Betting on Dota 2: What to know and consider
Back in 2013, a custom Dota card for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos evolved into a game in its own right, becoming one of the most popular games of all time and eventually becoming a mega-popular game that featured tournaments between cyber-athletes. During these tournaments, such prizes are drawn that the winners can earn a fortune, and their progress is watched by millions of fans.
Right now, Dota 2 tournaments are some of the biggest events in cybersports, with some of the biggest prize pools in the world. Specifically, The International tournament, called the World Championship of the game, was held in 2019 with a prize pool of $34.3 million. Viewership of tournaments exceeds that of a number of traditional gaming sports.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Dota 2 has been in the booksellers’ sphere of interest since the very first competitions. Bets are placed according to many different parameters and for the uninitiated Dota-2 is a complete “Chineseness”. Indeed, if you try to understand the game in all the subtleties, you have to spend a lot of time and work hard, because the game is quite complicated.
If you explain the essence of the game in short, it looks something like this.
In each match there are two teams of 5 players. Each team has a castle to protect, the main building (the “throne”). The match starts with the players choosing their characters. The game offers over 100 heroes, each with their own unique set of attributes. The character selection stage is called “drafting”. Gamers then earn in-game gold, which they spend to purchase artifacts that enhance the characters. The match culminates in duels, during which the winner is decided. The team that has defeated the opponent’s Tron wins.
Dota 2 is divided into regional tournaments and The International, the world’s premier eSports event. Regional tournaments are held in: the CIS, Europe, North America, South America, China and Southeast Asia. The 12 strongest teams, determined by the results of regional tournaments, participate in The International.
Bookmakers accept such bets on Dota-2 tournaments:
- Outcome Bets: The most common bet is on the winner of a card or the winner of a match.
- Total maps: A wager on the number of maps in a match, when teams play each other to a predetermined number of wins.
- Card Handicap Handicap: A bet is made during a match played in a multiple card format.
- Total kills: a bet on the number of character kills on a map or during a match.
- Total minutes: A bet on the amount of time it takes for the winning team to win.
There are two main types of Dota 2 bets: inline and in-play. Line bets are placed before the game starts. In this case, you can bet on the outcome and totals, and choose other types of bets. That’s the plus side of this option. But its big disadvantage is that already at the “draft” stage the power balance can change considerably. For example, an established favourite will make a series of fatal mistakes that will ensure victory for an underdog.
In Live Betting you only bet on the outcome of the match. However, the paucity of choices is compensated for by the opportunity to see the development of the game and to predict the outcome more accurately.
