IEM Katowice 2023 Betting Guide: How to Bet, Teams, Schedule and Predictions

Post-Event Update: The IEM Katowice 2023 was one rollercoaster of a CSGO event. Although all 6 teams who made it to the Playoffs had initially belonged to the highly regarded “Directly Qualified” set, we saw some dramatic turns during the beginning of the Play-In and the Group Stage, most shockingly FURIA and Cloud9 getting eliminated by Mongolian underdog IHC.

Quarterfinalists Liquid, NAVI, and Outsiders—while not crowned champions—gained value in the Playoffs by reaffirming themselves in some way: Liquid for showing the NA resilience with their 2-13 to 19-17 comeback against Vitality, NAVI for maintaining consistency, and Outsiders for proving their Rio Major run was, indeed, no fluke.

In the end, on 12 February, G2 became the IEM Katowice 2023 champions after beating Heroic 3-1. It was Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač’s fourth attempt to lift the trophy in the final since 2017, and it was the only one that succeeded. Meanwhile, Justin “jks⁠” Savage became the first back-to-back Katowice winner (first as a FAZE substitute in 2022) since the Fnatic roster in 2016.

Despite meeting FAZE and NAVI early on in the Group Stage, the one map G2 lost against Heroic in the final was the only map they lost throughout the entire tournament.

The IEM Katowice is the first CSGO major tournament of 2023. As an international event with participants from all over the world, it’s where we get to witness the peak of CSGO early into the year. In total, 24 teams will try to best each other for a $1,000,000 prize pool and a slot in IEM Cologne 2023. The playoffs will be hosted at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland.

Today we’re here to provide everything you need to know if you’re looking to bet on the IEM Katowice event, including schedule, format, and teams. We’ll also show you the best betting site you should join and what event-specific promotions are available. We’ll also go through some predictions and do a quick rundown on several notable teams you might want to watch out for.

Best Betting Site for IEM Katowice: Luckbox

Luckbox is the best betting site for your buck. If you’re going to get involved with IEM Katowice betting, you’ll need to look no further than Luckbox. This platform is prolific, popular, and secure, and above all else, they offer a wide range of CSGO odds and markets:

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Event Overview

Reasons to Choose Luckbox to Bet on IEM Katowice 2023

You have two ways of betting on the IEM Katowice 2023: pre-match or in-play. Pre-match means you place your bets before the match happens, and in-play means you’re betting live on the event. Whether you’re planning to bet pre-match or live, we recommend signing up with an esports-dedicated bookie offering lucrative bonuses that you can take advantage of some extra playing money.  

Sign Up to Luckbox Now ➥

Bettors should consider betting on IEM Katowice with Luckbox for several reasons:

1. Most importantly, Luckbox – licensed and regulated by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision – is a reputable and trustworthy betting platform that offers a secure and fair gambling experience.
2. Luckbox doubles your initial deposit when you first sign up as a new player. Use the code “GLHF” during the sign-up process, and you’ll receive a 100% matched deposit bonus of up to $100!
3. You’ll find a wide range of markets and odds for Katowice CSGO betting on Luckbox, providing bettors with numerous opportunities to place profitable bets.
4. Luckbox Esports has a user-friendly interface and offers live streaming of matches, allowing bettors to follow the action and make informed betting decisions. Live CSGO betting at Luckbox is always top-notch.
5. You can fund your account using various payment methods, including Visa, Mastercard, ecoPayz, Skrill, Paysafecard, and Neteller.

Get a Kato Bet Boost at Luckbox

Get Your Kato Bet Boost from Luckbox ➥

In addition to Luckbox’s 100% matched deposit bonus, there’s a fantastic IEM Katowice 2023 bonus you can enjoy if you are a new or existing member at Luckbox.

To participate in this offer is very easy! Just place a bet on your favourite CSGO team to win a match at the IEM Katowice.

If your team then goes on to win the match and completes one of a number of stated in-game objectives, then your winnings will be boosted by up to 100% of your total winning amount!

