CS2Betting Guide for 2024

Our Favorite CS2 Betting Sites

Our research confirms only a handful of online sportsbooks offer a satisfactory esports betting experience. According to our tests, the best CS2 betting sites are as follows:

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Best CS2 Betting Site Overall

Thunderpick

100% up to €600 Welcome Bonus

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Casino Games: Slots, Baccarat, Blackjack +1 more Roulette.

Live Dealer: Yes

Payment Options: Bitcoins, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano +5 more Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tether, Ripple.

Thunderpick is a complete online gambling site that focuses on esports betting specifically, but still has an expansive online casino and sportsbook. Thunderpick is a crypto-specific site, offering deposits as low as about $1 with no maximum limits.

• Frequent chances to win prizes for playing slots
• Large betting variety for esports
• Dedicated mobile app for esports betting

• Not all games are available for US players
• Only two bonuses to claim

Best CS2 Betting Site for Beginners

BetUS

125% up to $2,625 Welcome Bonus

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Casino Games: Blackjack, Slots, Video poker +2 more Roulette, Baccarat.

Live Dealer: Yes

Payment Options: Visa, MasterCard, American Express +7 more American Express, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bank Transfer, Bankwire, Check.

BetUS is one of the oldest gambling sites out there, having opened their virtual doors in 1994. They are a good choice if you’re looking for a well-rounded, reliable online casino, sportsbook, and racebook.

• Several different welcome bonus options including a 200% crypto bonus
• 300+ casino games, including slots and live-dealer
• Sports Betting options include: pro football, college football, live betting and more
• Same-day payouts up to $5000

• Limited time (14 days) to clear bonus playthrough requirements
• Money you wager on casino games does not count towards the loyalty program
• BetUS is not available in Washington state

Best Place to Wager on IEM and ESL Pro League

Bovada

100% up to $1,000 Welcome Bonus

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Casino Games: Slots, Video poker, Blackjack +5 more Craps, Baccarat, Roulette, Keno, Live dealer.

Live Dealer: No

Payment Options: Visa, MasterCard, Bitcoins +6 more Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Secure Voucher, Bank Transfer, Check.

Bovada features one of the best online sportsbooks in the industry, and has betting action for more than a dozen different sports and leagues.

• Multiple welcome bonuses to choose from, including sports, casino, and poker
• More than 300 slot machines from Rival Gaming
• Extensive sportsbook with props builder and live betting
• No fees for withdrawals

• Dedicated racebook for horse race betting on worldwide races
• Bitcoin Exclusive membership, regularly offering you more promotions such as 50% reload bonuses
• Lacks multiple bitcoin withdrawal options

Comparing the Best CS2 Gambling Sites

All aforementioned CS2 betting sites offer a welcome bonus deal for new players. Here’s how they compare to each other:

Available bonus offers are only a small part of the equation. If you’d like to know more details about these CS2 gambling sites, make sure you read our comprehensive reviews.

How We Rank CS2 Betting Sites

The research and tests we conduct when reviewing online gambling sites are quite complex. Our method of ranking betting sites is based on a number of key areas including customer support, bonuses, user interface, and support for mobile betting. When it comes to the best CS2 betting sites, we took a few more specific criteria into account. 

How to Choose the Right CS2 Sportsbook for You

When deciding which CS2 betting site to join, you have to consider the features that matter to you the most. Here are a few examples:

Budget 

If you’re a budget-conscious esports bettor, you should look for a sports betting brand with the lowest deposit requirements and betting limits. In this case, Thunderpick seems like the best option because it accepts deposits as low as $20 and bets as low as $0.20. 

CS2 Event Coverage

If you’d like to bet on the biggest CS2 events like the Majors and ESL Pro League events, any of the three aforementioned sites will do just fine. If, however, you’re interested in deep coverage of smaller events like ESL Challengers and Impact League, Bovada is the best choice!

Betting Frequency

If you’re going to be betting on CS2 frequently, we advise you to get the most out of the available bonuses. Take the current BetUS welcome bonus as the perfect example. It matches the first deposit up to $2,500.

CSGO to CS2: What to Know?

When it comes to CS2 gambling sites, nothing has changed with the switch from CSGO to CS2. In-game, though, much has! The release of Counter Strike 2 has been bumpy, to say the least. Professional players and fans all agree that CS2, in its current state, is an outright downgrade. 

The gunplay caters more to Valorant players, putting much more importance on getting a headshot in one than controlling sprays. The AWP has been massively nerfed too. The fact that S1mple, one of CSGO’s GOATs, decided to take a break from competitions and is considering a role switch tells you enough about the current state of affairs in CS2.

It’s chaotic, to say the least.

But, the folks over at Valve have already acknowledged the bumpy start. They promised to polish the game’s mechanics and work with the fans to ensure CS2 has a bright future. 

Skin Betting vs. Esports Betting

Lots of folks still confuse skin betting with esports betting. Skin betting is a shady form of online betting that’s based on in-game skins. It involves accepting trades from Steam trading bots, opening loot boxes, and playing all sorts of other casino games. Long story short, skin betting sites are in no way similar to the topic of this page –  CS2 betting sites.

The sites we’re referring to provide betting lines for real esports competitions. They’re based on live competitions played by professional esports athletes and watched by millions of fans across the globe. Esports are a legit betting market and are here to stay. 

As for skin betting, we simply can’t recommend it. It’s shady, it’s unregulated, and it pays little to no attention on underage gambling prevention.

Biggest CSGO Events to Bet On

CSGO (and now CS2) has been the world’s most decentralized esports title. While most other franchises rely on a single championship that runs all year long, CS2 incorporates a totally different approach. 

