Dota Pro Circuit Betting Guide 2023: DPC Odds, Format, Schedule, Teams & Predictions

Sep. 15, 2023 – Valve announces shutdown of Dota Pro Circuit in 2024

Welcome to the ultimate guide to betting on the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2023! The DPC is the premier professional Dota 2 competition, featuring the best teams from around the world competing for a chance to qualify for The International, Dota 2’s largest annual tournament. This guide is designed to help you navigate DPC betting and give you the information you need to make informed decisions. So, whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newbie looking to get in on the action, this guide has something for you.

How to Bet on the Dota Pro Circuit

If you want to bet on the Dota Pro Circuit, the first step is finding the right esports betting sites. By this, we mean the esports bookies that cover the vast majority of Dota 2 events and offer the best odds while featuring great markets and bonuses.

Recommended DPC betting sites:

• One such bookie that gives these to bettors, for example, is GG.Bet Esports, among the most famous Dota 2 betting sites, that caters to many customers from different parts of the world. The site has amazing in-play functionalities, including fast in-play cash-out and live stream, which makes betting on live games fun and dynamic.
• Those in the UK, as always, have their hands on the pick of the crop, one of which is Betway Esports. This trusted and popular bookie boasts a massive player base thanks to their diverse products and services, which span casino gambling and sports betting.
• For Dota 2 fans who happen to be crypto lovers, BC.Game Esports is definitely a must-try alternative. The site supports transactions involving nearly all the cryptocurrencies, the most notable ones being Bitcoin and Ethereum. Punters who can’t sign up for the mentioned Dota 2 bookies may find BC.Game welcoming.

After figuring out the bookie that works for you, simply go to their esports section and find Dota 2. In the sites above, the events from each region are conveniently categorized for easy viewing and betting. You can also filter these events even further by selecting the DPC league of your choice.

Bonuses and Special Promotions

Throughout the season, bookmakers will offer bonuses and special promotions. These promotions can vary greatly, but some examples include deposit bonuses, combo boosts, free bets, and enhanced odds on selected DPC matches. DPC betting promotions are an excellent way for bettors to boost their winnings and get more value out of their bets.

It’s important to read the terms and conditions of these promotions carefully, as they may come with certain restrictions and requirements that need to be met before any winnings can be withdrawn. Our bonus previews will always draw your attention to the details you should be aware of.

DPC Betting Odds

For the informed experts in a hurry, here are the best DPC betting odds available on the market presently:

Dota Pro Circuit Format and Schedule 2023

A DPC season consists of 3 Tours, with each Tour having one Regional League and one Major at the end. It spans about eight months, typically starting in December and ending in July, at which point the stage for the Regional Qualifiers is set.

After every DPC season lies the single greatest tournament in all of esports: The International – the culminating event ties together an entire year of competitive Dota 2. It’s what the DPC is all about.

Here’s the schedule for the 2023 DPC season:

• Tour 1: Dec 11 (Open Qualifier) – March 5 (Major)
• Tour 2: March 13 (Open Qualifier) – May 7 (Major)
• Tour 3: May 15 (Open Qualifier) – July 9 (Major)
• The International: 14-29th October

Let’s break these down to understand exactly how each DPC season works.

DPC Tour and Regional League

As mentioned, there are 3 DPC Tours in one DPC season, concurrently participated by teams from all over the world that are grouped according to their region.

The 6 regions include:

• North America
• South America
• Western Europe
• Eastern Europe
• China
• SEA (Southeast Asia)

The Regional League refers to the smaller, independent leagues within each region as a whole.

The Tours provide the Dota 2 competitive scene checks and balances by first introducing the Open Qualifier and Closed Qualifier, where new teams never seen or heard before are allowed to prove their mettle and rise to Division 2. Note that the matches in these Qualifiers are still too low-profile to be featured by bookies.

