Another big night of esport action coming up this Thrusday night and into Friday morning! We have you covered with our best bets from the CS:GO and DOTA2 titles below.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, May 7th
Winstrike vs Gambit Youngsters
CS:GO ESL One: Road to Rio
Before their 0-2 loss against forZe, Winstrike were on a roll, beating teams left and right, including Espada, SKADE, HellRaisers, forZe, Nemiga and Unique. Although their record looks good on paper, in reality, these were all teams of much lower quality and any team that is even somewhat decent would have no problems beating them, so Winstrike's 78% win rate over the past three months is a little misleading. Gambit Youngsters track record through RtR is somewhat disappointing, seeing how their only win came against Unique, while they lost to Spirit and Nemiga. Nonetheless, the season is still in its early phases and considering sh1ro and Ax1Le are both showing great form, Gambit Youngsters still have enough time to turn things around, especially with some of the league favourites looking way worse than they would in a proper LAN environment.
Gambit Youngster have won all of their previous encounters against Winstrike and I expect this trend to continue today. In all fairness, they have no business being priced as underdogs against a weak and overachieving side such as Winstrike, which is why I am backing Gambit Youngsters to win this one comfortably!
North vs Movistar Riders
CS:GO ESL One: Road to Rio
North and Movistar Riders have started their ESL One: Road to Rio campaigns strong, but have both cooled down recently. North took a map from FaZe Clan in their opening match (1-2), to which they added an upset win against mousesports. Unexpectedly, their run came ended when they lost against GODSENT (1-2) and Copenhagen Flames (0-2). Although North bounced back with a win against c0ntact, the match looked way too close at times. That concerns me, since c0ntact are not a strong team, which on top of that is still playing with their coach instead of a proper player. Their next opponents, Movistar Riders started their Road to Rio even better. They defeated mousesports and followed it up with a win over c0ntact. As for the remaining matches, Movistar lost against FaZe, G2 and Copenhagen Flames. Losing against FaZe and G2 is nothing too out of the ordinary, but Movistar's inability to win a single map against Copenhagen Flames (0-2) leaves me wondering whether the Spanish team have lost their stride.
Neither of these two teams have shown any real form as of late. Also, they haven't played any official matches in the past with the current set of players and have shown vulnerability on certain maps. Due to their questionable performances and the fact that most of the maps look like they're going to be 50/50, I expect to see a very messy game of CS, which usually means we are in for a three-map series.
Royal Never Give Up vs CDEC Gaming
China Dota2 Professional League Season 2
Although CDEC sit at the upper part of Pro League's standings, they haven't looked too sharp recently. I'm not trying to say this team is bad per se, but they tend to have matches where you just don't know what exactly their game plan is. Most recently they lost to EHOME (0-2) in what was a very scrappy match for CDEC. They had plenty of opportunities to win, but somehow managed to lose, which makes me wonder how they will fare against RNG.
RNG will enter this match with a 5-1 run in their last six games where they defeated Aster and Keen Gaming twice, to which they added a 2-0 win over EHOME this Wednesday. Their 5-1 record, however, might look much better than it really is. Defeating Keen and Aster is not a huge achievement and I would like to see RNG to show a bit more with their overall approach to their games. Both teams are showing some very unpredictable results, which I believe is due to the online format of the competitions, and since neither have shown any serious stability, we can expect a very scrappy bout, where RNG might struggle to walk away with a clean sweep. Odds on over 2.5 maps are fairly high considering how many upset wins and close matches we have seen at China Dota2 Professional League Season 2 and since I can't trust any side to impress, betting on series to go the distance is in my book the best bet to take.
EHOME vs Sparking Arrow Gaming
China Dota2 Professional League Season 2
EHOME have recently started to pick up the pace, whereas SAG are still struggling to win any notable matches, which is why I can't understand the odds offered on this match. SAG are entering this match with 4-1 record, which may seem very good on the paper, but their wins came against Aster, Ocean, KG.Luminous and Typhoon E-Sports Club which are not very strong teams. I can see how SAG should be priced as underdogs, but the odds on them should be significantly higher. Due to EHOME's recent surge in form, siding with them at 1.66 might not earn you a massive pay-out, but it is the safest bet to take. I would, however, avoid any AH bets for this one, since SAG does have the surprise factor to win one map.