Yes, the Majors are the bread and butter of competitive Counter Strike, but there are many top-tier events hosted by third-party organizers. Best of all, they’re widely available on the best CS2 gambling sites.

Guide to Betting on CSGO Teams

Is this your first time betting on CS2 online? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there at one point. Betting on CSGO teams isn’t nuclear physics – try not to overthink it. If you’ve wrapped your head around the basics but you’re struggling with the actual bet, perhaps the following will be helpful: 

How to Pick the Right Team

This is where things go south for many newcomers. They simply don’t know what to do, how to choose the team, and what to base their decisions on. How to change all that? How to pick the right team for your first-ever CS2 bet?

The answer is quite simple – you have to dig deep into CS2 statistics. Don’t base your decisions on your gut feeling. If you have a hunch, tell your best friend about it, but DON’T place a bet because of it.

Only place bets when your research strongly suggests an outcome is far more valuable than the odds suggest. 

Where to Find CSGO Team and Player Stats

To pick the right team, you’ll have to keep close tabs on a wide array of stats. But, where does one find CS2 stats? HLTV is the first answer. It’s basically the encyclopedia of Counter Strike. It offers detailed insight into past, ongoing, and upcoming tournaments, and remarkably deep statistical depths regarding teams, maps, players, and weapons.

For smartphone-focused bettors, we recommend Strafe. It doesn’t offer the same level of detail as HLTV, but it offers a smooth touch-based user interface and allows users to cater every aspect of the app to their needs. 

Most Common Types of CSGO Bets

Moneylines are hands-down the most popular type of CS2 bets. They’re also the most widely available CS2 bet. However, if you’d like to mix things up a bit, the following bets ought to help you out:

• Total maps/rounds over/under
• Handicap bets
• Player vs. player kills
• Player with the most kills
• Outright winner
• Team to win both pistol rounds
• Overtime yes/no

How to Read CSGO Lines/Odds

If you’ve never placed a bet in your life, the numbers next to team names can be a bit confusing. But, it’s all relatively straightforward.

For starters, make sure you’re using the American odds system. If you don’t know what an odds system is, just select American from the drop-down menu at your sportsbook. 

Let’s explain this with an example:

• NaVi vs. Astralis
  • NaVi to win -180
  • Astralis to win +130

This here is a moneyline bet. It requires you to guess the winning team. NaVi is the favorite. We know this because it has “-” symbol before the number. This symbol means you have to wager the amount (in this case $180) to win $100 ($280 total return). Astralis line has the “+” symbol which means you’ll get $130 for a $100 bet. 

Pay Attention to Map Pool Stats

Finally – map pool stats. Here’s an example – Team A dominates on Nuke and Ancient, but can’t find their bearings on other maps. Team B has 50% win rate across all competitive maps. The match is a Bo3, and the maps are Nuke, Dust, and Inferno.

The best course of action in this scenario is to go for a live bet on Team B. But, not right away. Wait for them to establish a lead on the first map. That’ll make the odds on Team B jump up, adding value to the bet and increasing your profit potential. 

Tips for Betting on CS2

If our concise CS2 betting guide wasn’t enough for you, here are more tips on how to make the most out of your CS2 bets:

• Don’t focus too much on the favorites
• Always be on the lookout for high-value bets
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with CS2 props
• Never chase your losses
• Don’t bet under the influence
• Live betting section has tons of potential
• Know when to stop

Ask a CSGO Betting Expert

The popularity of betting on Counter Strike still has an upward trend. Considering that, it’s no wonder we’re getting a ton of questions about it. I’m going to take the initiative and answer the most common ones quickly and concisely.

Is it better to wager on player props or team props?

Answer

Pavo Jurkic, Author at GamblingSites.ORG,

Team props allow you to be much more consistent. Player props are the exact opposite. But, if you insist on player props, we advise you to check player vs. player betting options. Bookies typically take the two best fraggers from each team and it’s on you to guess who will finish with more kills.

Should we wait a bit for the pro scene to calm down after the CS2 switch?

Answer

Pavo Jurkic, Author at GamblingSites.ORG,

The popular opinion suggests we should. Recent results are all over the place and we’re in for more of the same, especially with S1mple stepping down. But, if you’re confident in your ability to recognize how these changes will affect pro teams, you could try and take advantage of the current situation.

Are ESL Challenger events worth betting on?

Answer

Pavo Jurkic, Author at GamblingSites.ORG,

While I do think the ESL Challenger series is quite competitive, I can’t really advise you to focus on them… unless you’re a pro at predicting upsets. ESL Challengers are much more difficult to predict for the average Joe. But, if you’re willing to explore the statistical depths on HLTV, who am I to stop you?

What are the best and worst tournaments to bet on?

Answer

Pavo Jurkic, Author at GamblingSites.ORG,

The best is quite obvious – the Major. The best teams always show up for the occasion and give 120% of themselves. But, if you can find a dark horse that could repeat what AVANGARD and ENCE did a few years ago, you might win big. In my opinion, the worst tournaments to bet on are those that come right before and after the summer break. Players’ forms are everywhere and the results tend to be chaotic.

Responsible Gambling

Betting on CS2 is just as fun as betting on a conventional sport like basketball or football. They are an absolutely awesome form of entertainment, but only as long as you’re having fun. If you notice your betting activities have become too stressful, it’s time to take a break. Betting is supposed to be fun – if you feel like you have to keep on betting to get back up on your feet financially, it’s time to look for professional help.  

If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling addiction, please refer to the following resources:

• National Problem Gambling Helpline
• Gamblers Anonymous Hotlines
• SAMHSA’s National Helpline