To start the last day of Group A action, we have Fnatic taking on Entropiq. At the time of writing these two teams are currently sitting second and third in the group with identical records, only separated by a four round differential.

Fnatic has had one of the most interesting runs in this group. Starting off with a big loss against Ninjas in Pyjamas, then struggling but beating LookingForOrg and coming out the next day and putting away G2 in three maps. In the two wins that Fnatic have enjoyed through the first 3 games, Valentin “poison” Vasilev has amassed massive kill counts, 79 and 57 kills, proving why Fnatic went and got him join the team before the tournament started.

Entropiq brings solid form into this match up, with at the time of writing beating all of the teams that have crossed passed with them. Beating both LookingForOrg and Mouz 2-0, and only losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas who haven’t lost yet.

This is a big match-up that bring two solid teams and highly ranked teams in the Counter-Strike world, add in the fact that they both must win to consolidate their top 3 placing in the group. We suggest that this series should be a close on. So taking the over 2.5 maps market at +100 is the smart way to go.

Before the tournament, this series between G2 and Ninjas in Pyjamas would have been expected to be for top spot in Group A. However, G2 have now dropped 2 games and sit outside the top 3 at the time of writing, whereas NiP are undefeated and haven’t been troubled in most of their maps throughout the round robin.

NiP have been ultra-impressive in their first three BO3s, winning 2-0 against Fnatic and Entropiq, and losing their only map of the round robin in overtime against Mouz, where they ultimately took the series 2-1. As we referenced in our last preview of the Group A round robin, Fredrik “REZ” Sterner is having an MVP type of performance for NiP in the early stages of ESL Pro League. “REZ” is currently averaging a 1.46 rating out of 2 and owning the highest rating and highest kill to death difference of +55 at the event.

Even though G2 was one of the pre-tournament favourites, NiP has shown that they are going to be no easy beat in this series. Take the -111.11 on offer with the top Esport betting sites for the over 2.5 maps and enjoy this match-up of two CS GO heavyweights.

Finishing of the Group A action is a series between bottom placed and win-less LookingForOrg and fourth place Mouz. Mouz will need to take care of business here and do so in dominant fashion, to put the pressure on the top 3 teams and with results falling their way, potentially fall into play-offs.

Whereas for LookingForOrg will be trying to secure a win and go home with something more than just the experience they have gained from competing in ESL Pro League Season 15.

Mouz look like a different outfit in this tournament after reconnecting Aurimas “bymas” Pipiras with the team. He has been very consistent, being either the first or second on the scoreboard for every series Mouz have played so far. With that consistency, “bymas” has earned himself the average rating of 1.17 out of 2, being the fifth best so far in the tournament.

Mouz should be winning this match-up 2-0, but there isn’t a lot of value in these markets. So we suggest taking Mouz at the alternative rounds handicap of -11.5, currently sitting at -200 with BetOnline, is the way to go.

The post ESL Pro League Season 15 betting tips – Friday, March 13 appeared first on Esport Bet.

?Bizarre Gaming secured us a nice payout when we backed them to defeat Dynasty EC in the opening round of the playoffs. They build on that success with a 2-1 win against R!OT Gaming and now enter their third match of the playoffs as heavy favourites.

Although Bizzare deserve a lot of praise for their performances so far, it doesn’t make much sense to have Animal Squad priced as the underdogs. That is mainly because Bizzare will be playing with Daniel “rekonz” Mort and Nathan “moop” Smale as stand-ins for Dalton “swede” Vinar and Brady “KStaar” Kindt.

Similarly, Animal Squad will have to field Aaron “ajk” Girton instead of Sam “mizu” Richardson, but that shouldn’t harm the overall structure of the team too much. It’s worth pointing out that ajk has had a disastrous showing against Chiefs Esports Club (0.44 rating) last time out, but that was his debut with the team so we should see better marks from him here. At this price, you take the outsiders.

?You don’t have to be one of the best CS:GO esports analysts to figure out how this one should go. Paradox Esports might have slipped against Dire Wolves in the upper bracket, but this is still the fourth-highest rated squad in the region.

Exsto Gaming, on the other side, are a semi-pro team, ranked no.15 in the region. Even though Exsto have done well to defeat VERTEX ESC (2-1) and Caught off Guard (2-0), these teams are not nearly as good as Paradox.

To make matters worse, Exsto are expected to play with two stand-ins in Daniel “DannyG” Giusa and Tyson “asap” Paterson. They played extremely well (1.43 rating) in Exsto’s win against CoG, but we have to keep in mind that Paradox are an entirely different beast. We’re siding with the favourites to walk away with a clean sweep.

