Dota 2 offers various betting markets and bet types, including standard moneyline, spread, and total bets. The terms might differ slightly because eSports involve maps and kills rather than goals.
However, the basics remain similar. Here are the top Dota 2 betting markets you'll find in most bookmakers:
- Moneyline/Outright Winner/Match Result:
This bet involves backing one Dota 2 team to emerge the winner at the end of the match. Dota 2 features unique formats, including Bo1, Bo3, or Bo 5, which simply means best of 1, 3 or 5 rounds. You can place a bet on one team to win a match or the best of five games. Here's an example:
- OG: -150
- Team Liquid: +120
In this example, OG is the favourite, while Team Liquid is the underdog. You can win $120 when you bet $100 on Team Liquid and they win. If you back OG, you'll need to bet $150 to win $100.
The spread bet in Dota 2 is available in games featuring best of three or best of five matches. In such games, you can back a team to win “X” more games than the opponent. Here’s an example
- Evil Geniuses: -1.5 (+110)
- Team Liquid: +1.5 (+140)
In this example, Evil Geniuses are the favourites to cover the spread and have a 1.5 handicap. They must beat Team Liquid 2-0 to cover the spread. You'll win $110 from a $100 bet. You can also back Team Liquid against the spread and win $140 from a $100 bet. In that case, they must not lose by more than 1 match in the best of three or five games.
The over/under bet in Dota 2 involves betting on the game to play more or less than a specified number of matches. For instance, in a best-of-five round, you can bet on the tie to feature all five games or end in three games. Here's an example
- Over 3.5: +120
- Under 3.5: +118
In this example, backing the tie to involve over 3.5 matches, like in a 3-2 win (five rounds), wins you $120 from a $100 bet. If the game ends in less than 3.5 matches, like in a 3-0 win (three rounds), you can win the under bet, which gives you $118 from a $100 bet.
Most eSports betting sites feature Dota 2 props and futures. Props involve minor outcomes like First Blood (which team gets the first blood), Number of Destroyed Towers (which team destroys the most towers), First X Kills (which team will kill “x” number of heroes first), Rampage (player to get 5 consecutive kills), and Streak (player to get a streak of kills).
You can also bet on an Aegis of the Immortal being stolen by a given team or the Animal Courier getting killed. Dota 2 futures involve backing on future outcomes like who wins The International tournament or who makes it to the finals. You can also bet on tournament statistics like the most banned hero or the hero with the most gold per minute.