multiple top-5 player in the world spots, and was named Best eSports Player of the Year seven different times. Born in 1997, many would expect him to retire by 2023, but with his skills and dedication, we may yet see s1mple rise to even higher heights before he hangs up his mouse and keyboard in the distant future.
CSGO Betting FAQs
Is CSGO betting safe? 
This will depend entirely on your choice of CSGO betting site. We recommend avoiding any betting sites that are unlicensed or betting sites that deal exclusively with CSGO skins betting. All of the betting sites featured on SportsBetting24 are fully licensed and regulated, meaning that there are laws and procedures in place specifically to make sure that your CSGO betting experience is safe and you have nothing to worry about.
What is CSGO betting?
CSGO betting is placing bets on professional, competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an eSport that draws millions of viewers and thousands of bettors each year. Just like with any other kind of sports betting, there are different betting markets available, some of them specific to CSGO, as well as odds to help guide your bets. We recommend only using licensed and regulated bookmakers for your own safety.
Where do I find CSGO betting predictions?
The best eSports bookies out there run blogs where they include CSGO betting predictions and tips, as well as other blogs and Reddit. The best way to get CSGO betting predictions, though, is to follow our CSGO betting tips and starting to make your own predictions. At the end of the day, your wagers are your money, and the satisfaction of your own betting predictions being correct is definitely worth putting in the time and energy to really getting to know the game and the industry.