In Division 2 – considered the Minor League – teams compete even further to finally make their breakthrough and claim a seat at the high table of Division 1, the Major League that houses the elites—former TI and Major winners among them. Here, the matches are already recognized by the best bookies, who will happily offer odds for the most active Dota 2 bettors.

Both Division 1 and 2 have 8 teams in total and use a single round-robin format, with all matches proceeding in a best-of-three. By the end of a Tour, the 2 bottom finishers of Division 1 are replaced by the 2 top finishers of Division 2, ensuring strength is always factored in the next Tour.

But before the cycle repeats, there are the Majors.

Image credit: Valve

The Majors

While the Majors pale in comparison to The International in terms of the prize pool, they’re still highly anticipated by the community as similar to TI. They’re international events where the best-performing teams from the 6 regions meet.

The number of teams accepted from different regions in each Major is as follows:

• Western Europe: 4
• China: 4
• Eastern Europe: 3
• Southeast Asia: 3
• North America: 2
• South America: 2

The Major’s Group Stage uses a single round-robin in a best-of-two format. There are 2 groups in total, 9 teams in each. The 4 top finishers of the groups get to advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs, while the 5th and 6th teams go to the lower bracket. Those who fail to make the cut (6 in sum) are eliminated.

For bettors, the Group Stage is associated with the most volatile odds of the entire tournament, where true underdogs—those who came from Division 2—face long-time favorites. These David-versus-Goliath matchups lead to the wide gap between the multipliers that is the Holy Grail for underdog bettors.

The following are the Majors for 2023 so far and their winners:

• Lima Major – February 22nd to March 5th

1. 1. Gaimin Gladiators
   2. Team Spirit
   3. Evil Geniuses

• ESL One Berlin Major – April 26th to May 7th

1. 1. Gaimin Gladiators
   2. Team Liquid
   3. 9Pandas

• Bali Major – June 29th to July 9th

DPC Points

What do the victorious teams of the Regional Leagues and the Majors win? Other than just a cash prize, they get awarded DPC Points, the single unit of measurement that determines which teams will make it to TI, Dota 2’s flagship annual event.

At the end of Tour 3, the 12 teams with the highest DPC Points get invited directly to TI.

Meanwhile, the rest of the pack must compete and win in their respective Regional Qualifiers in order to get invited. In 2022, the two teams behind the Regional Qualifier winners moved to the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), a grueling international event where the hungriest, most desperate Dota 2 teams in the world fought it out for a stab at The International. In the end, only 2 teams out of 12 were invited.

Unfortunately for the laggards, the Last Chance Qualifier has been abandoned for 2023.

The International

With a 5-year average of $29 million in total prize pool (starkly contrasted with LoL Worlds’ $3.6 million), The International, or TI, stands as the most prestigious and luxurious esports event in the industry, with the main stage taking place after the Dota Pro Circuit

Since the LCQ for 2023 has been removed, the upcoming TI12 will be participated by 18 of the most committed Dota 2 teams worldwide.

Taking place between 14-29th October, The International this year is heading to Seattle, USA.

Dota Pro Circuit Teams to Watch in 2023

After years in the competitive Dota 2 scene, some teams have managed to stay exactly where they are while others crumble and disappear. This DPC season, we’re still pretty much seeing the same giants, although some new faces have arrived due to a few Div 1 teams finally bowing out.

It’s still somewhat early in the year to make any legitimate readings of each region. That said, here are the best teams we think you should look out for.

