Betting on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – CS:GO Special Bets

Spicing up your favorite matches with a dash of betting is always fun. What’s
even more fun is when you add a few special bets to the mix! Nowadays, most
markets offer them, esports included. In fact, you’d be surprised at just how
many game-specific special bets the top bookies feature these days. If it’s
easily measurable and somewhat important for the match, you can bet that some
bookie is going to make a special bet out of it.

Today, we are going to focus on CS:GO special bets specifically.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is definitely the most popular FPS
(first-person shooter) game currently available at the highest competitive
level. There’s plenty of tournaments to show, talent to admire, and betting to
be enjoyed. CS:GO is a round-based esports title with up to 30 rounds per match.
With that said, it’s no wonder bookies are setting up various special bets based
on rounds. Additionally, kills are another quantifiable aspect to the game,
which means they’ll find their own spot on the list of the most popular CS:GO
special bets.

5 Most Popular Special Bets in CS:GO

1 – Knife Round Winner

Every competitive CS:GO match starts with the knife round. It’s also referred
to as round zero since it doesn’t count toward the end score. What it does
account for is the team’s ability to pick which side they want to play on first.
Tactics, aggression, peek placements, and trades all greatly vary from map to
map, so choosing CT or T side can make or break matches.

For esports bettors, knife round winner bets are a whole lot of fun. Not only
are they short, so bettors know if they’ve lost or won the bet almost
immediately, but they are also action-packed. Knife rounds are basically ten
players running at each other with knives in their hands. It’s basically a
digital shank fight in which you can bet on!

2 – 1st Pistol/2nd Pistol Round Winner

In the competitive CS:GO scene, matches last for up to 30 rounds, with
halftime being after 15 rounds. During halftime, teams change their positions
(from terrorists to counter-terrorists and vice versa). Each half kicks off with
a pistol round, which is the basis for the economy of that half. Esports bookies
are already well-known for offering CS:GO special bets tied directly toward one
or both pistol rounds. Betting odds for this type of special bet are pretty
high, but the risk is up there so be careful with this one.

3 – Total Rounds Over/Under

If you are watching a highly competitive CS:GO matchup, chances are, you’d
want to bet on it to further spice up your experience. If that’s really the
case, then you should definitely check out total rounds over/under CS:GO special
bets. You will be given a rough estimate on the total number of rounds, and you
are supposed to guess whether the end result will be over or under that number.
It’s a highly profitable special bet, in fact, it’s the favorite of experienced

bettors who know their way around over/under bets, since they’re pulling the
experience from regular sports betting.

4 – First Kill

The first kill in a match doesn’t have a huge impact on the teams, players,
or even the final outcome. Sure, all kills are important, but the first one
doesn’t really have as big of an influence in CS:GO as it does in other esports
titles such as Dota 2 or League of Legends. Still, bookies offer CS:GO special
bets in the form of first kills. These bets are, similarly to pistol rounds,
really risky since they can always go either way. If you are convinced that a
certain sharpshooter will get an easy peak right off the bat, who are we to stop
you from betting?

The question is – are you willing to bet your money on a CS:GO special bet
that can go either way?

5 – First to 5 Rounds

Another round-based CS:GO special bet, which is among the most popular ones,
is the first to five rounds. It revolves around which team gets first to five
rounds in the match. It might sound simple enough, but in reality, these are one
of the toughest bets to nail down correctly. Pistol rounds always drastically
affect this bet since the team that loses the pistol round has to go one or two
rounds without buying additional guns. In most cases, teams who win the pistol
round are the favorites to get first to five rounds in the match.

Common Esports Special Bets That Are Present With CS:GO

Outright Winner

Outright winner bets represent betting on the outcome of a specific
tournament. Yes, the outcome of an entire tournament and not just one game.
You’d be surprised at how much fun this type of bet is, especially with shorter
tournaments that last just a few days or so. The amount of anticipation is
brilliant, making every penny bet on outrights a good investment.

Group/Region of the Winner

Bigger CS:GO tournaments, such as the Majors or DreamHack series, usually
have several bookies who offer group of the winner and region of the winner
bets. Both of these bets are pretty similar and straightforward. There’s nothing
complex about them at all – you’re basically picking between the groups and/or
regions in which you think the winner is. So, for instance, if you think
Astralis is going to win the tournament, you can either pick Europe from the
region of the winner bet, or you can pick their respective group.

It’s a similar concept to outright winner bets with less risk, becase you’re
not betting on one team but a single group or region. Mind you, group/region
betting can be a tricky business if you don’t know what you are doing. That is
why you always must make your pre-betting research to avoid the risk of losing
your money in a stupid way.

Maps Over/Under

This next bet is pretty straightforward too, so there is no need for complex
explanations. However, you will see this CS:GO special bet available only during
longer contests. In other words, it is reserved for matches that are best of
three or best of five. Multi-map matches are very popular, especially in huge
tournament playoffs, so there should not be issues in finding events which have
maps over/under special bets.

We Shouldn’t Forget About Handicap Bets Either

If there is one additional CS:GO special bets type that we forgot to mention
above, it has to be handicap bets. They’re called “handicap bets” in the UK and
Europe, while Americans usually call them “spread bets.” The principle stays the
same – bookies give an artificial advantage to the underdogs to make the betting
odds slightly more even. This way, the favorites to win will have much higher
betting odds, but they will have to win with a certain point advantage. As far
as CS:GO is concerned, here’s a small example of what a handicap bet would look
like in comparison with a regular match-winner bet:

If you bet both options on Astralis and the match finishes 16-14 in favor of
Astralis, only your first bet would go through. That’s because FaZe had 2.5
rounds advantage due to the rounds handicap bet, which is enough for them to
take the victory in bookie’s eyes.

Wrapping Things Up

And that’s about it, guys! Those were all the CS:GO special bets you should
know about. Yes, there are one or two additional ones that show up every now and
then, but the ones portrayed above are definitely the most common ones you’ll be
seeing.

Once again, if your bookie doesn’t feature a vast number of CS:GO special
bets, you might be better off finding another one. BetOnline is a good choice
for starters, heck, it’s one of the most popular esports bookie on the planet.
BetWay isn’t far off either, but they’re sometimes rusty in terms of specials
for smaller tournaments. No matter which of these esports betting sites you
choose, we’re sure you won’t be disappointed with your choice.

In the end, we would like to thank you for reading and hope to see you again
soon!