Here’s What’s On Tap This Week In The World Of eSports Betting

[toc]This week is another busy week for the eSports betting world with the three largest eSports: League of Legends, Dota 2 and CS:GO all continuing with major competitions.

Here’s a short overview of some of the finest competition on offer this week.

League of Legends – Mid Season Invitational

Last week saw the group stages of MSI wrapped up and completed. G2 eSports and SuperMassive eSports were the two teams to fall at the first hurdle, with Royal Never Give Up, Counter Logic Gaming, Flash Wolves and SK Telecom T1 moving through to the bracket stage.

Royal Never Give Up will face SK Telecom T1 whilst Counter Logic Gaming will face up against Flash Wolves with the event coming to its conclusion on the weekend.

Dota 2 – Epicenter

The build-up to the Manila Major continues following the conclusion of the Regional Qualifiers last week. Another week, another premier LAN for the Dota scene as some of the world’s very best battle it out for their share of the $500,000 prize pool.

With two of four strong wildcard teams set to join the likes of Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, OG and Alliance in the group stages, Dota fans are likely to get a first glance at what the world’s best prioritise following the introduction of the latest big gameplay patch, 6.87, last week.

CS:GO – ESL Pro League Finals

Four American teams and four European teams descend on London for the weekend as we see the conclusion of ESL Pro League Season 3. The Group Stage will be played behind closed doors whilst the finals are set to be contested in front of a packed crowd at the Indigo arena in London.

Luminosity, the MLG Colombus winners, will lead the American charge whilst Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas will look to recapture some of their historically incredible form to take home the bulk of the prize money. It should be an exciting weekend for those of you out there planning to take your action to any of the CSGO betting sites.

Starcraft 2 – Pro League

The Pro League continues this week with a few Starcraft 2 games taking place throughout the week.

Overwatch

Overwatch has entered the open beta stage with the full release eagerly awaited on the 24th May.

The professional scene is still in its primitive stages but it’s worth keeping an eye out as some of the early teams start to take shape and we should see announcements of Overwatch competitions shortly.

What are the eSports bookies offering?

Several of the eSports bookies are offering a wide array of eSports betting odds for some of the premier competitions happening worldwide this week. We have a look at where the best odds seem to be and the widest variety of odds for anyone fancying a bet this week.

Bet365 eSports

Bet365 have a huge array of match betting for Dota 2 this week, not only covering the Epicenter LAN but also offering odds on the Pro Dota Cup and even The Summit qualifiers going on this week. The markets available range from timings on the first Roshan slain, as well as timings on the first towers, first blood timing and handicap match betting.

The CS:GO markets are relatively limited at the moment but we would expect more will emerge as we move closer to the event on the weekend. For anyone who is a fan of Vainglory and Starcraft, the standard match betting is available on Bet365 as it continues to offer a huge variety of eSports catering to a wide audience.

SkyBet

We would expect SkyBet to offer comprehensive markets on the conclusion of League of Legends, MSI as they have historically offered a huge range of markets on League of Legends.

At the time of writing, there are not many odds on the page, but their Dota coverage has gained significant depth with the major competition attracting more than just match betting markets. SkyBet’s Dota lineup is lacking slightly in that their offerings are not updated in real-time as much as others.

Other bookmakers will offer odds immediately on the winner of a match following a bracket game whilst SkyBet have been slightly slower on the uptake.

The CS:GO odds are, in the bulk, ante-post but our experience with SkyBet suggests there will be significantly more markets as we edge closer to the weekend.

Betway

Betway continues to have a solid offering with comprehensive markets across Dota, League and CS:GO.

For new customers, their 100% matched bet offer may prove appealing as well as the Accumulator Insurance offer. If one team in a five fold or above lets you down, your money will be refunded.

With such a wide array of eSports on offer this week it’s an offer that could definitely prove appealing. The offering across Dota, League and CS:GO is consistently good as Betway continue to cement themselves as one of the best eSports betting sites in the UK market.

Ladbrokes, PaddyPower and Coral

Both Ladbrokes and PaddyPower seem to have missed the notification that there’s a huge Dota LAN happening this week, as they do not offer any odds on them at the moment. They continue to showcase a series of basic match betting odds on CS:GO and League but it remains limited.

As for Coral, they seemed to have forgotten that eSports exists with only small match betting available on a few Starcraft games despite the three largest eSports all having massive events this week.