Read our complete guide to CSGO betting and compare the best CS:GO betting sites below.
With more UK betting sites opting to embrace esports betting in recent times, this is an area of the industry many top experts believe is set to explode over the course of the next few years.
CSGO esports betting is one of the main areas seeing its popularity rise at a rapid rate, with more and more people opting to place wagers on the outcome of the video game contests.
With CSGO - which stands for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - long having been seen as one of the best esports in the world, it makes sense it has become one of the top esports to bet on. The fact that the multiplayer tactical first-person shooter was released about a decade ago does not seem to be affecting its popularity despite the rise of Valorant and other more recent titles.
For those who have no experience of esports betting, it might seem strange to place wagers on the outcome of people playing a video game. But CSGO esports betting is especially popular among the younger generation, many of whom are more interested in esports than 'real' sport.
Anyone who wants to get started with betting on CSGO will probably have questions about how CSGO betting works, which CSGO betting markets to target and what tournaments are the best.
CSGO was released all the way back in 2012, becoming the fourth game in the hugely popular Counter-Strike series, following in the footsteps of the original Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source, which was a remake of the original Counter-Strike.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment, sees two teams face off in a battle for supremacy. In the game, the two CSGO teams - the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists, take each other on in objective-based game modes.
Global Offensive is often described as having one of the world's most popular esport scenes, with betting on CSGO naturally having become very popular over the course of the last decade. Valve-sponsored tournaments are known as Major Championships and are typically seen as the most prestigious to win in the world of CSGO esports, with betting on them particularly popular.
ELEAGUE Major 2017, which took place in the Fox Theatre, saw the first Global Offensive professional games broadcast, paving the way for esports to hit the mainstream. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a lot of sports have to pause their action, with esports stepping in.
Today, many of the best CSGO gambling sites in the UK offer both pre-match and live in-play betting, as they would for other sports such as football, golf, cricket, tennis and so on. It is also often possible to stream live esports when betting on CSGO, with the sector still developing.
While most of the UK's biggest and best online bookmakers now offer betting on CSGO to some extent as part of their esports betting offering, some of them are far stronger than others in this area.
Here, we have picked out the top five online bookies that offer CSGO betting in the UK:
Betway is a top contender for the crown of the UK's best esports betting site, with its excellent array of markets for betting on CSGO one of the reasons why this is the case. At Betway, esports fans can get regular free esports bets through the Betway site's rewards club.
Betway are proud sponsors of a range of leading esports organisations and teams such as BIG, Invictus Gaming, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Made in Brazil, plus the Blast Premier competition.
The CSGO esports betting odds at Betway are some of the best in the business. With a raft of live esports streams to pick from, Betway is a great choice for fans who want to keep up with all the latest action while trying to pick out some winning wagers too.
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One of the UK's best betting sites, Bet365 is also a leader in the field of betting on CSGO too. As well as having lots of CSGO tournaments and CSGO betting markets, the site publishes plenty of esports betting material on the Bet365 blog as well.
For example, Bet365 recently had a top breakdown of the Counter Strike: Global Offensive BLAST Premier Fall Finals, which was required reading for any UK esports fans who were thinking about placing a bet on that event.
Boosted prices and enhanced odds are offered in the Bet365 esports department on a regular basis. This helps to ensure that Bet365 is a great value choice for betting on CSGO in the UK. Bet365 also has many other esports to bet on as well as betting on CSGO. Among the other options at Bet365 are Valorant betting, League of Legends betting, Dota 2 betting and more.
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The perception that 888 is primarily an online casino brand is now outdated, with 888Sport considered a prime contender to be named the UK's best online betting site. Part of the reason why that has become the case in recent years is how strong 888Sport is when it comes to esports betting - there is no doubt the site is a fantastic choice for betting on CSGO in the UK.
At 888Sport, fans of esports betting can pick from a huge array of CSGO betting markets, with all of the esports top tournaments available to bet on via the sportsbook site here as well. COD, Overwatch and LOL markets are available too.
