The 4th in the main Counter-Strike franchise, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or CS: GO, is a well-developed and much-liked multiplayer, first-person shooter game that is powered by Valve and has somewhat taken the video gaming world by storm.
This much popularity in video games has, rather unsurprisingly, given insatiable rise to eSports and CS:GO betting and, regardless of the fact that there may not be any bookmakers operating within the borders of New Zealand, punters are now able to wager on their favourite video games.
This has been made possible by the internet, with numerous international online bookies offering their services to all New Zealanders that wish to get involved in some thrilling CS:GO betting action.
Getting Started
Any New Zealand punters looking to start their CS:GO betting journey for the first time will need to figure out where they are going to bet before doing anything else. This is due to the fact that there are multiple sites that all offer something different.
When it comes to CS:GO betting, many will prefer to wager with skins because of the fact that they are so easily obtainable from numerous sources, but also partially because punters don’t have to file tax reports on skins.
Real money CS:GO betting sites that accept New Zealand dollars are also available and the list continues to grow, meaning punters simply need to compare the odds and services of the sites they are interested in before they can start placing their bets.
Understand the Odds
The odds that appear in CS:GO betting technically come in 3 different forms, namely Decimal, Fractional and Implied Probability. Decimal odds will give punters the easiest conversion from the stake to return, while Fractional odds are generally only used in horse racing and don’t appear very often in online betting.
Implied Probability is slightly more complicated, is used fairly regularly in CS:GO betting and is shown as a percentage. This is often used by predictors looking to sum up the implied chance that the involved teams may have. The Implied Probability odds are generally community-based and therefore not set by the actual website that they are displayed on.
In some cases, the odds will be set based on the value of the skins that are placed on each item, which essentially can turn out to be highly inaccurate at reflecting what chance the team has at winning.
Placing Bets
Punters will have access to a large number of international betting sites with various odds on offer that need to be considered, however, it is important to consider who the winner of the match will be before they do so. For this reason, research is important as the more knowledge that a punter has the more likely they are to be successful in their CS:GO betting.
This would mean looking at past matches between the 2 teams that are currently in play, checking the maps to see what teams have previously had success on it, check the event format, check that the lineup is consistent, keep looking for developments and much more.