The post CS:GO Pro League Season 1 betting tips – Tuesday, April 27 appeared first on Esport Bet.

VulkanBet Invitation is an online tournament where a total of eight teams are split into Group A and Group B. The group winners and runners-up will then advance to the best-of-three playoffs with a single elimination. The champions take home $10,000 from the $20,000 prize pool.

LDLC are a newly formed French team, consisting of former Space Soldiers In-game leader Engin “MAJ3R” Kupeli along with former Team EnvyUs trio (Vincent “Happy” Cervoni Schopenhauer, Alexandre “xms” Forté and Christophe “SIXER” Xia) and Rodolphe ‘roden’ Bianco, who joined on trial basis.

They attended Charleroi Esports tournament a couple of days ago, where they managed to win one BO3 match against FrostFire, while losing two matches against Sprout (4-16 and later 2-1 in a BO3 match). They also played at the GG.BET Sydney Invitation in Match, where they failed to win all three matches against devils.one (16-14), Movistar Riders (16-13) and forZe (19-17). All three matches were pretty close so not everything looks bleak for the French.

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Virtus.pro are also coming from a disappointing run at Charleroi Esports, where they played a total of two matches and lost both, 16-14 against GamerLegion and 2-0 against G2. The team made a roster change before their trip to France, benching Mateusz “TOAO” Zawistowski in favour of a young player Arek “Vegi” Nawojski, trying to fix some of their issues, but nothing really changed in terms of results, as it is apparent that this team needs further changes.

They played some online games with the new player, but losses against teams like NoChance, Nemiga and Sprout do not exactly fill me up with confidence. I would not be surprised if there is an announcement in the near future about the team’s disbandment. Historically VP were never an exclusively Polish organization and they do have the money to buy all the young talent in the CIS region.

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LDLC vs Virtus.pro winning and betting predictions

Looking at the odds, Virtus.pro are considered favourites, priced around 1.55 for an outright win, while LDLC can found priced as high as 2.40. Considering this is a BO1 type of a match and the first game ever between two teams that are in somewhat bad form, the value lies on LDLC.

Over/Under market is in favour of the match going Under 26.5 rounds, priced around 1.80, which is about right. I do not expect a really competitive or long match, the team with a strong start will probably be able to hold their lead and win the match.

As for our prediction, we have to side with LDLC here. There is not a lot that separates these teams in terms of team play (although VP does have a higher skill ceiling) and considering the nature of BO1 matches, the match should be pretty open and LDLC will fancy their chances. Take LDLC to keep it close!

Prediction: LDLC +3.50 rounds at BetOnline

The post CS:GO VulkanBet Invitational betting tips – LDLC v Virtus.pro odds appeared first on Esport Bet.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are coming from a top-eight finish at StarSeries, which was a disaster, but if we take into consideration that they were playing with a stand-in (draken instead of dennis), they probably didn’t expect to achieve a lot in China.

Looking at their matches, NiP managed to beat North, Spirit and ViCi, but they failed short against fnatic and Natus Vincere and eventually got eliminated by Renegades (2-0). Nonetheless, they can be happy Dennis “Dennis” Edman should be back in the starting line-up for the upcoming match against Heroic.

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Heroic recently acquired services of Martin “Stavn” Lund from Fragsters and Benjamin “BlameF” Bremer from Epsilon. They are in fine form against Tier 2 opposition, as they raked wins against teams like Sprout, Winstrike, forZe, Tricked, but looking at their history with the current roster against Tier 1 opponents, then failed to win against G2 and BIG at the DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 Europe Closed Qualifier.

On the bright side, they managed to take a map of G2 and their online form is quite good. As a team they are not bad, and I do believe that with a roster move or two, there should be a bright future ahead of them.

The last match between these two Swedish teams was back in ESL Pro League Season 8 Europe on 2.10.2018 in two BO1 matches. Heroic managed to upset NiP in both matches, first one on Mirage with the score line of 16-13 and the second one on Nuke with the score line of 16-11. Although Heroic managed to win, it was with a much different line-up, as they still had players like MODDII and AcilioN in their ranks.

Looking at the over/under market, I see some value betting on over 2.50 maps. Most of NiP’s recent matches were a coin toss no matter the opposition and Heroic will definitely fancy their chances to cause an upset against their Swedish rivals, but NiP should be able to prevail in the end.

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Ninjas In Pyjamas v Heroic betting predictions

Looking at Match Handicap, NiP are priced around +150 to beat the -1.50, while Heroic are favourites at around -200 to win at least one map. As mentioned earlier, I believe Heroic are a team capable of upsetting their opponents.

