Editor’s Note: On Sep. 27 2023, after more than 10 years, Valve released Counter-Strike 2 to replace Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. ESL Pro League Season 18, won by MOUZ, was the final S-Tier CSGO LAN event. The maiden CS2 LAN event was the Sydney Masters, making this event the very first top-tier event for betting on CS2. Visit our new page on CS2 gambling to find out how to gamble legally and safely on Counter-Strike.
Top-Rated Platforms for CSGO Bets
If you’re going to bet on CS:GO you’re going to want to do so on a safe, secure and legitimate site. Which is the best site for betting on CSGO? Find out below.
CS:GO betting has become increasingly popular over the past few years, with more and more gambling sites offering markets for the game. Counter-Strike is routinely listed as the top esports title by betting volume, per Abios. If you’re new to esports betting, you might be wondering where to start. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about CS:GO betting, including how to find the best esports betting sites, free bets and welcome bonuses, how to place bets on CS:GO, and more.
The first step to getting started with CS:GO betting is finding a reputable gambling site. It’s important to choose a licensed and regulated site to ensure that your money is safe and that you’re playing on a fair platform. Look for sites that offer a wide variety of esports markets, including CS:GO, as well as great odds and welcome bonuses for new customers.The sites listed above are amongst the best sites for CS:GO betting you can find online today. They offer great betting options on CS:GO matches and a wide range of other esports too.
Looking at the Counter-Strike gambling sites at the top of our list, it’s clear that there are a number of industry leaders. These sites offer a range of esports markets, including CS:GO betting, and provide new customers with welcome bonuses like free bets or bet credits to stake on their favorite games.
Betway is a site that is very active in the esports industry and is renowned for offering some of the best value betting odds when Counter-Strike betting in the UK.
Betway Esports not only offers extensive betting markets across a wide range of esports, including CS:GO, but they are one of the few sites that offer extensive esports promotions.
If you are looking for a site whose sole focus is esports and which offers some of the best betting odds on esports that you can din, then check out Loot.Bet Esports. Designed and overseen by esports experts, it is easy to see why it is many people’s first choice for CS:GO betting, and the company also sponsors the popular Loot.bet Cup, which attracts some of the best CSGO players in the world today.
When it comes to the best CSGO gambling sites, you also cannot ignore what GG.Bet has to offer. Although originally an esports specialist site, the company has recently diversified into traditional sports betting. However, its primary focus remains offering the highest quality esports markets, including a vibrant CS:GO gambling section. Check out more about the site with our latest GG.Bet review.
How to Bet on CS:GO
So, if you want to enjoy a wager on CS:GO, what is the simplest way to go about it? Follow our step-by-step guide below to get yourself started:
- Find the right website – Our list of top esports bookmakers is a great place to start, but remember that not all of them may be available in every region. Check that your chosen site has a reputable gambling license and is regulated. You don’t have to worry if you select a provider from our list, as we have already checked that all these sites are 100% legitimate, so it is a safe place to start.
- Check the welcome bonus details – Many of our great esports sites offer welcome offers for new customers. Now is the time to check them out just in case you need a bonus code, or promotional code or need to deposit within a certain time frame and of a certain amount to trigger the bonus. Once you understand how the bonus works, you can move on to signing up.
- Register with the site – This is where you sign up to join the site, and for that, the site will need information from you, such as your name, date of birth, email, telephone, address and more. Some sites may also require you to submit documents to confirm your identity as part of the verification process for your account or when you make a withdrawal. This is standard on all reputable sites and is nothing to worry about. Once you are registered, you are now a member of the site. Remember, at this point, you may also need to add a bonus code to activate a welcome bonus offer.
- Deposit some stake money – This may also be the point where you activate your welcome bonus, depending on the offer and site in question. Here you should deposit an amount of money in your account that you view as disposable cash. Do check the terms of your welcome bonus at this point as to how you receive the bonus. You may have to bet the stake first before you receive the esports betting bonus, or it may be credited to you when you deposit.
- Peruse the markets – Don’t jump right in just yet. There is a wide selection of markets available for you to bet on for CSGO. Now is the time, if you want to try and win cash, to follow our CSGO betting tips outlined below to help you get the most from your betting on site.
The Most Popular CS:GO Bets
One of the most exciting aspects of CS:GO betting is that compared to some other esports, there are a relatively large number of betting markets you can find to bet on for the game. Some gambling sites, especially specialist esports betting sites, may offer rarer CSGO bets alongside the more common betting options.
A good esports bookmaker site should offer all the following CSGO bets:
- Betting on the winner of a CSGO match
- Betting on the winner of a single map as part of a CSGO match
- Handicap betting on the Match Winner market
- Correct Score betting
- Number of Maps won by a team in a series of bets
- Rounds won on a map handicap betting
- Drawn Game/Overtime betting
- Over/Under betting on Total Rounds played on a map
- Map Pistol Round 1 and 2 winner markets
To start winning at CS:GO betting, it’s important to know how to read betting odds and understand how they work. Esports bookmakers offer odds in various formats, including decimal odds, which are the most common in Europe whilst American/US odds are used by American sportsbooks.
Is CSGO Betting Legal?
If you are of the legal betting age in the country where you live, and esports betting is legal, then you are free to enjoy CSGO betting perfectly legally.
Placing CSGO bets with a legitimate and legal esports betting service is fine. However, there are also a number of illegal CS2 skins gambling websites in operation, and these should be avoided. It can be very easy for the unwary player to gamble away some very expensive CSGO skins on these unscrupulous sites, so they are best left well alone.
What is the difference between CSGO Skin gambling and CSGO real money bets?
Let’s examine the major differences between the two types of CSGO bets listed above.
- CSGO skin gambling is illegal and unregulated. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting with a reputable esports betting provider is legal, licensed and regulated in many countries around the world.
