ESports: Pro League ESL Betting and Overview

Pro League ESL Betting: The most important tournament in the CS: GO scene has officially started! Fans and players have been grinding all year for this moment.

Following the qualifiers earlier in the year, the Pro League ESL betting 16 goes from now until October 2nd. Esports bettors and CS: GO fans will have their eyes peeled for the odds regarding the ESL Pro League before every match.

The 24 teams will be fighting it out in Salini Resort in Malta for a combined prize pool of $825,000. Additionally, a spot at IEM Katowice and the BLAST World Final will be up for the winner at the end of the season.

What is CS: GO?

Even if you’re not a big fan of video games, it’s safe to assume you’ve heard of CS: GO. If you haven’t, then this section is for you.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an FPS (First Person Shooter) that emphasizes teamwork, excellent gunplay, and strategy. Getting wins in CS: GO comes from recognizing and holding angles, intelligently using grenades, and effectively communicating with your team. Winning a game requires extensive teamwork, as well as personal economy management.

CS: GO was released in 2012, but Counter-Strike has been around since 1999, as well as its competitive scene. Since the release of CS: GO, the competitive scene has grown from small competitions in conference rooms to global competitions in sold-out arenas.

After nine years since its release, CS: GO has steadily increased its player base, due in part to the success of its esports scene and its switch to free-to-play in 2018. As a result, it reached all-time highs for peak players and a monthly average in April 2020, with 857,605 average players and a peak of 1.3 million.

That success has continued into 2021, with monthly standards over 700,000 for most of the year. In addition, the game consistently hit a height of at least 1 million players monthly.

Who is Playing?

Throughout the next few months, 24 world-class teams will compete for the massive prize money and glory ahead of the BLAST Premier World Finals. The 24 teams qualified in various ways. From being a partner team to ESL ranking and merited qualification, all these teams deserve to be here. Below are all the teams, along with how they got there.

Partner Teams

• FaZe
• Natus Vincere
• Astralis
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Vitality
• MOUZ
• Furia
• ENCE
• G2 Esports
• Team Liquid
• BIG
• Heroic
• Fnatic
• Evil Geniuses
• Complexity

ESL Ranking

• Cloud9
• Movistar Riders
• Spirit

Conference Play

• FTW
• Endpoint
• MIBR
• HEAT
• Eternal Fire
• Outsiders

Tournament Format

The ESL Pro League Season 16 will pit 24 teams against each other across two stages; the group and the playoffs. Each group will be a single round-robin, and each team will play once. The team that finishes first will automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. The teams that finish in second and third will advance to the round of twelve.

The playoffs will place teams into a single-elimination bracket, where every match except the grand final will be a best-of-three. The grand final will be a best-of-five.

Prize Pool

As mentioned above, the 24 teams will compete for a share of the $835,000 prize pool. Here is how the money will be distributed amongst the teams.

• 1st: $175,000 – BLAST Word Final 2022 + IEM Katowice 2023
• 2nd: $70,000
• 3rd-4th: $35,000
• 5th-8th: $17,500
• 9th-12th: $12,000
• 13th-16th: $9000
• 17th-20th: $7500
• 21st-24th: $6000

Esports Betting Tips

While the sportsbook has not put out the Outrights for this tournament, you can still place your esports bets for every match on the site. The usual suspects, FaZe (who actually won the ESL Pro League Season 15 tournament), Natus Vincere, and Vitality, are the favorites for every one of their matches. They are usually a safe bet if you’re looking to break even or even if you just get started on esports betting.

Some teams can surprise you and that everyone should keep an eye on. While their esports betting odds are not nearly as good as the top dogs, Movistar Riders, BIG, and Furia are major underdogs coming into the tournament. These are three teams to keep a watchful eye over for ESL Pro League betting.