There are different objectives available for the different stages of the tournament, as outlined below:

1. Terms and conditions apply.
2. Your bet must be placed on the Match Winner market and be worth $5 or more to qualify for the Kato Bet Boost. It must also be a pre-match bet.
3. The bet boost can be applied across multiple matches.

So if you like the look of some of your favourite CSGO team matchups at IEM Katowice 2023, then why not check out this great value offer from Luckbox.

Participating Teams and Predictions

When it comes to IEM Katowice predictions, no information is more important than the roster of teams to choose from. In 2023, the world’s best CSGO teams take to the stage, and it can often be remarkably difficult to pick an outright winner.

Participating Teams

• Directly Qualified Teams: FAZE, NAVI, G2, Team Vitality, Outsiders, Heroic, & Team Liquid
• Play-In Teams: Ninjas in Pyjamas, Cloud9, OG, FURIA, BIG, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, ENCE, Team Spirit, Complexity, MIBR, IHC, Grayhound, Sprout, paIN, & Permitta

Here are the top 2023 IEM Katowice teams and their most notable achievements in 2022.

Favorites

Let’s talk about G2 first. They were cold for a while last year and had a series of misfortunes seemingly set off by their brutal 0-3 loss to FAZE in February’s grand final of IEM Katowice 2022. Then, BLAST Premier: World Final happened in December, and they won the entire thing as an underdog. They’re on fire again, finishing 1st-3rd in 2023 Spring Groups (against BIG and NAVI) without losing a single map. They want redemption at Katowice more than anyone else. And they’re back on form.

Another team already successful at the 2023 Spring Groups is FAZE (beating Complexity and OG). They’re the favorite in terms of outright odds, and no wonder. Their poor performance at the Rio Major (15th-16th) should be chalked up to a bad day. They were a strong contender in the World Final, losing only by 2 to 3 rounds to G2, so they could have easily been the victors.

While somewhat exhausted in the second half of 2022, NAVI has not given anyone a reason not to be considered among the top 5 best CSGO teams in the world.

If you want a wild card, Heroic is a good option, as they’ve been harder and harder to predict recently. Outsiders, on the other hand, has received some heat with people saying their Rio Major win was a fluke. We’re about to see. Finally, don’t forget what FURIA did to NAVI 2 months ago.

Underdogs

For the underdogs, we’re really liking OG as a pick. They managed to win 2 series against Team Liquid at the 2023 Spring Groups (though they lost to FAZE in their group’s final). And while they weren’t active for the most part last year, they did leave the World Final in 3rd-4th place. If they continue to improve at this rate, it won’t take that many CSGO tournaments before they make their biggest breakthrough.

We also think Ninjas in Pyjamas are getting mistreated by bookies. With their outright odds, it’s almost like no one is believing they would make it past the play-in. While NiP winning the event is unlikely, they might pull off a big upset that could be very profitable early in the tournament.

Because both aforementioned teams start the tournament at the play-in, you’re getting extra points added in the outright odds market, making them a reasonable bet to win overall. Ultimately, observe how these and the other underdogs will perform. Once they make it to the group stage (assuming they will), facing the heavyweights is next, and that’s when the gap in the odds truly shows.

Roster Changes

The main takeaway is the variable changes that roster shuffles have brought into the tournament. We may not have seen many of those shuffles in the top teams, but with those under the radar, the impact could take anyone by surprise. NIP, for instance, just got 18-year-old Danyyl “headtr1ck” Valitov two weeks ago and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke a day ago. And they’ve already taken a couple of maps against NAVI itself.

Schedule and Format

The IEM Katowice 2023 takes place between the 1st of February to the 12th. The first 3 days are reserved for the play-in, the next 4 days for the group stage, a 2-day rest, then the playoffs.

