CS2 betting is the practice of wagering on Counter-Strike 2 esports events. Counter-Strike 2 is the most popular esports for betting. On this page, find out how to bet on CS2 legally and safely. The information on this page is intended for anyone who’s looking to start betting on CS2.
Our Favorite Sites for Betting on CS2 in 2025
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- 1. Our Favorite Sites for Betting on CS2 in 2025
- 2. How to Bet on CS2 Matches
- 3. Finding a CS2 Betting App
- 4. Understanding CS2 Odds
- 5. CS2 Betting Markets
- 6. Live Betting on Counter-Strike 2
- 7. Video: How to Start Betting on CS2
- 8. Popular CS2 Tournaments
- IEM Events
- ESL Pro League
- BLAST Premier Circuit
- CS2 Majors
- 9. Understanding Counter-Strike 2
- Game Objectives
- Competitive Format
- Player Roles
- CS2 Maps
How to Bet on CS2 Matches
When looking to get into Counter-Strike 2 betting, you will quickly realize that almost every gambling website will let you put down CS2 bets on S-Tier, A-Tier and lower-tier events.
The providers listed above are all reviewed by our experts, they offer a safe space for online CS2 real-money gambling with efficient payment methods, generous welcome bonuses, a range of pre-match, live betting and outrights markets.
Any bettor new to the space could find themselves overwhelmed with all the options presented to them. In order to make CS2 gambling more accessible, we’ve created this guide that will show you all the things you need to know to get started with Counter-Strike 2 betting.
Once you decide on your preferred website, follow our step-by-step guide on how to begin your CS2 esports betting journey:
- Select a CS2 Betting Site – Before we get stuck into the nitty-gritty of CS2 esports betting, you will need a safe and reputable gambling site, which will allow you to place bets without worrying about the legitimacy of that provider. To do that, review our list of CS2 gambling sites, where we explain all the ins and outs of the most popular and reputable websites in the space.
- Check Welcome Bonus Details – Most of the top CS2 gambling sites offer welcome bonuses or promo codes, such as GG.Bet’s promo code, for new players. Make sure to read the terms and conditions that are required for you to receive your bonus before activating your bonus.
- Sign Up & Verify – During the registration process, the website will ask you to input personal information such as your name, email, date of birth and other details. As long as you have signed up to a legit and reputable site, you have nothing to worry about, regarding the safety of your personal and financial data. You will be asked to verify your personal details at a later stage.
- Choose a Deposit Method – To be able to place CS2 bets, you must deposit some money into your account. Choose a deposit method that best suits your needs.
- Redeem Welcome Bonus – Once you’ve made your first deposit you’ll be able to claim your welcome bonus.
- Peruse CS2 Betting Markets – Peruse the list of the different CS2 gambling markets and place your bets.
Finding a CS2 Betting App
If you prefer betting on your phone or find gambling websites to not be the right fit for you, then CS2 betting apps are a great tool that you can use to begin your CS2 gambling journey.
Betting apps sport multiple advantages over their website counterparts, such as:
- User-friendly interface
- Ease of use
- Greater convenience
- Easy access to live betting
- Enhanced security measures
Understanding CS2 Odds
To maximize your success and create effective strategies, you have to get a solid understanding of different odds formats and bet types.
Here’s a rundown of some of the types of bets you can place on CS2 matches:
- Money Line Betting – Simply betting on which team is going to win the match.
- Handicap Betting/Point Spread – a bet where a team is given either an advantage or a disadvantage in order to even out the matchup
- Totals Over or Under – The bettor has to choose whether an event will happen more times or fewer times than the number set by the bookies. These types of bets could be applied to many aspects of a CS2 match
- Accumulators (Accas) – Also referred to as parlays, combo bets or multi bets. Multiple wagers linked together inside one bet. All wagers inside the bet have to be successful in order to win the parlay.
As for CS2 odds formats, our reviewed bookmakers will offer you a range that different odds formats depending on the country. The decimal format is most popularly used in Europe, whilst the US odds format is used in the USA. Fractional odds are the preferred odds format in the United Kingdom.
CS2 Betting Markets
Counter-Strike 2 betting is great for bettors who want to explore a large variety of different markets as CS2 offers exactly that.
Here’s a list of some of the most popular CS2 betting markets, including futures, outrights, and props:
- Match Winner – The simplest bet, who will win the match?
- Single Map Winner – Most games are played on a best of 3 or best of 5 maps. Select the winner of each individual map.
- Match Winner with Handicap – For the more advanced bettor. The winning team must win by a certain margin defined by the bookmaker for you to win the bet.
- Single Map Winner with Round Handicap – For the even more advanced bettor. Each map must be won by a certain margin.
- Single Map Winner including Overtime – Every round possible must be played before the map is won in overtime rounds.
- Single Map Round Count – A deceptively difficult bet to get right – how many rounds will be played before the winner comes out on top?
- Total Round Number per Team – For fans of specific numbers! How many rounds will each team have at the end of the game?
- Single Map Pistol Round Winner – Predict the first round and the first round after halftime when the teams have swapped sides.
- Single Map Winning Margin – A tricky bet! How many rounds of difference will there be between the winner and loser of a map?
- Single Map Number of Rounds – A very simple 50/50 bet. Will the final number of rounds be odd or even?
Depending on the CS2 gambling website, many more betting markets than listed above may be on offer.
Live Betting on Counter-Strike 2
All the best gambling websites allow for CS2 live betting, where bettors can place bets on different aspects of the match while it is being played. Obviously, live betting also comes with live odds, which are dynamic, changing depending on the current situation in the particular match.
When live betting, you have more data about the game, which you can use to make more informed and calculated decisions when placing live bets.