- In skin gambling, you are illegally wagering the skins you have earned whilst playing CS:GO, which have a monetary value. In standard betting, you are betting real money on a market at a regulated bookmaker who will pay you out at the stated esports odds if you win.
- When it comes to skin gambling, if you have a problem or are a victim of fraud or a scam, then you have no way of getting your skins back. This does not happen in esports betting as sites are licensed and regulated and work hard to ensure players’ accounts are safe and secure. They also have extensive fraud prevention services to protect players.
Image Credit: Steam Community
Top CSGO Betting Tips
If you are considering making a few CSGO bets, then what are the best nuggets of advice you can pick up? Fortunately, we have put together a number of great CS2 betting tips which you should keep at the forefront of your mind when considering any form of CSGO gambling. The tips are outlined in more detail below:
Image credit: Valve
- Research your bet: A little research on the bet you plan to make is always a good idea. You don’t want to bet on a team to win on a certain CS:GO map if their record on that map is very poor. A little research into the form and trends that a CSGO team is showing can help you make better-judged bets.
- Watch the live stream: A great piece of advice for any CSGO bettor is to watch the live stream of the event, particularly of CS:GO matches on which you have placed bets. By following the action, you get a feel of how well the team you have backed is performing and not only does this give you an insight into the status of your current bet, but it is also great research for your next bet too. This makes you pick better picks for potential bets to make in the future.
- Don’t over-complicate bets: It may be tempting to put together a 10-team accumulator bet for a CSGO tournament, but the betting odds of that coming in for you are generally small. As a starter in CS:GO betting, keep things simple. Low-risk single bets are a great starting place as they are easy to follow and, when selected well, can offer you a decent chance of a return on your bet.
- Explore the available CSGO betting markets: The top esports betting sites thoroughly research all the markets they offer to ensure that they offer the correct betting odds. However, there is often a disparity in betting odds on the same market with different esports betting providers. If you aren’t getting the best betting odds from your current provider for your preferred CS:GO bets, then have a look around at what other gambling sites are offering to see if you can get better value.
- Bet responsibly: While winning an esports bet is fantastic, losing is not a disaster, but only if you are betting with cash you can afford to lose, and you do not chase your losses. It is tempting to think that you can recoup your cash with your next bet, but there is no guarantee that this bet will be a winner. When esports betting you should always follow the principles of responsible gambling that you find promoted on sports betting sites and you should always bet this way. Betting with what you can afford to lose and never chasing your losses are the two cornerstones of responsible betting in any form of gambling.
- CSGO Pre-Match Betting Strategies: For any pre-match bet on CSGO, research is always your best strategy initially. Check out the team, its trends, its players, how it performs on certain CSGO competitive maps against certain teams etc. The more research you do to arm yourself with this knowledge means you can slim down the pre-match betting markets to those bets that you feel will offer you the best chance of success.
- CSGO Live Betting Strategies: Live betting is about betting at the right price and at the right time. Therefore, you don’t have the luxury of being able to research bets as the game you are betting on is in progress. As such, the best strategy for any live betting fan for CSGO is to keep a close eye on the stream, trust your instincts and when you see a bet you like, try and place the bet at the optimal time to get the best price on that market.
The Rise of CSGO Betting
CSGO has seen astronomical growth since 2012. If you were born in the late ’90s or early 2000s, you probably witnessed the bulk of this growth without knowing about the other niche that rode the uptrend with it: CS:GO betting.
In the middle months of 2017, the ESL One: Cologne and the PGL Kraków Major took place. They had made a new sponsorship deal with one of the biggest gambling operators in the iGaming business: Betway. Shortly after the company dipped its toes in the expanding world of video games—a venture that would prove to be successful—immediate competitors like GG.Bet was quick to the scene.
From then on, betting on CSGO slowly became mainstream. Betway and GG.Bet, along with newer operators like Pinnacle, would continue to renew their partnerships with CSGO event organizers such as ESL, Dreamhack, and BLAST. Even now, as you watch the latest CSGO events, you’re likely to see one of these names passing by your screen during the start and end of a half.
The event organizers aren’t the only ones who have a standing relationship with the bookies. Even CSGO teams have made their deals too. NAVI, for instance, is currently a partner of GG.Bet, while Ninjas in Pyjamas jerseys display the proud brand of Betway. These networks between bookies, organizers, and teams (as seen through the media platforms) fuel the flame of CS:GO betting more than anything else.
When it comes to CSGO streamers and influencers, teaming up with case-opening sites like Hellcase, CSGORoll, and Farmskins is the norm. In most of these sites, CS:GO betting has taken a different form, one that is more fashioned to the style of a casino.
If you want to bet on CSGO skins instead of CS:GO matches, you have a place for that too. Markets like CSGO coinflip, CSGO roulette, and CSGO case battle are some of the favorite gambling pastimes of many CSGO bettors. The rise of these variants can also be traced down to the late 2010s, with popular sites like CSGORoll, CSGOEmpire, and CSGO500 launching as early as 2015.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you still gamble on CSGO?
Yes, you can gamble on CS GO and any of the CSGO betting sites (or their CSGO betting apps) we have mentioned in this guide are a fantastic place to start if you want to reduce the risk and place your bets on confirmed legal CSGO betting websites.
Is CSGO skin gambling illegal?
Valve, the developers of CS GO have made it clear that skin gambling in CSGO violates the terms of service for the Steam platform. Not only that, but almost all of the skin gambling sites that crop up are not licensed, are unregulated and offer no protection for the users.
What age do I have to be to bet on CSGO?
Depending on where you live, the gambling age for betting on CSGO is usually either 18 or 21. In the United Kingdom, for example, the age you need to be for all forms of gambling is 18.
