Last week was a pretty busy week in eSports with several qualifiers for major events revealing which teams will be participating in some of the biggest eSports events of the year over the next few weeks.
In addition, some of the biggest and long-running eSports events also started to reach their climax, as in the SK Telecom Proleague playoffs getting under way with a clash between Round 4 champions KT Rolster and Runners up from the first three rounds, Jin Air Green Wings.
Add into this the forthcoming DOTA 2 The Invitational as well as the League of Legends 2015 World Championship on the horizon and you have an incredibly busy few weeks ahead in the realm of eSports.
Let’s take a look at some of the events that will be dominating the eSport betting markets this week.
DOTA 2 Champions League Season 6
This past week saw Season 6 of the DOTA 2 Champions League get under way with the first matches in Group A played and it was teams No Logic Gaming and 5Jungz that were celebrating after they defeated Empire and Newteam123123 respectively to take an early advantage in the group.
There was also one game apiece in Group C where PRIES defeated Alliance and also in Group D where (monkey) Business defeated Arcade PowerRangers.
Over the coming week games from all four of the groups will be played as the 16 teams fight to make it out of the group stage and into the quarter finals of the tournament. Match ups include Natus Vincere taking on Golden Boys in Group B, HellRaisers facing off against Monkey Freedom Fighters in Group C, plus Kaipi taking on CIS Rejects in Group D, followed by the second round of matches in each group, it looks like being a busy week of DOTA 2 action on the markets.
The schedule for this tournament however is very flexible and as such, the times and dates for some key match ups are yet to be finalised. As such, it is sensible advice to check back with your choice of bookmaker to find out what the odds are for the latest games and if and when they have been scheduled.
StarCraft 2 SK Telecom Proleague Round 2 Playoff
After four rounds of exciting action, last weekend saw the final Playoffs for the SK Telecom Proleague begin with a the First Round best of three matchup between KT Rolster (who won Round 4 of the tournament) against Jin Air Green Wings (fourth seeds after finishing runners up in each of the first three rounds).
Despite KT Rolster seemingly having the edge having just taken Round 4 of the competition in some style, it was Jin Air Green Wings that progressed into Round 2, defeating KT Rolster comprehensively 4-1 in the first leg, before a 4-3 victory in the second rendered the third match up between the teams redundant.
Round 2 of the competition starts next week on Tuesday September 29th, with the first match in a best of three series between Jin Air Green Wings and CJ Entus. The winners of this match will be decided over the best of three format with the third leg, if required, being played on the 1st October.
The winner of this Round 2 match up will then progress to meet top seeds SK Telecom T1 in the final which will be played the following week.
Of course, there will be a huge number of betting markets available on this big StarCraft 2 tournament which has rumbled on for almost a year now and it will be interesting to see who the bookmakers make favourites between the two teams who look very well matched.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive – GFINITY Champion of Champions Tournament
What happens when you put together four of the best Counter Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world in the same room and offer a total prize fund of $100,000? The answer is the GFINITY Champion of Champions Tournament, which is scheduled to take place over the coming weekend Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September.
The four teams that have been selected for the tournament based on their performances in the GFINITY Masters events across the Spring and Summer are: Team EnVyUs, fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Virtus.pro.
What is unusual about this event is that the four teams will play against each other in a Round robin tournament with their final league positions deciding the amount of money that they will receive, obviously with the winning team taking home the lion’s share of the massive pot.
Such is the demands to see four of the very best Counter Strike Global Offensive teams in operation, the event is being held at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre over the weekend, with thousands of eSports fans expected to attend to see which of the four teams emerges as the Champion of Champions.
We’re expecting all the British-based bookies to offer plenty of solid betting across this big event over the weekend, so check back from Friday 25th September to see the odds for the six match -ups when they have been drawn and finalised.