Those who join 888Sport will be guaranteed to enjoy one of the best CSGO betting sites. Great value esports betting sites are just one of the many reasons to sign up to bet on CSGO at 888.
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Even though a lot of people might think of William Hill as quite a traditional British betting brand, the company's online site has actually been at the vanguard of esports betting in the UK. Long ranked among the best CSGO betting sites in the UK, William Hill offers both pre-match and live in-play wagers on most of the biggest CSGO tournaments and matches around.
William Hill is banking on CSGO esports betting and other esports betting becoming even more popular in the future, with as many as half a billion people already tuning into esports each year. League of Legends, DOTA 2, Starcraft II, Rocket League and Overwatch are some of the other top esports to bet on at William Hill, but betting on CSGO seems to be the main focus here. The William Hill news area also covers some of the top-breaking stories from the esports world.
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For those who are new to betting on CSGO, it can be hard to know where to start. Next up in our full guide to CSGO esports betting is an introduction to some top CSGO betting markets:
Outright winner: Naturally, for some of the top CSGO tournaments and events to bet on, the outright market is one of the most popular. Here, those who are betting on CSGO simply need to accurately predict which team will be crowned the champions at the end of the event.
Match odds: For each match in some of the main CSGO and events, it is also possible to bet on which team will be the victor. The match odds markets for CSGO work in exactly the same way as they do for other sports such as football, though of course there is no draw option here.
Handicap odds: As with some of the top sports to bet on in the UK like football, many CSGO betting sites also have handicap odds available to browse as well. The handicap is a great option as CSGO betting sites for matches where one team is strongly expected to win.
Total maps: Another option when betting on CSGO is to predict the total number of maps that will be needed in order to find the winner of the contest. This is displayed as an over/under a figure that works in the same kind of way as over/under goals markets in a sport like football.
Map winner: It is also possible to bet on the winner of each map at CSGO betting sites as well. This can be a good way for people to find value when betting on CSGO matches in the UK.
Correct score: As with sports like football, CSGO betting sites often offer correct score markets too. As the name suggests, users must guess the final score of the CSGO contest for this one.
Betting on CSGO involves deciding which events and tournaments to bet on. The number of CSGO esports events it is possible to bet on is growing all the time, but the main options are:
Intel Extreme Masters: Claiming to be the longest-running global pro gaming tour in the world, the Intel Extreme Masters features various esports but CSGO is one of the most popular. IEM events take place throughout the year but the season finale is held in the Polish city of Katowice.
ESL Pro League: Established in 2015, the ESL Pro League is based in four regions: Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Composed of 24 teams each season, ESL contests are known for being particularly unpredictable but this makes them very exciting to bet on as well.
BLAST Premier: Describing itself as the most explosive, engaging and entertaining esports event in the world, BLAST Premier is definitely one of the most exciting tournaments for CSGO betting in the UK. At BLAST Premier events, the season is split into spring and fall events with the action taking place both in Europe and in North America. The next world final of the BLAST Premier CSGO tournament is set to be held in December 2022, taking place in Abu Dhabi.
Champion of Champions Tour: This new global CSGO circuit is jointly organised by multiple tournament operators including the likes of FACEIT, Eden Esports, Relog Media, Black Molly Entertainment and Fantasyexpo, so there are a lot of organisations trying to make this work. With over 10,000 hours of broadcasting, the CCT is set to be a breakthrough CSGO event.
For those who have never tried esports betting, working out how CSGO esports games work can be quite confusing. CSGO seems rather impenetrable at first, but it is quick to pick up. During a battle, two teams fight for control of a map, with strategy seen as being the key.
One team in each CSGO match takes the role of the terrorists (Ts), while the opposing team represents the counter-terrorists (CTs). Pro CSGO games are normally played in the 5 vs. 5 competition mode, where the Ts grab a bomb that must be placed in a special location. The aim is then to take out as many of the CT players as possible when the bomb goes off.
Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis. If you have any questions about online gambling in the UK, please don't hesitate to contact him.