ESI Esports Gambling Report: Volume 2

27 January 2017

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In our second volume of the ESI Esports Gambling Report, we have a look at the odds for the upcoming knockout stages of the huge ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta and even throw in a tip for anyone that may want to have a dabble. 

Credit: ELEAGUE

Outright market

Team BetWay Bet365
Natus Vincere 2.40 2.37
Astralis 6.00 6.50
Gambit 15.00 17.00
Fnatic 15.00 15.00
Virtus.Pro 3.00 5.00
North 15.00 15.00
SK Gaming 6.00 7.50
FaZe 20.00 15.00

 

As we head into the Quarter Finals of the ELEAGUE Major it’s somewhat disappointing to see very few of the big bookmakers taking bets on the Outright Winner of the tournament at this stage. There are however enough esports betting odds on offer to keep us satisfied for now.  

From the previous action Natus Vincere wholly justify their favourites tag with impeccable performances throughout the Group Stages. With SK Gaming playing with a stand-in they don’t look as formidable as they once were. Most other teams have had blips in performance during the Swiss Format Group Stage that imply they may not be outright favourites heading into the knockout, best of three stage.

There’s several story-lines already from the tournament, including the emergence of the revamped Nuke map as somewhat of a wildcard for any team. With the competition now entering knockout and being best of three, it will open up to certain teams playing their specialist maps and overall potentially looking more comfortable.

If we were to have a bet on any team (avoiding the outright favourites), Virtus.Pro have a great record on LAN and have the scope to become better as the tournament goes on. They face North who scraped through their match against GODSENT and may just have too much for the young Danish squad. At odds of 5.00 on Bet365, they could be worth a bet.

Equally, Gambit Gaming led by ex-Natus Vincere veteran Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko look like a team that could spring a few upsets. They face Swedish juggernaut Fnatic who have hardly looked formidable. Make no mistake, Kazakhstani Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev will have to consistently put in the type of performances that has taken Gambit this far in the tournament. At odds of 15.00 on Betway or 17.00 on Bet365 it’s an outside bet that we like the look of. 

Should Danish roster Astralis overcome Natus Vincere, then Duncan “Thorin” Shields’ pre-tournament pick could be in with a huge shout and at odds of 6.00 on Betway and 6.50 on Bet365 you can back Duncan’s pick with decent value. 

Match betting

Team Betway SkyBet GG.Bet Pinnacle Bet365
Natus Vincere 1.40 1.44 1.29 1.446 1.36
Astralis 2.75 2.63 3.51 2.810 3.00
Gambit 1.72 1.91 1.93 2.100 2.10
Fnatic 2.00 1.80 1.85 1.751 1.66
Virtus.Pro 1.50 1.50 1.46 1.526 1.44
North 2.40 2.50 2.67 2.550 2.62
SK Gaming 1.60 1.57 1.56 1.645 1.53
FaZe 2.20 2.25 2.38 2.270 2.37

 

We find Pinnacle are best priced for four of the teams competing in the match betting market. GG.Bet have incredible odds of 3.51 if you fancy Astralis to spring somewhat of an upset against Na’Vi. We’re not sure they’re a 3.51 chance to spring an upset, so there’s definitely  value there.

If we were to stick £10 on Natus Vincere, Gambit, Virtus.Pro and SK Gaming to win each of their series it would return £76.23 with Pinnacle. 

If we were to take advantage of the generous odds on Astralis in an accumulator with GG.Bet we would go Astralis, Gambit, Virtus.Pro and even back Karrigan’s FaZe to upset SK Gaming who haven’t looked phenomenal. £10 would return £208.56 with GG.Bet. Please note that both bookmakers are unavailable to UK users – but the odds are readily transferable. 

For UK users, £10 on Na’Vi, Gambit, VP and SK would return £56.14 on Betway, £61.26 on Bet365 and £62.79 on SkyBet.

For the second bet, £10 on Astralis, Gambit, VP and FaZe would return £146.16 on Betway, £200.67 on Bet365, and £159.03 on SkyBet. 

It just goes to show that seeking value is of paramount importance with different returns prevalent across the board.