On the contrary, pre-match betting is relatively riskier than live betting, as you have less information to help make your decisions, although the odds are usually more favorable before the games begin.
Video: How to Start Betting on CS2
Popular CS2 Tournaments
The CS2 esports scene is thriving, with more and more tournaments being announced each month. After a fantastic opening year, tournament organizers ESL, PGL, BLAST, Perfect World and others are all working together to offer a range of CS2 tournaments.
Here’s a quick summary of some of the best tournaments to make note of:
IEM Events
Intel Extreme Masters CS2 events run throughout the year with an international venue list. There are some key locations that they’re held in every year including Katowice, Cologne and Dallas.
Most recently, the IEM expanded to include Chengdu (China), Sydney, and Brazil.
Beyond the prize pools and the best teams in the world competing, IEM tournaments bring another layer of excitement through the Intel Grand Slam. This bonus prize of $1,000,000 is awarded to the first team to win four S-Tier events within a window of 10 IEM events, including CS2 Majors while awarding $100,000 to any spoilers.
ESL Pro League
The ESL Pro League is something to look forward to every year, usually with two splits spread from early Spring to late Summer.
Celebrating a massive amount of teams, it’s one of the few non-Major events where Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams compete against one another. In addition, the ESL Pro League events typically last around a month.
Also, the winner of the season is given a direct invitation to the next IEM event so it’s in every team’s interest to put their best foot forwards at these events.
BLAST Premier Circuit
For CS2, the BLAST Premier circuit transformed from an exclusive competition to an open-style series as per Valve’s guidelines.
Hosting three tournaments per season (Bounty, Open, Rivals), and two seasons per year (Spring & Fall). Compared to other tournaments in the season, BLAST tournaments tend to involve fewer teams, typically 8 and a simple Playoffs format.
At the end of each season, BLAST Rivals bumps up the prize pool to $350,000 with a more intense format. Indeed, these events offer the best BLAST Premier betting opportunities.
CS2 Majors
Majors play a huge role in every esports and CS2 tournaments are no different.
Together with Valve, tournament organizers take turns hosting the most thrilling and prestigious competition in all of CS2.
Considering only one CS2 Major is held per year, the stakes for each competition are always through the roof. With prize pools of $1,250,000 and upwards, if there’s one CS2 tournament to watch, it’s the yearly Major.
Next up is the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 in June.
Understanding Counter-Strike 2
While knowing every detail and all the intricacies of Counter-Strike 2 is not a must by any means, having a solid understanding of the following will greatly improve your ability to make better betting decisions on the back of your own knowledge.
- Game objectives
- Competitive format
- Player roles you can expect to see the best CS2 players play
- Knowing the maps played
- Key CS2 terminology
To help you grasp the most important aspects of Counter-Strike 2, follow our guide below.
Game Objectives
- Competitive CS2 matches consist of two teams, Terrorists (Ts) and Counter-Terrorists (CTs), with five players on each team.
- The Terrorists’ objective is to plant the bomb on one of the two bombsites and defend it so that the CTs are unable to defuse it in time. Alternatively, Terrorists can also eliminate all Counter-Terrorists to win the round.
- The Counter-Terrorists’ objective is to defend the bombsites and stop the T’s from planting the bomb or defusing it before it explodes.
- Additionally, CTs can also claim victory if they eliminate all the Terrorists, as long as the bomb has been planted. If the Terrorists are able to plant the bomb before being subsequently killed, the CTs must locate and defuse the bomb in order to win the round.
Competitive Format
A CS2 match is played in the MR12 format, which means that:
- In each match, there are two halves of 12 rounds each.
- Teams swap sides after 12 rounds
- The first to win 13 rounds wins the match.
Player Roles
As previously mentioned, a CS2 team consists of five players with each one playing their own role in the team’s structure.
Professional Counter-Strike teams have players specifically dedicated to playing in their set roles, both on the T and CT sides.
The most popular Counter-Strike player roles:
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
| In-Game Leader (IGL) | Responsible for coming up with the tactics and strategies used by their team; dictates what their team will be doing every round |
| AWPer | Dedicated sniper; the name of the role comes from the most popular and deadliest sniper rifle in the game, the AWP |
| Lurker | Passive player; usually positioned on the edge of the map by himself in order to control the space their team is not occupying; great in clutch situations |
| Entry Fragger | Aggressive player; the first one to take duels in early stages of the round, mechanically gifted, but often dies first |
| Support | Player who assists their teammates when they are making plays, proficient with grenades, especially flashes, not very impactful statistically |
| Star Player | The best player on the team, plays in the best positions, set up by their teammates to make impactful plays |
| Anchor | Sole defender of their bombsite, doesn’t have much support, could face little action, if enemies focus on the other side of the map |
| Rifler | A player that plays exclusively with rifles on full gun rounds, basically not an AWPer |
CS2 Maps
There are seven maps in the CS2 competitive map pool, with each sporting a set of their own unique characteristics.
| Mirage | The most popular Counter-Strike map is still a fan favourite, due to its easy-to-understand structure and balanced gameplay |
| Nuke | Widely considered as the best map by a majority of professional players, as it allows for a lot of tactical variety and thanks to its intriguing vertical layout |
| Overpass | The biggest map in the pool is heavily favoured towards the CT side, which, amid other factors, makes it very divisive among the community |
| Ancient | A newer map with a classic layout, some players dislike its green colour scheme, mainly due to visibility issues |
| Inferno | Much like Mirage, Inferno is a staple in the CS map pool, winning over fans with balanced gameplay and multiple historic moments |
| Train | Reworked from CS:GO, Train is back with polished graphics and minor changes to the map. We're all aboard the return of this classic map. |
| Anubis | Newest addition to CS that’s brought a lot of life into the game, as it's one of the few T-sided maps in the competitive pool |
