An Introduction to eSports Counter Strike: Global Offensive


  • Genre: First Person Shooter (FPS)
  • Format: 5v5
  • Publisher: Valve

In the world of online sports betting, eSports is rapidly gaining popularity with thousands of punters putting money on all the most popular leagues and tournaments. Anyone familiar with this type market will no doubt have heard of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, more commonly known as CS:GO. As one of the leading FPS games in the genre, it has become an international hit, and has spawned dozens of international tournaments as well as local leagues and professional teams.

Counter Strike Explained

So what is eSports CS:GO and why is it so popular? Let’s take a look.

The first thing you need to know is that Counter Strike: Global Offensive is a multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) game, which is part of the popular Counter Strike Series. The original CS game was first developed back in 1999 as a mod for the popular game Half-Life. Developed by two students, the game was released as a free download and became an instant hit. Not long thereafter, Valve purchased the intellectual property, spawning a series of sequels.

In 2004, Counter Strike: Condition Zero, became the first official sequel and a very popular game in its own right. The same year, Valve released Counter Strike: Source, which was a remake of the original, with enhanced graphics and animations. With the rise of eSports, there were mixed feelings about which release would become the standard for international competitions, as they were both equally good. The answer to this problem came in 2012, with the release of Counter Strike Global Offensive. This became the industry standard, and the one on which all players could compete equally.

COD screenshot

How The Game Works

As mentioned above, CS:GO is a multiplayer first-person shooter game where teams are split into the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists. A single match is played over 15 rounds a half, with the first team to reach 16 rounds becoming the winner unless in overtime. In a competitive match, teams earn a point for every round won. To win a round, a team must kill or eliminate every member of the opposing team or be the first to complete separate map objectives.

For eSports betting purposes, it is important to note that the Terrorists have an objective to play an explosive device before the time runs out and kill the hostages. At the same time, the Counter-Terrorists have an objective to protect the hostages and ensure that the Terrorists are not able to secure a position to detonate the explosive. If the time runs out before a full team is eliminated, the map objectives determine the winner.

Each round in the game is played in a different section or area, which is called a map. The map determines the layout of the area, what types of buildings are around, the terrain, places to hide and so on. Popular maps for CS:GO include the Train, Lake, Inferno, Cobblestone, Office, Siege, Nuke, Shipped and Canal.

Popular Counter Strike Leagues and Tournaments

Being one of the most popular first-person shooters in eSports, CS:GO is responsible for the creation of entire leagues and international tournaments. The most popular, and the most attended tournaments include the ELEAGUE, the ESL Pro League, FACEIT, ECS, DreamHack and the World Electronic Sports.

In 2018, the most lucrative and prestigious Counter Strike event takes place in London. The FACEIT Major comes with a whopping $1 million prize pool and is followed by millions of viewers around the world. There are also plenty of local and regional tournaments which are ideal for online betting purposes.

CS:GO Betting Options

Betway eSports Logo

Betway offers some of the United Kingdom’s most competitive sportsbooks odds, so it is perfect for the diverse wagers that a multiplayer eSport like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has to offer.

10Bet eSports Logo

With so many bonuses and promotions, 10Bet is the ideal bookmaker for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The game is simple to understand, so you’ll feel confident placing eSports bets.

ArcaneBet eSports Logo

Use ArcaneBet’s massive Welcome Bonus to bet on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and win big! The eSport is one of the easiest to understand, so it’s a good place to stake large amounts.

Pinnacle eSports Logo

With one of the highest average payouts in the United Kingdom, Pinnacle is the perfect bookmaker for betting on eSports like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Bethard eSports Logo

With gameplay that is simple and easy to understand, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is ideal for eSports wagering. Use Bethard’s handsome Welcome Bonus to get started.


Although GG.Bet was only established in 2016, the bookmaker already has a reputation for offering eSports wagers. That’s what makes it ideal for putting money on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.



As with all types of eSports betting, Counter Strike: Global Offensive has a simple team versus team setup. This means that the standard selection of bets can be placed where Team A competes with team B. This is no different to Premier League football, where two teams go head to head. As such, bettors can place simple match bets on any game in a tournament. This simply involves predicting which team will win the particular matchup.

In the case of a major tournament or world series, punters also have the option of placing future and outright bets on the tournament as a whole. In such cases, you can bet in which team will win the tournament outright, who will be knocked out in the first round, or who will be the winner of a particular group. Another popular market is the Group of Winner. This is a wager on which group in the tournament from which the winner will emerge?

Game Specific Bets

Within each match, there are a number of specific eSports wagers that can be placed. Match bets can come in the form of over/under as well as handicap or straight up wagers. You can also put money on how many rounds are needed to win the match or if the number of rounds is over or under the amount specified by the bookmaker. Since CS:GO is played on multiple maps, specific map betting is a popular option where you place a wager on which team will perform the best on a single map such as Dust or Train.

For more experienced punters, there are a host of prop wagers that relate to individual statistics and actions in the game. For example, the First Blood wager is where you predict which team will score the first kill of the match. Similarly, the knife round wager is predicting which team will get the first kill in the knife round. The top Fragger bet is a wager on which individual player will have the best stats at the end of the match.

Before You Start eSports Betting

Betting on CS:GO is much the same as many eSports UK events. As such, it requires an enormous amount of research into the teams and the historical stats before any large wager is placed. Factors that can influence the outcome of a match include the type of map being played, where the match is being held, changes to the team structure, team stress, fatigue as well as how previous matches turned out.