Region	Team
Western Europe	Tundra Esports As champions of TI11, it’s no wonder Tundra comes first on the list as the strongest favorite. This European team only lost once in the 2022 TI, and it wasn’t even in the Grand Final. Now, they’re back and making yet another splash in the 2023 DPC WEU Tour 1, having already defeated the new OG and Nigma Galaxy for a clean 2-0 standing. Of course, Western Europe has become the house of favorites at this point, so it’s best to give the teams here some space before making a prediction.
Eastern Europe	BetBoom Team Granted, Team Spirit is still probably the more convincing choice in EEU, but with the recent roster shuffles considered, perhaps BetBoom might be the more interesting pick. The young org launched in 2022 and immediately showed consistency, even though they were performing outside the Major League. This changed in the Eastern European Qualifier, where they finished 1st and got seeded in TI11. They had a short run, true, but so did 2022 Stockholm Major runner-up TSM. Now, BetBoom has a new roster, which includes TI10 champion Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek and former players of Virtus.pro.
China	Team Aster Aster has seemingly gained a leg up on its single biggest rival after PSG.LGD player Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida announced his retirement and Wang “Ame” Chunyu his decision to take a break from the pro scene. Unluckily for fans, the Aster-PSG.LGD matchup won’t happen until the 3rd of February, meaning there’s no knowing for sure which of the two is the real Chinese powerhouse. Based on recent data, though, Aster is the better pick. They defeated PSG.LGD’s original TI10 roster in the lower bracket of TI 11 in late October before getting dropped shortly after by Team Liquid. New Aster members Zhai “Xwy” Jingkai and Lin “Xxs” Jing have already shown contributions in the first week of the DPC China Tour 1.
Southeast Asia	Blacklist International Blacklist International has replaced RSG in Division 1 of SEA, and their 2023 Filipino players have all been to TI before. The reunion of Carlo “Kuku” Palad, Timothy “TIMS” Randrup, Nico “eyyou” Barcelon, Marc “Raven” Fausto, and Karl “Karl” Baldovino may just very well set off a new dynasty in the SEA region. They’re currently 1-0 in the 2023 DPC SEA Tour 1 and are about to face their main contenders in the league, which include Fnatic, BOOM Esports, and Talon Esports.
North America	Shopify Rebellion Evil Geniuses no more. But before NA fans despair about their champion being gone, it’s worth noting that only the org is leaving (moving to South America, to be precise). The roster has reformed and is now playing under Shopify Rebellion, coached by Kanishka “BuLba” Sosale. As a TI contender for more than three years (three of its players go way back to 2018), Shopify Rebellion is a team of veterans simply packaged in a new disguise.
South America	Evil Geniuses For the 2023 DPC season, Evil Geniuses will be cheered for not by North Americans but by South Americans, Peruvians specifically. Two of their newest additions, Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar and Adrián “Wisper” Dobles, recently competed in TI11 under the team beastcoast, which was invited for having the 4th highest DPC Points by the end of 2022 Tour 3. Their regional competitors, such as beastcoast and Thunder Awaken (both TI 11 challengers), make it difficult to say that EG is a clear favorite in SA, especially since the org is treading on the unfamiliar southern territory. Still, they’re looking strong with their performance.

Dota Pro Circuit Predictions for 2023

• At the end of the last Tour of the year, it’s possible that the likes of Tundra, OG, Team Spirit, and Aster will have accumulated the highest DPC Points again. While they’ve all had roster changes recently, they weren’t as big as, say, the major overhauls that befell EG and PSG.LGD. All things considered, they’re the most consistent names in their regions. They’re also showing dominance this early in the year, which is often a sign of the many good things to come.
• We still like PSG.LGD for China, despite their signature hard carry going inactive and the other 2 members gone (their replacements came from EHOME).
• Team Liquid in Western Europe, no doubt, remains as lethal as always. Michał “Nisha” Jankowski’s arrival is really more of a gain for Liquid than a loss for Team Secret. For NA, Shopify Rebellion is preferred to TSM based on the existing chemistry among players.
• Meanwhile, SA is a blur that could either be beastcoast or EG. Only time will tell.
• For SEA, we have a very good feeling about Blacklist International and its comfortable, compatible lineup.
• Again, it’s way too early to guarantee anything, but for now, with only the shuffles and recent history as indicators, these are our DPC picks for 2023.

Dota Pro Circuit History

2021-2022 Season

The 2022 DPC Season saw the best Dota 2 teams in the World compete against each other for victory, rewards, and spots at the International. The 2021-2022 season had three tours instead of the previously organized two. Each tour had a roster lock, which was used until the end of the season. Rosters were at the end of the Regional League, and each change incurred a 15% penalty on DPC points.

