Our esports tipster is back with three Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match predictions, including a game between Copenhagen Flames and 500 in BetBoom Playlist. Urbanistic and two CCT West Europe Series #1 matches in BIG vs Spirit Academy and Team Falcons vs BLUEJAYS.
Michael Lee provides his Esports betting tips below, and make sure to check out Picklebet - Australia's leading esports betting site!
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday, February 21st 2023
Copenhagen Flames vs 500
BetBoom Playlist. Urbanistic
Copenhagen Flames last met with the Bulgarian CS:GO squad way back in October, when 500 (then SKADE) won 2-0 but lost the rematch ten days later (1-2). The teams have since made several roster changes, so those results don’t mean much, but as the betting odds imply, this could be another close game.
500 are priced as 2.00 underdogs, while Copenhagen Flames enter the game as 1.72 favourites, which sounds about right. Copenhagen Flames, while not as strong as they were at the start of 2022, have done well since the start of the year with two semi-finals appearances at OMEN WGR Challenge 2023 and CCT North Europe Series #3. But they haven’t been as impressive lately.
At BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR Qualifier A, Copenhagen Flames lost all three of their series against Eternal Flame, Mixfits, and Turow Zgorzelec, which is highly concerning. 500 haven’t looked much better across the last week, with a 1-3 record, but at least they haven’t been losing against tier-three opponents.
Copenhagen Flames have a higher ceiling, which explains the betting odds, but their recent performances make 500 a far more inviting bet at even odds.
BIG vs Spirit Academy
CCT West Europe Series #1
As a match between an academy and the main lineup, this should be a one-sided fixture, and the betting odds make it hard to argue with that. Priced at 1.16, BIG are massive favourites to defeat Spirit Academy and barring any surprises, they should get the job done. The question is how dominant BIG will be in their expected win?
BIG, while a superior team, haven’t achieved much this season, with a top nine finish at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023, a 13th-16th place finish in Katowice, and a silver medal from Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023: European Qualifiers. Spirit Academy haven’t attended any tournament of that size but were equally as underwhelming with top eight at ESEA Cash Cup: Europe - Winter 2023 #1, 11th-14th at Thunderpick Bitcoin Series #2, and most recently, a first-round exit from IEM RIO EU Open Qualifiers.
However, Spirit Academy are on a run of six straight wins against the likes of FTW, ITB, Tricked, and a few lesser teams. In contrast, BIG have won four straight against Sprout, HEET, ENCE, and HONORIS. Those are relatively good results but arguably not good enough to explain their moneyline price.
I expect BIG to win the series, and while Spirit Academy should show some resistance, I like the Germans on the round handicap market. We’re getting BIG at 1.83 to win each map without giving away more than 11 rounds, and that’s a fair offer regardless of which maps the series will play on.
BIG -4.5 rounds
$1.83 (1 Unit)
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Team Falcons vs BLUEJAYS
CCT West Europe Series #1
Team Falcons have found momentum at the start of February, claiming two runner-up finishes at Thunderpick Bitcoin Series #2 and OMEN WGR Challenge 2023, adding a fourth-place finish in BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR Qualifier B. I can’t say those are outstanding results, but they are quite impressive for a team that struggled at the end of 2022.
With a 8-3 record over the last ten games, Team Falcons are looking solid and more than capable of going deep in CCT West Europe Series #1. BLUEJAYS have gone through a bit of a resurgence as well, with just two losses in their last seven matches, but they haven’t had to play good teams and even lost against Coalsence (0-2).
The betting odds make it very clear how this game should go, and even though I have doubts about Team Falcons and their ability to perform consistently, 2.50 on Team Falcons to sweep BLUEJAYS is a great bet. BLUEJAYS can have their moments, but if the Falcons perform the way they can, there’s a good chance they will sweep.
Team Falcons -1.5 maps
$2.50 (1 Unit)
