DOTA 2 betting

Today Dota 2 matches and actual tournaments with the latest odds and stats. View recommended bookmakers to bet on DOTA 2 in 2020.

Table of contents

• Actual Dota 2 matches
• Actual Dota 2 tournaments
• How to bet on Dota 2?
• Dota 2 type of bets
• Dota 2 betting strategy
• How to choose online bookmakers for Dota 2?
• Best Dota 2 Betting Sites
• All Dota 2 Tournaments

Today DOTA 2 Matches

Actual DOTA 2 tournaments

The name “Dota” is almost synonymous with e-sports. Professional-level competitions started way back with the original Warcraft 3 mod, and they continue to be some of the biggest and most exciting events in the world of esports. Naturally, a vibrant community for Dota 2 betting sprung up around Dota 2 esports – possibly the biggest one out there.

Which is what we’re here to discuss today. This article will be a collection of useful Dota 2 betting tips and pointers to get you started with the world’s most exciting esports scene. We’ll start with a few thoughts right off the bat: while esports betting shares a lot with traditional wagers, a lot of things are different as well. Firstly, it would help if you have at least a basic understanding of the game and its mechanics. While there are plenty of people out there who, for instance, bet on horse racing but have never ridden a horse in their lives, such an approach wouldn’t work too well with Dota 2. It is a very complex game in terms of both basic gameplay and strategy, so making good Dota 2 betting predictions requires an understanding of how it all works.

Still, don’t let us scare you off. The purpose of this article is to give you a head start if you’re just starting out your career as a Dota 2 punter. We’ll cover some basic steps if you’ve never done so before, and provide recommendations in terms of good online sportsbooks for Dota 2 betting and which games to bet on at first. Now, without further ado, here’s BettingFellow’s Dota 2 betting guide.

How to Bet on Dota 2

Online sports betting takes experience to get right, and the only way to get experience is through practice (and instructional content such as this.) But we’re getting ahead of ourselves: the first thing you need to make Dota 2 bets is a quality, reliable online bookmaker. This might just be the most important decision a beginner can make, so we’ve dedicated an entire section of this guide to find you a proper esports betting site. You can scroll down a bit to find detailed information on all the things you need to consider.

After you’ve found a bookie, all that remains is to deposit some funds at start betting! Sounds easy enough – but many beginners get lost while looking at fixtures and listings. For starters, what is there to bet on in Dota 2? Many things, actually. This is what we call betting markets, and we’ll go over some of the basic ones now.

Dota 2 Betting Markets

Before going any further, we recommend that you have at least a solid grasp of how betting odds work. You can find more information in the Sports Betting Odds section of this page. If you’re already proficient with sports betting, we’ll simply explain how markers in Dota 2 betting work.

Winner

For most sports, this market is often called 1X2 or Win-Draw-Win. Since there is no option of a draw in professional Dota 2, however, most sportsbooks simply refer to it as To Win or Match Winner.

This is arguably the most basic type of bet out there, and probably the first thing that you think of when you think about betting. You’re simply predicting which of the two teams will win. Note that this market refers to the entire match in question. The reason we’re pointing this out is that the majority of high-level Dota 2 tournaments are played in a “Best of 3” or “Best of 5” format, where teams face off in multiple games until one of them wins 2 or 3, respectively.

Map Winner

Speaking of which, you can also choose to bet on the winner of one of the several games being played. Most sportsbooks refer to these as “Map Winner”, even though you’ll rarely see a Dota 2 player refer to a game by “Map” – but I digress.

Essentially, if a match is being played in a “Best of X” format, this market predicts the winner of only one of those games. This can be “Map 1 Winner” if you’re predicting the winner of the first match, “Map 2 Winner” for the second game, and so forth.

For this market, the ultimate winner of the match does not matter. Only this one game you chose to be on decides whether your bet is successful or not.

Total Maps

For this Dota 2 betting market, you’re attempting to predict how many games will be played as part of a “Best of X” match. These are generally divided into “Over” and “Under” a specific number. The easiest way to explain it all would be through an example

For instance, in a “Best of 3” match, you could make a bet on Total Maps Over 2.5. In this case, you’re predicting that there will be 3 total games played – which means both teams have to win one of the two games. Conversely, in a Total Maps Under 3.5 bet, you would be hoping that the match does not go for a tie-breaker third game.

This number, 2.5, can be altered. For instance, the equivalent of our example in a “Best of 5” match would be Over/Under 3.5

Match Handicap

In esports betting, there is always a team more likely to win – the favourite, and a team less likely to win: the underdog. This balance of power affects the odds and so forth, but handicaps exist to level the playing field. The idea is to give one either an advantage to the underdog or a disadvantage to the favourite, to make things more interesting.

