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Esports betting vs sports betting

Sports betting became a mass phenomenon back in the 20th century, while eSports burst onto the official bookmaking market only in 2017. A real boom in this sphere occurred with the start of COVID-19, when the whole world found itself at home in self-isolation, and sporting events were not held. Thanks to this, eSports got a bunch of new fans, and Dota 2, CS:GO, League of Legends and others became an integral part of the gambling market.
The 'youth' of eSports is one of its advantages over traditional sports – experienced gamers with good analytical skills, understanding of game mechanics and the current meta always have an advantage over an average bookmaker. Unlike football, basketball and tennis, the rules in Dota 2 are more complex to understand and require a deep understanding of the game. The simplest example is a situation when an underdog becomes a favorite due to a strong draft, and you just have to react in time to an error in the odds.
You should also not forget about such a factor as the detail of statistics in eSports, because here it is much deeper and more accessible than in regular sports. Sites such as CyberScore provide users with the opportunity to analyze a large number of indicators for free: players’ win rates on certain heroes, the average number of kills in matches of certain teams, and in some cases even KDA, inventory and hero facets in real time.

Dota 2 betting: how to start, what bets can be made

Before making any bet, you always need to make sure that you have taken into account all the nuances. This is especially true with Dota 2, since there are so many details in this game that you need to pay attention to. Let's figure out what you need to know to make the right decisions:

1. Roles in a team. You need to understand what tasks the carry, offlaner, midlaner and support perform and how they interact with each other.
2. Current 'meta' in the game. That means that you need to figure out what actions will bring victory to you or your team in most cases. Here it is important to read patch notes, monitor changes in the characteristics of heroes, analyze the actions of pro players, and study new strategies.
3. Types of drafts. Heroes picked before the start of each map are not random and pursue one or another strategy. It can be aimed at both a quick victory over an opponent or reaching a peak in the late game.
4. The balance of power on the professional Dota 2 scene. In addition to understanding the game mechanics, it is also necessary to follow the top Dota tournaments, where the best clubs and e-sportsmen perform. Here it is important to pay attention to the latest results, substitutions in the team rosters, statistics of performances at online and offline events.

We've talked about the necessary knowledge, so now let's focus on the markets (events) available for betting in Dota 2. It's best to start with small amounts and the simplest markets offered by bookmakers. Let's briefly look at the types of bets available to players for most events:

1. Match Winner. This one is simple – if you think one of the teams is a favorite, you can bet on their victory in the BO1, BO3, and BO5 series. In addition, if the match is held in the best-of-2 format, you can also bet on a draw.
2. Map Winner. A bet on one of the teams winning the map in the series.
3. First Blood, First Tower, First Roshan. A bet on who will make the first kill, be the first to destroy an enemy building, or be the first to kill a Roshan.
4. Map Length. In this case, you should estimate the amount of time one of the participants in the game will need to win. It should be noted that each bookmaker has its own rules for calculating this market. Map length statistics for any Dota 2 team can be found in the Analytics tab on CyberScore.
5. Total kills are the number of kills that will occur within a single map. These statistics are also available on our portal, and its accuracy depends on the number of matches played by the teams.
6. Kills handicap. If the question of the winner of the game is not an issue for you, because there is a clear favorite, then you can bet on what the difference in the number of kills will be after the end of the map – this is called a handicap. Let's look at an example: in the Team Spirit – Heroic match, the handicap of the first team in frags on the second map is set at -15.5. This means that with the final score of 31:15, 32:15, 33:15, etc. your bet will win, but in the case of a map finishing with a 31:16 score you will lose. Accordingly, if you bet on a plus handicap (+15.5) of Heroic, you will win if the difference in kills is 15 or less.
7. Map handicap. The same as for kills, but is directed at the number of maps that will be played in the match. For example: in a BO3 match, the bookmaker thinks that the scores of 2:1 and 2:0 are equally probable. In this case, you can bet on a handicap of -1.5 on maps if you believe in 2:0 or a handicap of +1.5 if you are sure that the underdog will win at least one game (2:1).
8. Combined bets. To win in this situation, several events must happen simultaneously. Examples of such offers from bookmakers include: 'team 1 will win the match + the number (total) of kills will be more than 45', 'team 2 will win the match + the duration of the map will be less than 40 minutes'.

