Michael Lee is back with his esports betting previews and predictions for three League of Legends games on Thursday, August 3. Today he looks at two LoL Champions Korea (LCK) 2023 Summer games and a match between Dignitas and TSM in the Losers’ Bracket of the LoL Championship Series (LCS) 2023 Championship.
Check out our expert previews and betting tips below, and make sure to head over to Picklebet – Australia’s #1 esports betting site.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, August 3rd 2023
DRX vs OKSavingsBank BRION
LCK 2023 Summer
DRX and OKSavingsBank BRION will meet on Thursday, August 3, in a match both teams want to win to keep their chances of qualifying for the playoffs alive. But since both teams are 4-12, even a win on Thursday likely won’t lead to a playoff ticket.
DRX and OKSavingsBank BRION are two of LCK’s weakest teams, so I don’t expect to see any high-level gameplay on Thursday, and while it’s tough to say which of the two is stronger, the bookmakers seem to agree that DRX are in a better spot to secure the win.
That might have to do with DRX’s victory against T1 (2-1) last Thursday, but I don’t feel like that game means much because DRX haven’t looked good in any of their other recent fixtures. Much of the same can be said for OKSavingsBank BRION, who defeated T1 (2-1) a week ago but have since lost against Liiv SANDBOX (0-2) and Nongshim RedForce (1-2).
This should be a scrappy match, and knowing that it’s a must-win game for both teams, a more cautious approach is expected. Both teams also rank very low on total kills per game (8.7 and 8.2), which makes me like the under 21.5 total kills.
Under 21.5 Kills
$1.83 (1 Unit)
Hanwha Life Esports vs Gen.G
LCK 2023 Summer
Hanwha Life Esports are 4.00 underdogs to defeat Gen.G (1.22), which is a very good price. Gen.G have proven to be the better team, but the value lies with the underdogs at these odds.
Gen.G have lost just one game this split (15-1), whereas Hanwha Life Esports have lost five (11-5), and the most concerning part is that all of HLE’s defeats happened against the strongest teams (KT Rolster, T1, Dplus KIA, and Gen.G). Gen.G already defeated Hanhw Life Esports (2-0) at the start of July, so they’re expected to do it again, but I’m not as high on Gen.G as the market.
Despite their bad record against top teams, Hanwha Life Esports have looked better this month and played like a competitive side. They’re still weaker than Gen.G and have more flaws, but having them priced at 4.00 is rude, especially since they have the side choice.
I don’t see Hanwha Life Esports causing an upset because Gen.G desperately needs to win, but with the improvement they’ve shown, I believe Hanwha Life Esports can force a tighter game.
Over 2.5 Maps
$2.25 (1 Unit)
Dignitas vs TSM
LCS 2023 Championship
TSM played an incredible game against Evil Geniuses in the upper bracket of the LCS 2023 Championship and nearly won (2-3). Arguably TSM should’ve won as they were the better team, but they made a few too many mistakes, which ultimately cost them the win.
Dignitas have yet to play a game in LCS 2023 Championship, which gave them more time to prepare their strategy for this match and analyse how TSM play. But I don’t see how this will help them much in beating a team that defeated them just two weeks ago.
TSM have been playing good League of Legends this season and have shown they can compete with anyone. Even though TSM rely a lot on their opponents making mistakes and rarely do anything proactive, that approach just might work here.
Dignitas have many issues, with one of the main being their performance in the later stages of the game, when Dignitas often look lost, not knowing what to do when ahead or behind. This is a characteristic many other teams in the league have and a big reason why there’s a big gap between the top four and the rest.
TSM are not a perfect team, and they can quickly be crushed by anyone who shuts them down early. But even though Dignitas have an apparent win condition, their poor decision making will be a huge handicap.
TSM -1.5 Maps
$2 (2 Units)
