It’s impossible to win every bet you place, but there are methods you can follow to up your chances of winning some cash. Below, we’ve revealed our top CS2 betting tips & tricks. If utilised correctly, they could increase your winnings.

Best CS2 Betting Sites

The first step is to find a CS2 betting site that meets all your needs. The table below showcases our top picks. Each of these betting sites provides a safe place to bet on CS2 and other esports.

Do Your Research

Arguably the best of the CS2 betting tips we can give you is to simply do research. Knowledge is power, which means the more research you do, the more likely you are to win a bet.

At HLTV, we’ve got you covered, with dedicated pages for tournaments, team rankings, stats, match histories, results and more. It is, however, important to always check our front page for the latest news on teams. For example, if a team recently swapped out a player, or brought in a new coach. This could affect their chances of winning their next match, even if the betting site odds look great.

Further, using our detailed odds comparison section will help you choose the best bookmaker to place a bet with. In this section, we also provide detailed analytics which can further help you improve your CS2 betting experience.

Spot CS2 Betting Opportunities

If you pay close attention to all the happenings in the world of CS2 esports, you can spot some great opportunities. As another one of our top CS2 betting tips, it is important to always be on the lookout for an advantage.

By using our resources from the odds comparison page in our CS2 betting section you will be able to spot CS2 betting opportunities aplenty. These include taking advantage of team roster changes, controversy, new patches released by Valve and taking team form versus ranking into consideration. We’ve got a full guide on spotting CS2 betting opportunities if you want to learn more.

Understand CS2 Odds

Not understanding how odds provided by bookmakers work can be the downfall of many newbie bettors. For the third of our CS2 betting tips, we will provide you with a quick rundown of how the most popular betting odds work with two examples.

Decimal odds: Team A has 1.5 odds, while Team B has 2.5 odds. If you bet 10 on team A, you will get back 15 if they win, effectively earning 5 profit. If you bet on team B, however, you will get back 25, effectively earning 15 in the process. The simple mathematical equation for decimal odds is: Bet x Odds = Payout.

Fractional odds: Team A has 5/2 odds, while Team B has 2/5 odds. If you bet 10 on Team A, you will get 25 if they win. If you bet 10 on Team B and they win, however, you will only get 4. The mathematical equation for fractional odds to calculate potential winnings is (10 * first number) divided by the second number. As per our example of Team A’s odds, this equates to (10 * 5) / 2.

Avoid Tilting

Tilting is a slang term that originated in poker, where a player, after taking a few losses, becomes frustrated, confused, or simply angry. When you tilt, you make rash decisions, which you should avoid at all costs when making CS2 esports bets. Even the most accurate CS2 betting experts can tilt, subsequently going on a losing streak due to poor, unresearched bets as well as emotional decisions.

Therefore, one of the best CS2 betting tips we can give you when you feel you are tilting is to stop, take a breather, and come back the next day. Then, you can continue to bet making rational choices regarding your CS2 match predictions, instead of just throwing your budget down the drain. Winners know when to stop, and when to come back to try again.

Try Live Betting on CS2

Live betting on CS2 matches is one of the most exciting aspects to test out. The best bookmakers offer live betting options, allowing bettors to first start watching a match and hear the commentary of analysis desk information before placing their bets.

The odds on live betting always change during a match. It all depends on how the match is going for a specific team. With live betting, you can take advantage of great odds, and it makes CS2 match predictions easier as you are right in the action. We recommend watching a stream of the match you are betting on to get the most out of the experience.

Improve Your CS2 Betting Predictions

Making CS2 betting predictions can be difficult. While upsets happen in CS2 esports tournaments, and really any other competitive sport or esports title, you can lower the chances of losing by making correct CS2 match predictions.

To make your CS2 betting predictions, you need to take different factors of a match into consideration. Below, we will discuss the top three factors you need to research before making a prediction on a CS2 match.

Form vs Ranking

The current team form is an extremely important part of figuring out which team will win. In short, the team with the better form, including recent match performances, could likely win a match against higher-ranked opponents.

Team A has a higher ranking, which also means bookmakers will likely favour Team A over Team B, giving you better odds for betting on Team B. However, Team B has a higher form rating. Betting on Team B will, therefore, give you a good chance of winning, and more money if you do.

Sometimes, bookmakers don’t take team form into account. If you do, you can get ahead of the competition by making some great CS2 betting predictions by looking at the current team form going into a match.

Head To Head Form

History repeats itself, right? Despite a team’s form or ranking, some CS2 teams just have a mental advantage over another team. This generally happens with teams who play in the same region and have faced each other multiple times, with one team coming out on top more often than not.

By doing research, you can find these little nuggets of information that could make your CS2 betting predictions all the more accurate. We suggest sticking to a particular league or region and learning the match history of all teams involved. Our statistic page should make this expedition quite easy, allowing you to make informed predictions.

Use CS2 Maps

Not all CS2 teams perform equally well on every competitive map. With seven maps in the Competitive Map Pool, some teams focus on becoming great at certain maps, while other maps can be considered a weakness. To make accurate CS2 betting predictions, you will need to use live betting since the map choices of teams will only become available as the match starts up.

It is important to check which maps a team has a winning streak on. For example, if Team A is on a four-match winning streak on Inferno, and Team B fails to veto it out, Team A will likely have one map in the bag for a standard best-of-three. This CS2 betting prediction tip also goes the other way, for example, when two of a team’s statically poor maps get through the pre-match veto, that team will likely lose a best-of-three match.

Keep in mind bookmakers also provide opportunities to bet on specific map results, which you can take advantage of using your research. You can find all the relevant information on form, team statistics, map history and much more by heading to our odds comparison page and clicking on the CS2 match you plan to bet on.

Responsible CS2 Gambling

CS2 betting, or any form of online gambling, should only ever be treated as entertainment. If you feel online betting is hurting you or those close to you, you need to stop. 

We recommend all HLTV users take Gamalyze self-assessment test. This rapid test will help you gain a deeper understanding of your gambling habits and identify the responsible gambling tools most relevant to you.

We also have a wealth of other resources available for additional support. Here are some of our in-depth HLTV responsible gambling articles:

– Time Management – Uncover the time management tools you can use while betting on CS2.

– Money Management – We’ve documented the money management tools available at most betting sites.

– HLTV Responsible Gambling Commitment – Read more about our commitment to responsible gambling.

Remember, when betting on Counter-Strike or anything else, you should always practise responsible gambling. You must be 18+ to play.