Contents
There is genuine astonishment that several teams failed to make it out of the group stage of the tournament.
LoL Worlds 2016 group stage casualties
Team SoloMid, Flash Wolves and Counter Logic Gaming, all of whom were thought to have reasonable chances of progressing, were bundled out of the tournament while Albus NoX Luna, the Russian qualifier who were 2800/1 outsiders at the start of the tournament, have incredibly made it through from Group A.
Their unlikely defeat of Korean giants ROX Tigers has gone down as one of the greatest ever esports matchups and their esports betting odds on winning the event have now been slashed on Bet365 esports betting service to 80/1.
However, some familiar names remain in the event and once again the Korean teams are showing their class.
ROX Tigers bounced back from that shock defeat to Albus NoX Luna to come through in Group A, while Samsung Galaxy and current holders SK Telecom T1 both came through their groups with 5-1 winning records in relative comfort.
The remaining qualifiers come from around the globe with two Chinese teams Royal Never Give Up and EDward Gaming making it through alongside North America’s final hope Cloud 9 and Europe’s H2K.
Quarterfinals head to Chicago
There’s plenty of betting to look forward to from the 13th to the 16th of October as each of the Quarterfinal matchups takes place in a best of five format at the Chicago Theatre in Illinois.
One game is scheduled for each day and tickets to the event have sold out in expectation of some classic matchups.
The action starts on Thursday 13th October with Korean giants Samsung Galaxy taking on the ‘home’ team in North America’s Cloud 9.
The esports bookies have the Korean team as the big 1/9 favourites to win this game, with Cloud9 rated the 5/1 outsider to cause what would be a huge shock.
On Friday, it is time for the current champions SK Telecom T1 to take on Royal Never Give Up in the second semi final.
Without doubt the Korean team have looked the strongest outfit in the tournament thus far, but they have been beaten by a Chinese team already in the event (Flash Wolves defeated them in the group stage) and Royal Never Give Up (7/2) will be hoping to do the same over the longer format match.
Saturday sees another Korea versus China matchup as ROX Tigers (1/6) face off against EDward Gaming (7/2) in the third quarterfinal. ROX came into this event as the form team but have not quite hit the heights in the tournament as yet, showing their true fettle only sporadically throughout the group stage.
They face a tough task against an EDward Gaming team that started slowly but found their best form at the right time to progress.
The final game on Sunday 16th October is perhaps the most intriguing, as Europe’s H2K (1/3) are the latest team to lock horns with Russian underdogs Albus NoX Luna (9/4).
The Russian team have been the surprise package of the event, sensationally defeating ROX Tigers in one of the biggest-ever esports upsets to confirm their place in the quarterfinals. They may still be underdogs for this clash against one of Europe’s stronger LoL teams, but can they spring another huge upset?
Following the four quarterfinals completion, the four winning teams will then move on to the semi-finals, which will take place next week at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Tune in next week for all the news on the quarterfinals and how the esports betting looks for the two semi-finals.
Four teams battle in Dota 2’s Nanyang Cruise Cup this weekend
Two qualifiers, plus two directly-invited Dota 2 teams will contest the 300,000 Chinese Yen Dota 2 Nanyang Cruise Cup this coming weekend.
Half of the total prize fund will be awarded to the lucky 
team who wins this event, which is being held on the Sapphire Princess cruise ship.
The tournament is a simple elimination tournament where all matches are a best of three format and four of the biggest Dota 2 teams have qualified for this prestigious and one-of-a-kind offline event.
In the first semi-final, Wings Gaming (the directly invited team) will take on one of the qualifier teams in Invictus Gaming, while the other directly invited team Newbee will battle another qualifier in the shape of iG Vitality.
The winners of the two semi-finals will contest the final, with the two losers battling it out for the third and fourth prizes of 50,000 and 20,000 Yen respectively in the third place match.
What makes this event particularly appealing is that it is perhaps one of the most open tournaments in a while. There are no odds-on favourites to win the event, with Wings Gaming an 11/10 chance with Bet365 Sport and Newbee the 2/1 second favourites.
The two qualifiers are rated as the outsiders, but not by too great a margin. Invictus Gaming are an enticing 4/1 shot and IG Vitality are rated at 8/1 chances to win the event outright.
In the match winner market, you can take the 4/9 on Wings Gaming coming through their semi final with Invictus Gaming, with the latter a 13/8 chance to cause an upset and progress into the final.
In the second semi final, Newbee are 4/7 chances to win their clash with IG Vitality, who are rated as 5/4 shots in what looks like being the closest of the two semis, according to the bookmakers odds.
You can enjoy all this betting on both the LoL Worlds and the Nanyang Cruise Cup this weekend, plus betting on a host of other big esports events across the world at Bet365 Sports in the dedicated esports betting section of the site.