While they don’t have as strong team as in 2018, heroic should still put up a good fight. With players like stavn and blameF alongside ex-NIP player Friberg, who should have some insight into how NIP will play, Heroic should be more than capable of winning at least one map.

As for the main betting prediction, I have to side with Ninjas in Pyjamas. A stronger roster with far more experience should give them an edge over Heroic. Considering this a BO3 match and should Heroic manage to take a map from them, NiP should be able to bounce back and win the match.

Prediction: Ninjas in Pyjamas to win (2-1 in favour of NiP) at BetOnline.

The post CS:GO betting – Ninjas In Pyjamas vs Heroic – ESL Pro League Europe appeared first on Esport Bet.

The sponsorship deal covers all ESL organized esports events, including the Intel Extreme Masters, CS:GO Pro League and ESL One circuits, in addition to ESL Arenas and National Championships. Meanwhile, it will see Paysafecard implemented as the official payment method on the official ESL website, for purchases across ESL Play, ESL Shop and ESEA.

Anyone who uses Paysafecard to buy anything on the ESL storefronts will be eligible for special discounts, offers and other rewards, with both ESL and the payment provider promising other benefits in future initiatives.

The partnership is not unprecedented, given Paysafecard first became involved with the esports industry in 2014, specifically ESL One Cologne and two seasons of ESL Pro League.

It also extends past sponsorship, as Paysafecard plans to drive three community projects to honour esports personalities around the world.

“[We take] pride in supporting ESL as one of its main sponsors and contributing to the further development of this truly worldwide league of digital fun and entertainment,” said Udo Müeller, CEO of Paysafecard, in a statement.

“For us at paysafecard, this sponsorship opens the path towards becoming the main sponsor of the league and with that extending the brand’s reach to additional global target groups of more than 180 million esports enthusiasts.”

ESL’s chief executive Ralf Reichert, said: “Paysafecard is one of the partners that really grew with us and the esports industry throughout the years, and we’re very proud to welcome them on board on a global level.”

“It’s one of the brands that puts the community first with quality activations that engage fans on all levels, and we’re excited to see what they have in store.”

Paysafecard is one of our top recommended esports banking options to use when betting on your favourite esports matches online, and has been used by esports bettors around the world for the last five years.

Because it is a prepaid voucher, you can buy the physical Paysafecard at many local retailers and stores and load it up with funds like traditional prepaid options, or simply use it as a digital wallet.

The additional anonymity and privacy provides by acting as a middle layer between your personal accounts and your esports betting account is also the reason why it’s highly recommended for esports fans who want extra peace of mind before placing a bet on their favourite teams to win.

Paysafecard is supported at the majority of the highest-rated esports bookmakers like Betway.com and Pinnacle.com.

The post Paysafecard is now the global sponsor of the ESL in 2018 appeared first on Esport Bet.

In an official ESL blog post, the organisation confirmed all upcoming events in both leagues will be only available to watch on the popular social media platform, along with embedded streams on the event websites, as part of a new partnership.

The streams are available to both Facebook users and those without an account, meaning you do not have to register to access the live-streamed tournament coverage as before.

ESL has previously shared clips and stories of their esports tournaments on Facebook, but the next stage will involve “providing a much more advanced viewing experience which also connects to the existing Facebook pages of teams, players and talents.”

This will involve the Facebook Watch feature, which ESL says it will use to provide streams of their tournaments in full 1080p resolution and 60fps, a common request from the hardcore esports audience. You can also choose to watch live-streams in a virtual reality headset such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

In addition, a weekly esports show for Dota 2 will be aired through Facebook Watch, with further details to be announced at a later date.

The new collaborative video features on Facebook, which allow users to watch live-streams with friends and jump in both general and private chat-rooms while watching the same broadcast, is the main feature ESL points to as the solution for further developing the social esports viewing experience.

“Having two of ESL’s most adored properties for CS:GO and Dota 2 streaming exclusively on Facebook is the next step in our efforts to delight the passionate esports community on Facebook,” said Leo Olebe, Director of Facebook Games Partnerships. “The ability to now watch esports in 1080p and in VR underscores our commitment to adding more ways for fans to watch and connect with each other around the esports content they love most.”

All CS:GO Pro League and ESL One live-streams on Facebook will be broadcast in English and Portuguese, with other language options available.

The first ESL event to launch this year will be Dota 2 at ESL One Genting 2018 on January 23 – 28, followed by CS:GO Pro League on February 13, which we will be covering as it unfolds.

In the mean-time, keep www.academybahamas.com bookmarked for the latest betting predictions, team news and other industry updates.

The post ESL One and CS:GO Pro League confirm Facebook as main broadcaster appeared first on Esport Bet.