Play-In Stage (February 1st – 3rd)

The play-in opens with a BO1 and uses a double-elimination bracket. All the following matches will proceed in BO3. This stage of the tournament could potentially reward underdog bettors with the highest winnings of the entire event (not counting the outright markets). The Cloud9-IHC Esports matchup, for instance, nearly has a 6-point difference in the multipliers (5.86) at the moment. If you like risks and being rewarded heavily for those risks, the play-in is your wheelhouse.

Group Stage (February 4th – 7th)

The group stage also uses a double-elimination format, with two teams qualifying for the playoffs in the upper bracket and one team qualifying in the lower bracket.

In case you miss some chances at the play-in as an underdog bettor, the early phase of the group stage could still offer great CSGO odds, even more so if secondary teams like Grayhound Gaming or Permitta Esports manage to pull an upset. If that happens, they will be up shortly against the likes of NAVI and G2, which will widen the gap in the odds even further.

At this point, roster shuffles and changes made recently within the organizations are still not discounted in the odds, meaning underdogs could be undervalued and favorites overvalued. It’s recommended not to rely on chain logic, so it’s recommended to manually watch each team’s performance and draw further assumptions from there.

Playoffs (February 10th – 12th)

Whoever takes first place at the groups of the group stage (two teams in total) will go directly to the semifinals of the playoffs, while the four remaining qualifying teams will go to the quarterfinals. The grand final will proceed in BO5.

The multipliers in this stage of the tournament will likely be constricted. If the finalists are all favorites in the first place, there will be a tighter difference in the odds. Roster changes will have been likely factored in, which might be the sign of the gravy train leaving the station.

Still, the playoffs will be the most intense part of the tournament, and placing a bet here, if not rewarded by exploitable multipliers, will be rewarded by the thrilling experience alone. CSGO betting for beginners may be overwhelming, but the vast coverage at the playoffs will cover straightforward markets all the same.

IEM Katowice Betting Tips

With betting on CSGO, few opportunities are more readily available than IEM Katowice betting. The top esports betting sites throw markets at bettors, and the odds are hotter than ever in 2023. If you’re going to throw down a few wagers on IEM Katowice 2023, you’ll need a few tips to maximize your profit margin.

This is easily one of the most important CSGO tournaments on the schedule. Whether you’re a CSGO fan or not, you could stand to win a few key wagers should your betting strategy be on point.

1. Firstly, you must identify an effective, efficient, and safe CSGO betting strategy. In most cases, we’d advise starting out small, particularly if you’re a new bettor.
2. Take the time to study the markets and pick easier-to-understand options, such as the outright winner markets. These require very little information on the game itself, and in most cases, the odds speak for themselves.
3. When it comes to picking a platform, we can also advise that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. With that in mind, transition from place to place, soaking up the various IEM Katowice promos and bonuses offered by varying esports betting sites.
4. Furthermore, playing with different platforms can open up the potential for better odds or more unique, exotic markets.
5. Ultimately, remember only to bet what you can afford, and if you’re on a losing streak, consider re-evaluating your all-important strategy.

We wish you the best of luck with your IEM Katowice betting. As always, bet responsibly.

Find out How to Watch IEM Katowice Live

History of the IEM Event

In 2022, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the IEM CSGO events in general. It was in March 2012 that the first IEM CSGO event was held in Hannover, Germany, boasting a modest prize pool of just $100,000. Although, back then, that was a huge pool – one of the biggest in esports – and it’s a sign of how valuable esports as an industry has become in a relatively short period of time.

Way back in 2012, the first IEM CSGO event was won by ESC Gaming, which has since disbanded, but Natus Vincere came in second place. There’s a huge legacy in CSGO where Natus Vincere is concerned.

Let’s look at some of the biggest winners throughout the history of IEM CSGO:

Follow the link to see a guide on StarCraft 2 IEM Katowice betting.

Frequently asked questions

Pre-match & in-play betting with Luckbox

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Visit Luckbox

100% Deposit boost

Up To €/$100 

Luckbox Review

Bet and watch with live streams & stats

Bet on CS:GO, Dota, LoL, Overwatch, FIFA, Call of Duty and more!

Use code GLHF

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