Esports are huge in Portugal. Huge as games for players, as events for spectators and as betting markets for punters. The numbers are telling the story. From the games’ perspective, as of the mid 2024 there have been a total of 934 Portuguese esports players, with prize winnings somewhere around Є2.75bn across almost 1.200 different tournaments.
From betting’s perspective, esports betting in Portugal is one of the largest segments of gambling and the second largest segment in sports betting. In fact, with the liberalization of the market, the establishment of Portuguese betting sites, like allbets.tv, brought about the growth of bets in esports. Now, it is quite impossible to find an online bookmaker without a special section on esports.
From the event’s perspective, Portugal has lately, been staging an increasing number of high profile, world-class esports competitions and championships in venues such as the Altice Arena in Lisbon, which is one of the largest arenas in the entire European region -the Blast Premier Spring Finals 2024 were held there back in June – while new venues for esports games are added to the existing respectfully large portfolio of established arenas in the country – Teleperformance’s opening of a new arena is designed to host esports tournaments for its workforce.
Counter Strike-Global Offensive (CS:GO) in Portugal
One of the most popular esport games in Portugal is Counter Strike-Global Offensive (CS:GO). It is the fourth game in the Counter Strike Series developed by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment and since its first release in 2012, it has evolved from small-room competitions gaming to worldwide tournaments staged at first-class arenas and venues.
And the prizes have gone ‘wild’ as well, as players get to win unthinkable awards. In fact, almost 26% of all prize winnings of Portuguese players come from CS:GO, making it the highest single gaming award of all esports in the country’s records.
CS:GO is attractive and popular as a game, but it is equally attractive and popular as a betting market. It is actually the main driving force behind the growth of esports betting overall in Portugal and all over the world.
How does CS:GO betting works
CS:GO betting follows more or less the same principles as conventional esports betting, not to say traditional sports betting! But, there is one positive thing with CS:GO and this is the overall simplicity of the game. It is a first-shooter game, which means that it is straightforward, it has easy-to-grasp objectives and goals and pretty explicit tactics.
But this does not, in any way, reduce its interest when it comes to betting. In fact, there are hundreds of teams and numerous different events to bet on, which in the end make up a rich and expanded market for punters.
Another important thing to note is that, should you decide to start betting on CS:GO, you need to be alert since new match-ups are quick to emerge or change, as soon as rounds end within a tournament. Added to the fact that odds are continuously changing as a game progresses- and this in a virtual environment-, it is critical that you carefully follow the teams in order to understand their dynamics.
CS:GO betting markets
You can find many different betting markets to choose from in CS:GO betting and online sportsbooks are being really creative in that manner. But, the most popular ones and the ones that are actually most suitable for beginners are the basics which include: match bets, outright winners, handicap bets and live bets.
Match bets have a lot to offer to punters. Besides the winner of a match, there are also map bets, total rounds, over/under, kill bets, first to five rounds bets, and knife round bets. Clearly there are so many markets that you can wager on and which can bring you a better experience of the game.
Outright winners also concentrate much of the volume bets of punters in CS:GO, especially when there is considerably sufficient information about the teams in a CS:GO tournament or when bettors have done their reading on the players and their past performances.
Handicap bets are always very popular among those who enjoy esports betting, because they represent the artificial balance between the odds of two teams at different levels of likelihood to win the game. So, an underdog team gets an advantage and the favorite team gets a disadvantage and in this way they are becoming more equal – from the bet’s point of view.
Finally, we should not forget live betting, which is a totally different experience for punters. Live bets are the perfect way to engage with the game and apply all your knowledge and understanding of the match dynamics. You can place bets as you enjoy watching live a game at an arena or watching a live streaming at home. There is no such pleasure than the pleasure of being able to get in the game with in-play betting!
Many chances for CS:GO betting
It is not only the fact that you have a lot of markets to choose from when you want to bet on CS:GO, it is also the fact that there are several tournaments and competitions which further expand your betting opportunities.
Ongoing events like the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL Challenger League, WePay Academy League, European Pro League, CCT Central Europe, Kayzr League, Esport Tour, FragLeague and so many more, can actually keep you engaged with CS:GO, especially if you want a continuity in your experience.
But there are also major tournaments like the BLAST Premier World Final, the ELISA Masters Espoo, Polska Liga Esportowa, Lan Sweet Lan and IEM Katowice, which are very popular and they attract millions of viewers and millions of punters alike.
If you want to bet on CS:GO, then one thing is certain: you’ll never run out of options and alternatives or be left without choices to place your wagers on, because everywhere around the world, there is a league, a competition, a tournament, whether local, regional or global, taking place!