Previewing PGL Open Bucharest, League of Legends Worlds Group Stage’s Part Two

[toc]Just days after this week’s StarLadder i-League Invitational, a second Dota Minor Championship event is taking place. The PGL Open in Bucharest, Romania will feature eight teams, moving from two groups into the semifinals and then finals.

The winner will claim a majority share of the $300,000 prize pool and, perhaps more importantly, a number of Dota Pro Circuit Points, which act as qualification points for The International 2018.

Let’s take a closer look at how this event, which starts next week on Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 22, is organized.

The PGL Open Bucharest

Of the eight teams participating, two of them were directly invited into the event, Evil Geniuses and LGD Gaming. They are joined by six teams from regional qualifiers:

• Immortals – North American Qualifier
• Infamous – South American Qualifier
• Team Secret – European Qualifier
• Natus Vincere – CIS Qualifier
• Mineski – Southeast Asia Qualifier
• Thunder – Chinese Qualifier

The $300,000 prize pool is standard for most Dota 2 Minor Championship events. Plus, there are 300 Pro Circuit Points up for grabs. These points pave the way to the richest and biggest event in esports. The International 2017 prize fund eclipsed $23 million, and it’s likely next year’s will be even larger.

In Bucharest, the prize money will be distributed as follows:

• $130,000 for the winner
• $65,000 for the runners-up
• $30,000 apiece to third and fourth places
• $15,000 apiece to the fifth and sixth places
• $7,500 apiece to the bottom two teams

Dota Pro Circuit Points are only awarded to the top four teams. The winners will receive 150 points. The runners-up receive 90. The third and fourth places receive 30 points apiece.

Bet365 odds for Bucharest

At the moment, Bet365 is offering two different markets for the PGL Open Bucharest. The currently available markets are Outright Winner and To Reach the Final.

Outright Winner: Evil Geniuses 9/4, Team Secret 12/5, LGD Gaming 9/2, Immortals 10/1, Mineski 10/1, Natus Vincere 11/1, VGJ.Thunder 11/1, Infamous 33/1.

To Reach the Final: Evil Geniuses 8/13, Team Secret 4/6, LGD Gaming 7/4, Immortals 9/2, Mineski 9/2, Natus Vincere 5/1, VGJ.Thunder 5/1, Infamous 16/1.

Further betting on this tournament will likely be made available once the draw for the group stage has been made and games get underway on Oct. 19.

LoL Worlds Group Stage second round preview

The first round of group games in the League of Legends World Championships is complete. We already know three teams — SK Telecom T1 (current champs), Longzhu Gaming, and Royal Never Give Up — are heading into the final set of group games with undefeated records and atop their respective groups.

Only in Group D, where Misfits, Team WE, and Team SoloMid all have 2-1 records, have things been interesting.

The second set of group games starts Oct. 12. This time around, rather than splitting up each group’s games to be played over a number of days, one group will be played to conclusion four days in a row.

Group B was the first to be played, and it produced intriguing results. Fnatic staged a dramatic comeback to break out of a tie and qualify for the playoffs behind Longzhu.

The matches for the following days, together with the betting on each of the teams competing, are outlined below:

Oct. 13 – Group C

G2 Esports (7/4) vs. Royal Never Give Up (2/5)

Samsung Galaxy (1/8) vs. Fenerbahce (9/2)

Samsung Galaxy (1/3) vs. G2 Esports (9/4)

Fenerbahce (4/1) vs. Royal Never Give Up (1/7)

Fenerbahce (3/1) vs. G2 Esports (2/9)

Royal Never Give Up (Even) vs. Samsung Galaxy (8/11)

Oct.14 – Group D

Misfits (11/10) vs. Flash Wolves (4/6)

Team WE (5/6) vs. Team SoloMid (5/6)

Flash Wolves (6/4) vs. Team WE (1/2)

Team SoloMid (4/9) vs. Misfits (13/8)

Team SoloMid (4/6) vs. Flash Wolves (11/10)

Misfits (9/4) vs. Team WE (1/2)

Oct.15 – Group A

Ahq e-Sports Club (11/2) vs. SK Telecom T1 (1/10)

Edward Gaming (4/7) vs. Cloud 9 (5/4)

Ahq e-Sports Club (9/4) vs. Edward Gaming (1/3)

Cloud9 (10/3) vs. SK Telecom T1 (1/5)

Cloud9 (1/2) vs. ahq e-Sports Club (6/4)

SK Telecom T1 (2/7) vs. Edward Gaming (5/2)

Tune in to see how the action unfolds live on Twitch TV. Plus, enjoy In-Play betting at Bet365 on all these high-quality League of Legends Worlds clashes.