For instance, let’s imagine we’re betting on a Best of 3. Dota 2 handicap bets work by giving a team an imaginary advantage in the number of total games won. In a Bo3, this number is usually +/-1.5. The favourite would be given a negative score, and the underdog would be given a positive – there is practically no distinction between the two. So if an underdog is given +1.5 games won, they only need to win 1 more to be considered winners for the purposes of your bet, because their score would be 2.5. So, even if the favourite won the 2 remaining games, the underdog would still have more thanks to the handicap.

This is the reason why all handicaps have this .5 decimal – to avoid draw situations.

Outright Bets

These bets are not made for a single match, but for an entire tournament or league. It’s as simple as that, really: you’re predicting the winner of a whole competition. For instance, you could try to predict who will win this year’s International before it even begins. Obviously, this is very hard to do, so we don’t recommend it to beginners.

Also, we’d like to note that you do not necessarily need to wager real money on Dota 2 matches. Another popular option among players is betting using in-game cosmetic items. However, Dota 2 betting with items is rarely done through major online bookmakers. There are specialized esports betting sites that offer this kind of service, but Betting Fellow does not review such sites.

Dota 2 Betting Strategy

Now, let’s look at some basic Dota 2 betting advice. The most important, and the trickiest part about making reliable Dota 2 predictions has to do with how professional Dota 2 teams work. Most betting tips are made by looking at a team’s current form and track record. Generally, performance during the past 5 years is considered relevant for this practice. However, the Dota 2 team lineups rarely stay consistent for more than a few months.

With that in mind, the best tip we can give you is to try to look at team compositions, rather than the team’s name. Good players and a solid coach are the backbones of every Dota 2 team. Now, how well those players will work as a team takes some educated guesswork – you just need to keep in mind that a team which is dominating the competition right now might not be so successful in just a few months.

However – the same is true for bookies. The like to monitor how bettors are behaving and adjust the odds accordingly. As a result, betting odds for Dota 2 tend to change a lot between the time they were posted and the actual match. That means that betting early is usually a good idea, especially if you’re confident a lot of other people will find your selection attractive. If you think ahead, you might end up boosting the odds for free, essentially.

Choosing an online bookmaker for Dota 2 Betting

Being an educated customer is always a good idea, but that’s even more true for online punting. We can’t stress enough how much your experience with online esports betting can be affected by the right – or the wrong – bookmaker. That’s why picking the right one for you is so important.

Now, it’s important to understand that there is no single “best” bookmaker. There’s a wide selection of top betting sites for Dota 2, and each one of them brings something different to the table. Which is the best esports bookmaker, thus, depends entirely on your preferences. You have to think long and hard about what is important to you before looking at bookmakers.

Best Dota 2 Betting Sites

As for the choice itself? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Betting Fellow has all sorts of sportsbook reviews and best bookmaker lists for that very purpose – helping people find what they’re looking for. You can browse our website at your leisure, but to make your life easier we’ve assembled this list of what we feel are the best bookmakers for Dota 2 betting, specifically.

Loot.bet

Since esports wagering started getting popular, sites specializing in this niche have been popping up like mushrooms after a rainstorm. However, a lot of these offers are sub-par compared to the biggest names in the business.

Not with Loot.bet. The selection of Dota 2 events for betting is insane on this site, and we’re not even sure where they dig up some of these – let alone who’s setting the odds. And the markets? This sportsbook features things like “Race to 10 Kills” and other markets we haven’t been able to find anywhere else. If you like a lot of options, this is the site for you.

The downsides are limited payment methods and a lot of country restrictions. Still, it’s one of the best esports sportsbooks out there if you can get past these.

Visit Loot.bet 18+ T&Cs Apply   begambleaware.org

Thunderpick

This bookie also specializes in esports – but puts a whole different spin to the practice of wagering. Thunderpick is all about pool betting, where you and other players pool your stakes and the winnings are split between the winners. It results in interesting, naturally formed odds.

Besides that, Thunderpick features great variety and competitive all-round service.

Thunderpick Review 18+ T&Cs Apply   begambleaware.org

Best Dota 2 Events for Betting

Ready to start bidding, but don’t know where to begin? Here are some recommendations for competitions to keep an eye out for! The International. This one needs no introduction. The biggest esports competition in terms of prizes and popularity by far, the International is the most exciting time of the year for any Dota 2 esports betting fan.

DreamLeague

A Premier tournament of the Dota 2 pro circuit, the Dream League has been going on for 13 seasons straight. That means plenty of action from the best Dota 2 teams and plenty of opportunities to win your bets.

Majors

ESL One

Hosted by the Electronic Sports League itself, which is one of the biggest gaming leagues in the world whose name is synonymous with esports.

All DOTA 2 tournaments