Our esports tipster, Michael Lee, is back with his betting previews for three Dota 2 BetBoom Xmas Show matches on Monday, December 19. Today, he looks at and offers his betting tips for HellRaisers vs YNT, PuckChamp vs Team Spirit, and PuckChamp vs Ancient Tribe.
Check out his esports betting tips below!
Esports Betting Tips: Monday December 19th
HellRaisers vs YNT
BetBoom Xmas Show
BetBoom Xmas Show enters the fourth round on Monday, December 19, starting with a match between YNT and HellRaisers, who have yet to play a game this tournament. YNT already lost their opening fixture of the event on Friday, when they had to admit defeat to Monsapa, but they fought well and should’ve won the second map, so I wouldn’t write them off just yet.
I don’t have a problem with esports bookmakers pricing HellRaisers as the favourites, but I wouldn’t price them as low as 1.36, which seems a bit too pricey for my liking. Not because I don’t believe HellRaisers can’t win, but because they aren’t untouchable.
HellRaisers are on a four-game winning streak which they secured at Last-Last Chance, but the tournament happened at the end of October. HellRaisers have since not played a single official match, translation to a nearly two-month-long break.
The long break alone leads me to believe that HellRaisers might struggle to perform up to par with the expectations, which makes betting on them at the offered odds far less appealing. I don’t see YNT as a true BetBoom Xmas Show title contenders, but they should have a fighting chance against the rusty HellRaisers and are a very appealing bet at 3.00.
PuckChamp vs Team Spirit
BetBoom Xmas Show
PuckChamp will play their first match of the tournament on Monday when they clash with 2021 The International champions, Team Spirit, for the second time in 2022. The two teams last played each other in February when Team Spirit demolished PuckChamp 2-0 during the first DPC EEU Regional Final, but they’ve not met since because PuckChamp got pushed down to the second division.
As a second-division team, PuckChamp are clearly the weaker team. Team Spirit might not have impressed at TI 2022, where they finished in 13th-16th place, but they won PGL Arlington Major 2022 and claimed silver from Riyadh Masters 2022. Their recent form holds more weight, but even though Spirit completely fell apart in Singapore, they’re still a top-tier team, while PuckChamp are not.
Team Spirit are priced at 1.10 to win this match, which looks fair on paper, but we must consider that teams like Spirit likely don’t care about winning events like this. They’ve had a long and exhausting season, and even though they had two months to rest after TI 2022, the players likely just want to be done and take a well-rested break.
So even though Team Spirit have more than enough talent to win BetBoom Xmas Show, I have a hard time believing that they’ll give 100%. In tournaments like this, betting on underdogs is usually the smart move, so I’ll take a shot with PuckChamp to win one map at 2.50.
PuckChamp +1.5 maps
$2.50 (1 Unit)
PuckChamp vs Ancient Tribe
BetBoom Xmas Show
After their meeting with Team Spirit, PuckChamp will stay on the stage to meet with Ancient Tribe, which is a fairly solid roster but far from an elite team. Ancient Tribal have already played one game this tournament, on Saturday, when they defeated X3 (2-0), but needed over 70 minutes on the first map.
Ancient Tribe were in full control of the series, so the 70-minute map is by no means an indication that they struggled. But it does suggest that Ancient Tribe are inefficient in closing out games, which is something PuckChamp could exploit.
Between the two teams, I have no reason to favour one over the other. Talent-wise, Ancient Tribe seem slightly better, but I’m only saying that because we’ve yet to see PuckChamp play. This should be a very competitive series, and while I wouldn’t be surprised if Ancient Tribe won, I don’t expect to see a 2-0 sweep.
Over 2.5 maps
$2.10 (1 Unit)
