Simply rushing B isn’t the answer when it comes to placing bets on CS2 matches. Instead, most successful bettors use a set staking method in their CS2 gambling strategy.

Top CS2 Betting Sites

Before you can deploy your chosen CS2 betting strategy, you’ll need to pick the a betting site. You’ll find our rankings of the top CS2 Betting sites below.

CS2 Betting Staking Methods

Before we get to the best strategies, prospective bettors need to understand what staking methods are. Essentially, a staking method is a set decision on how much you should bet at any given time. Bettors can have different staking methods for different types of bets.

For example, they can choose to set a maximum allowed amount for Special Bets much lower than match-winner bets. Check out some examples of staking methods for your CS2 betting strategy below.

Percentage-Based Staking

If you love betting on CS2 matches but your gambling budget is tight, the percentage-based staking method might just be the best one to use. This method is also called “proportional staking”. In essence, bettors decide on a percentage of their CS2 gambling budget to place per bet. For example, if you have a gambling budget of 100, and you decide on a 5% bet, you will only bet 5 maximum.

If you lose your first bet, your second bet will be 5% of the remaining budget. The more you lose, the smaller your bets become. If you win, however, your bets increase. For example, if you go up to 200, your next 5% bet will be 10 in your currency. The percentage-based staking method allows bettors to continue playing with their original budget for quite some time, even if they lose.

Fixed Staking

The fixed staking method for use in a CS2 betting strategy is probably the most straightforward of them all. As the name suggests, bettors limit the amount of currency they bet on a CS2 match. Basically, you allow yourself to only bet, for example, 10 of your currency at a time.

The fixed staking method has an advantage for bettors, as it takes emotional (or tilting) bets out of the equation. What this means is that with the fixed staking method, bettors don’t let their emotions get the best of them and place a huge bet on a CS2 team to try and recover their recent losses.

Martingale System

The Martingale system is one of the oldest staking methods in the world of gambling. While it can be effective, the Martingale system can lead to devastating losses. It is a loss recovery system, which basically entails doubling your bet each time you lose. If you win a bet, you revert back to your original bet.

We’ve mentioned this staking method simply because it is very popular. However, in practice, it does have low returns and the risk of losing big. Let’s face it, everyone goes on a losing streak sometimes, and using the Martingale staking method, things can get out of hand quickly.

Bettors can use one or multiple types of staking methods on all the best bookmakers for their CS2 betting strategy of choice. While these staking methods are the most popular, there are many more out there, and bettors can also go for a more dynamic system where they employ fixed staking in, for example, match-winner or outright bets, and a percentage-based method for special bets.

Top CS2 Betting Strategies

First off, the best CS2 betting strategy will depend on a variety of factors. Most importantly, it comes down to the style of the user. Each bettor will have their own style, gambling budget, and find something that works for them. Saying that, however, we do have some CS2 betting strategy examples to share.

Pre-Match Betting Strategy

The pre-match CS2 betting strategy is arguably the most popular one. This all revolves around betting on matches before they go live, or even tournaments via outright bets. To get the most out of this CS2 betting strategy, extensive research is key.

At HLTV, we’ve got you covered in terms of research, with dedicated pages for tournaments, team rankings, stats, match histories, results and more. It is 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.

Using our detailed odds comparison section will help you choose the best bookmaker to place a bet with. This section also provides detailed analytics that can further help you improve your CS2 betting experience.

Live CS2 Betting Strategy

The concept of CS2 live betting is relatively straightforward. It is the act of betting on CS2 matches while they are being played. It is really as easy as that, and the feature is available on the top bookmakers out there. The live CS2 gambling strategy revolves around spotting opportunities, and taking advantage of them.

Patience is key for this CS2 betting strategy. We’ve got an example for you below, which showcases just how profitable the CS2 live betting strategy can be when you are patient, calm and collected.

On 3rd April 2021, Virtus.pro faced off against ENCE at ESL Pro League Season 13. The pre-match odds were, at best, 1.5 for Virtus.pro to win. As the match progressed, the live CS2 odds changed consistently. ENCE took a commanding lead on the final map, Dust II, with a round score of 12-3 in the first half. ENCE extended this lead to 15-3, one round away from winning the match in the second half. If you were to bet 100 using the live CS2 odds at this point (25.9), you would have won 2,590, as Virtus.pro mounted a historic comeback.

Map Veto Strategy

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. This is because you first need to look at the map veto as the match gets underway for this CS2 betting strategy to work.

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.

Form vs Ranking Strategy

The odds comparison page in our CS2 betting section provides you with everything you need to make informed betting decisions. You can check the rank of both teams in a match, and both teams’ current form, alongside other pros and cons for a specific match. Let’s use an example to explain how this strategy could work:

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.

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. Sometimes, bookmakers don’t take team form into account. If you do, you can get ahead of the competition and cash in on some great odds with this CS2 betting strategy. Keep in mind there is no guarantee a team with a higher form rating will win.

Value Focused Betting

Taking the time to research, and subsequently understand the “real” odds for a match, can be very profitable. That’s where the value betting strategy comes into play. Let’s look at an example below:

The odds for a top tier team winning a match might be 1.2. If you bet 10, this means you will get back 12 if the team wins, only earning you 2 profit. Therefore, you have to bet a large amount, for example, 100, to receive a 20 profit. If this team has undergone some recent changes, or you’ve seen some cracks in their armour in a previous match, it might be more profitable to bet against them. The risk of betting on a 1.2 or even 1.3 odds is high, while the potential reward is low.

Sometimes, it is best to bet on the underdog. For example, if the odds say a team has only a 20% chance of winning, but after recent matches and maybe a team change, you think it might be 35%, then a bet on the underdog can be much more profitable than betting on the favourite. This is essentially called value betting, where your perceived value of a possible bet is higher than the odds provided by bookmakers.

Keep in mind you don’t need to limit yourself to one CS2 betting strategy. Multiple betting strategies on CS2 matches can be employed to get the most out of your gambling budget.

CS2 Betting Strategy Tips

Now that you know what staking methods are, and examples of CS2 gambling strategies you could employ, it’s time to get into some general tips. These tips will work with most betting strategies and should be considered best practice when betting on CS2 matches.

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.

Spot 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.

Watch CS2 Esports Streams

You don’t have to be a CS2 player, or even a fan really, to start your CS2 gambling journey. What you do need, however, is general knowledge of the game. At HLTV, you will never run out of matches to watch, from top tier tournaments to smaller, lesser-known regions and organizers.

If you want to watch some CS2 matches to learn the game, take note of caster comments, and follow specific teams, there’s no better place than our Live CS2 match section. Casters can sometimes provide invaluable information about teams you wouldn’t otherwise know about.

Exploit Special Bets

There are dozens of CS2 special bets to place on the best betting websites out there. Special Bets can be essential in your CS2 betting strategy. They are sometimes high-risk bets which can pay off with some great margins. Many betting sites give you the option to bet on the overall tournament winner (called outrights) and dozens of other options, such as first blood, if there will be overtime, handicap bets, over/under bets and much more.

Responsible CS2 Betting

Whether you’re betting on CS2, other esports or anything else, practising responsible gambling is critical. CS2 betting should be entertaining. If you feel online betting is hurting you or those close to you, you need to stop. 

You can take the Gamalyze self-assessment test to get a deeper understanding of your gambling habits and discover the responsible gambling tools available at online betting sites. 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 – Discover the time management tools you can use while betting on CS2.

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

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

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