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After one of the most rigorous qualifying schedules of any tournament outside the World Championships, 12 of the very best Dota 2 teams will descend on the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai to compete in the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017.
Bet365 is already offering plenty of esports betting on the qualifiers for this big-money event, which boasts a prize pool of $500,000. The action kicks off Monday, March 27 and concludes on April 4.
The odds
Bet365 has updated its selection from last week to include the qualifiers from all corners of the globe. The latest betting odds on the outright winner for this event are as follows:
Team Liquid are 5/2 favorites ahead of Evil Geniuses at 3/1 and OG at 10/3. There is then a slight gap to Newbee and Vici Gaming, both 8/1 shots, with Wings Gaming at 12/1 and Invictus Gaming a 16/1 chance.
Outside bets include Team Faceless at 22/1, Team NP at 33/1, then LGD Forever Young and IG Vitality as 40/1 chances, with the outsider being Team Empire at 66/1.
At the moment, people can also bet on which of the 12 teams will reach the final. Evil Geniuses are 4/5 to earn a finals spot, with OG at 11/10 and Team Liquid at 5/4. Newbee and Vici Gaming are 7/2 shots. Then, it’s Wings Gaming at 5/1, Team Faceless at 13/2, and Invictus Gaming at 15/2. Outsiders are Team NP at 12/1, LGD Forever Young at 16/1, IG Vitality at 18/1, and Team Empire at 33/1.
Once the action begins on Monday, Bet365 Sport will be offering a host of other bets on each of the individual matches in the tournament.
The grouping
The tournament features two group stages, with the 12 teams broken into two groups.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the Winners Round, and they will face a Round One match against a seed from the other group. The winners of these two games will contest the Winners Final, and the winner of that game heads to the Grand Final.
The eight teams that finish third through sixth in the group stages enter the Losers Bracket. At that point, Round One will see four of these teams eliminated, and Round Two will see two teams progress to Round Three. There, the two winners of the Losers Round will take on the losers from the Winners Round, with the winners of these games playing in Losers Round 4. The winner of that game then takes on the loser from the Winners Final for a place in the Grand Final.
This format gives esports punters plenty of chances to bet during the eight days of action in Shanghai. Be sure to tune in to enjoy some fantastic esports betting on the Dota 2 Asia Championship 2017 and to see who is crowned the winner.
CS:GO Esports Championship Series Europe promotion matchups this weekend
At the end of the month, the hugely competitive CS:GO Esports Championship Series will get underway once again. The series consists of two events, one in the US and one based in 
Europe, featuring 10 teams in each geographic region competing over eight weeks of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive action.
At the end of the eight weeks, the top four teams in each section will earn a place at the ECS Season 3 Finals. The teams placed fifth through eighth will earn their places in the ECS Season 4 event. However, teams finishing ninth or tenth leads to the promotion matches against the top teams from the Development League to qualify for Season 4.
This is precisely what two of the top CS:GO teams from Europe and North America face this weekend. No official start times have been confirmed for the two North American promotion matches, which pit Team SoloMid against their Development League opponent Bee’s Money Crew and compLexity Gaming against Renegades.
In Europe, Virtus.pro will take on Space Soldiers from the European Development League this Saturday. Twenty-four hours later, Fnatic will face off against North in the second promotion matchup.
These are simply winner-take-all games — the victors earn the final two spots in the forthcoming Esports Championship Series.
The series begins March 31 in both North America and Europe, so these are the final two places up for grabs alongside the following teams:
- Europe Qualifiers: Astralis, Team Dignitas, Team EnVyUs, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, GODSENT, mousesports, and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
- North America Qualifiers: Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Immortals, Team Liquid, Luminosity Gaming, NRG Esports, OpTic Gaming, and SK Gaming.
Bet365 is offering betting on the two scheduled European promotion matches. Saturday’s matchup sees Virtus.pro as the heavy 1/7 favorites to defeat the relative novices of Space Soldiers (a 4/1 chance to win that clash).
On Sunday, North are the 1/2 favourites to defeat their more famous counterparts Fnatic, who are rated at no better than a 6/4 chance. These odds may well be due to the impressive undefeated campaign North contested in the Development League, which saw them win five and draw two of their seven games to finish on top of the table.
Bet365 Sports is running plenty of betting markets on the ECS promotion matches this weekend, including the categories of Correct Map Score, Total Maps Over/Under, To Win at Least 1 Map, and many more.
