Handicap betting in esports – a detailed guide

In the previous articles, we were talking about various types of esports betting, including handicap betting. Now, it is time to consider such in popular disciplines more precisely – CS:GO, Dota 2, LoL.

Let us remind you what a handicap is. A handicap is a numerical value, which is added or subtracted from the final result of a team or a player. There are goals in football, points in basketball, pucks in hockey. Esports frequently means maps, rounds in CS:GO, kills in Dota 2 and LoL.

Map handicap betting (CS:GO, Dota 2, LoL)

The most widespread option of handicap in esports betting is the bets on the winner of the match. For Best of 3 matches all bookmakers will offer esports betting services with +1.5 or -1.5 handicap on the number of cards won.

To understand if a bet is victorious or not, you should add the chosen handicap to the final score of the team. For example, if Team Liquid loses a match with a score of 1:2, a handicap bet +1.5 on the victory of Team Liquid will be victorious because considering handicap, the score will be 2.5:2. In other words, we bet on the situation that Team Liquid will win at least a map in a bo3 match.

On the other hand, if we bet on the victory of OG with a handicap -1.5, the bet will be victorious only if OG wins with a score of 2:0 (subtract the handicap and we will have 0.5:0). By the way, it is worth mentioning that a bet on the exact score of 2:0 is equal to a handicap bet -1.5 in bo3 matches. Such a bet makes the winning conditions more strict but increases the odds.

Handicap +1.5, in its turn, increases the chances to succeed but decreases the odds, compared to a bet on the victory. It is also worth noting that a handicap bet on the victory of the favorite can have very low odds.

Round handicap betting in CS:GO

Many bookmakers offer to make a bet on the superiority in a number of won rounds in a match (or on a single map). Such a bet is easier to call a handicap.

For example, a bet on the round superiority with handicap +5.5 for G2 means that having added 5.5 to the number of rounds won by G2, there will be an advantage over the opponent. In other words, this is a bet on the situation that G2 will have a gap in terms of won rounds not less than 5. Also, it is worth remembering the important moment – it does not matter for this bet whether a team has won or lost in the match.

Kill handicap betting (Dota 2, LoL)

This betting option will offer any Dota 2 betting site and they are similar to betting with a handicap on rounds in CS:GO, only in the end counted kills in the match or on a separate map. The result of the bet is not affected by the victory or loss of the team in the match.