These are not all the markets that can be found on Dota and eSports matches on the websites of bookmakers. The number of events that you can bet on depends on the level of the tournament and the bookmaker itself – some bookmakers offer a wide range of markets even for tier-3 events.

Betting strategies and our tips

Once the money is in your account, do not rush to bet the entire amount on the first match that comes your way. Even if you are confident in your prediction, you should never forget that you may simply be unlucky. That is why we recommend playing carefully, using proven bankroll management strategies. The most famous of them are:

1. Flat betting – a fixed bet size each time, regardless of the event. The amount of one flat, depending on the player's risk, is usually 3-10% of the total bank.
2. Betting using the Kelly method. According to this approach, the optimal bet amount should be determined based on the difference between your probability assessment and bookmaker's opinion. That is, the greater the difference between your prediction and the odds on the bookmaker's website, the greater the bet amount should be.

In addition to the importance of bankroll management, we also recommend paying attention to the following tips:

1. Do not consider bets as the main type of income, because this is primarily entertainment. Most gamblers cannot stay in the black over the long term, so try not to lose control and not to put at stake the funds that you may later regret losing.
2. Do not bet when you are overwhelmed with emotions. The state of anger after a loss or euphoria after a win can play a cruel joke on you and lead to making an ill-considered decision.
3. If you have no experience or want to practice first, start with betting with virtual money and then move onto real money. This way you can check whether your strategy works or whether you have a talent for this risky business in general.
4. If possible, write down and analyze your bets. This will help you track your progress, identify and avoid making particular mistakes in the future.
5. Avoid “lucky bets”, the probability of which is always 50/50 and resembles a coin toss. In Dota 2, examples of such markets are the total number of kills (even or odd) or 'Will the map end in the daytime' (yes or no).
6. Study and analyze in detail the information about the teams, players, their form, motivation before placing a bet. The more details you know, the more chances you have of success.
7. Learn more about value betting. This strategy is based on finding incorrect odds on the bookmaker's website. For example, you think that the probability of the first team winning is 60%, while the bookmaker estimates it at 45%. In this case, this bet is good and will bring you profit in the long term. The main difficulty is to effectively use your knowledge and correctly estimate the probability – better than bookmakers did.

Registration, deposit and account verification

CyberScore's Bookmaker Rankings feature bookmakers from all over the world. Some are available to users without restrictions, while others can only be accessed via VPN. Despite this obstacle, many companies accept players from almost all countries, and verification requires only a photo with a passport.

Now imagine that you have visited a bookmaker's website and know that you are allowed to play there. Let's consider what else needs to be done before deciding to register:

1. Understand whether you like the design, whether the site is user-friendly.
2. Check whether the bookmaker offers the matches you are interested in.
3. Read reviews of different bookmakers made by CyberScore.
4. Make sure that the site has deposit methods that are convenient for you.
5. Check out the bonuses that the bookmaker offers for registration and deposit, and the conditions for receiving them.

To make your first bet, you will need money in your account. The next step after successful registration is a deposit. Now this process is extremely simple, because users have access to many options for replenishing their account: bank transfers, e-wallets, payment systems, cryptocurrencies, etc. Another important procedure is account verification – without it, you will not be able to withdraw your winnings. The complexity of the process varies depending on the bookmaker, but the essence remains the same – you need to prove that you are the owner of the profile by providing photos of your documents.
Usually, you may be asked to take a photo of your passport, driver's license, send a bank statement, a receipt for utility bills at the place of registration, or take a photo with these documents in your hands. After passing these checks, you are completely ready to play!