Substitutes could be used for up to four matches for the Regional League. If more than four matches are played with a substitute, a team will be disqualified and forfeit any remaining games. Any team that uses a substitute in a major tournament will be punished with a 40% penalty on DPC points earned.

A team that removes a player from a major tournament will be punished with an extra 20% penalty on DPC points earned during that event. The top twelve teams from the third tour will qualify for The International 2022, with the remaining eight spots being decided through regional qualifiers.

The remaining teams from the third tour can still qualify through regional qualifiers if they did not replace more than two players during the third tour. There will be no Open Qualifiers, as all Regional Leagues will have Open Qualifier tournaments for their Division II spots.

2020-2021 Season

Due to the cancellation of the Dota Pro Circuit, the third-party tournament market became the focal point of the competitive season. The emergence of the OMEGA League provided both teams and fans with a competitive environment that they yearned for. This gave rise to the total number of online viewers and increased Dota 2 betting.

In 2021, the season featured a six-week League phase, culminating in a Major qualifier. There was also a series of qualifiers for The International 10 in August in Stockholm. The biggest event of this season was the WePlay AniMajor with PSG.LGD coming out victorious.

In this season, Valve did not use the previous season’s DPC points to seed teams into the league. Instead, it only selected the top 4 teams from each region. With the changes, Valve aimed to create a more stable and attractive environment for all teams.

2019-2020 Season

The 2019-2020 season of the Dota Pro Circuit was the third edition of the league. It followed the same structure as the previous two seasons. One qualifier per region was used for the Minor events, and this season, teams would have a better chance of qualifying for the Major events. This qualifier provided teams with several qualification points to have a better chance at qualifying for subsequent regional qualifiers.

The league was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. The earliest events of the season were dominated by Asia, with Team Nigma winning at WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 and Predator taking down the MDL Chengdu Major.

Asia dominated the early events of 2020, with Invictus Gaming and Predator winning at the DOTA Summit 11 and MDL Chengdu Major, respectively. Europe bounced back with wins from Team Nigma and Team Secret. The ESL One Los Angeles tournament was postponed, after which an online format was adopted.

This season came with a lot of sudden changes to Dota 2 odds. Due to the postponement of The International, Team Secret emerged as the best team in the World. The turn of events affected the scene as a whole, with many premier teams folding.

2018-2019 Season

The second Dota Pro Circuit had many changes compared to the first. For instance, there were five Majors and five Minors instead of having ten events. Every team had to qualify to play in the events, regardless of how they performed in the previous season. This ensured that only the best teams were guaranteed a spot in the event.

In the 2018-2019 season, the Majors offered 15,000 qualifying points for The International, while the Minors only provided 500. The main event was only for the Majors, while the Minors were for the other qualifying events. The biggest event of this season was the Epicenter Major, which Vici Gaming won.

In total, 12 teams would receive invitations to The International instead of the eight given last season. The remaining six tickets were decided through regional qualifiers: China, Europe, South America, North America, CIS, and Southeast Asia. These regions had their own Regional Qualifiers.

2017-2018 Season

The 2017-2018 Dota Pro Circuit season started with many changes. A partial qualifier system was used, which led to dissatisfaction. The first preliminary tournament schedule was released by Valve on August 1, 2017, which featured 11 major and 11 minor championships with varying prize pools. The most significant events were the MDL Changsha Major, ESL One, and the China Dota 2 Supermajor.

The Dota Pro Circuit of this season was won by Virtus.pro and Team Liquid, PSG.LGD, and Team Secret followed behind them.

The circuit had over 20 events, and it was difficult for teams to practice or rest. The players constantly moved from one event to the next, resulting in frequent burnouts. Some players were also disappointed by the lack of high-quality play. The casters, analysts, and fans were the only people who were somewhat happy with the format as they were able to watch and analyze matches frequently.