Later this month, the richest and one of the biggest esports tournaments in the world will take place in Washington State, North America.

20 of the top Dota 2 teams in the world have earned their place to compete at The International 2023.

Starting on the 12^th October, 20 teams will battle it out to decide who wins. And who will claim the latest multi-million dollar top prize for winning the event.

Of course, with its now expansive esports betting service, bet365 Sport will be ready to offer an. outstanding range of pre-match and In Play betting when the tournament kicks off.

And right now, you can bet on any of the 20 The International 2023 qualifiers to win the tournament outright. With Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators and Team Spirit amongst the front-runners in the early betting.

Let’s kick off our look at this most prestigious and richest esports tournament with a look back at how it first started in the Dota 2 esports community.

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The History of The International

Organised by Valve, The International is an annual tournament that is the culmination of the Dota Pro Circuit season, although its history predates the creation of the DPC.

The tournament was first contested at Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, Germany and drew plenty of interest due to its at the time, huge $1.6m prize pool.

Initially, the first two tournaments had a $1.6m prize pool, but then the addition of additional cash from the sale of Compendium items and packages, saw the prize pool start to grow markedly as the tournament increased in popularity.

By 2021, the prize pool set a new record at $40,018,195, but last year’s tournament saw the first time a smaller prize pool had been generated, down to $18,930,775.

• Past Winners & Runners Up

The past winners and runners up of the tournament from 2011 are outlined below (The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to Covid):

How Did The International Become The Richest Esports Tournament In History?

The main reason the International became the richest esports tournament in history is down to how its prize pool is generated.

Unlike other big tournaments, which has organisers and sponsors stump up the cash for the prize pool, The International organisers seed the prize pool with a set amount (this is now $1.6 million). Then 25% of the Compendium sales generated by the event also go into the prize pool.

Compendium sales include ticket sales, online streaming package purchases and sales of The International 2023 related items. This includes both real world sales and as digital sales of items and NFTs.

As such, as more and more fans buy these items, so the total prize pool of The International grows. Especially in the run up to the tournament.

However, after 2021, we saw a much smaller percentage of the Compendium Sales generated. This saw a drastic reduction in the prize pool for 2022. The winners still took home over $8.5m, but that was almost $10m less than what the 2021 winners had pocketed.

It is going to be interesting to see what the final prize pool amount will be for 2023.

About The International 2023

• Dates – 12^th October 2023 to the 29^th October 2023 Inclusive
• Teams Competing – 20
• Venue – Seattle, Washington, United States
• Prize Money – $1.6m, plus 25% of Compendium Sales
• Current Holders – Tundra Esports

Tournament Format – The International 2023

The tournament is split into three distinct stages.

• Group Stage – Phase 1

The opening phase is the Group Stage. Here all 20 teams will be drawn into one of four groups. The teams play a single-round robin tournament in a best of two series.

The top two teams in each group are then matched with a 3^rd or 4^th place team from another group for phase 2 of the tournament.

The bottom team in each group is eliminated.

• Group Stage – Phase 2

The 16 remaining teams play their eight best of 3 matches to determine where they stand in the main event brackets.

• Main Event

Sixteen teams play in a double elimination bracket, eight begin in the upper bracket, eight in the lower.

It is then a straight best of three knockout with losers in the upper bracket dropping into the lower bracket. Losers from the lower bracket eliminated from the tournament.

The winning team that qualifies from the upper bracket will take on the team that qualifiers from the loser bracket in the Grand Final.

All Main event matches are best of three, apart from the Grand Final which is best of five.

How Did The 20 Teams Qualify For The International 2023?

There were two routes teams could qualify for The International 2023.

The majority of the teams (12 in all) qualified via their finishing position in this season’s Dota Pro Circuit.

These are a series of competitions at which these teams compete to earn DPC Points. The more DPC Points you earn by performing well in these tournaments, the higher up the table your team will finish.

The top dozen teams occupying 1^st to 12^th in the table earned a spot at The International 2023.

The remaining eight teams were awarded a place by winning their own Regional Tournament. Eight were held in various jurisdictions around the world to determine which teams join the 12 DPC qualifiers.

The full list of qualifiers is as follows:

DPC Circuit Qualifiers

1. Team Liquid
2. Gaimin Gladiators
3. Tundra Esports (Holders)
4. 9Pandas
5. Evil Geniuses
6. LGD Gaming
7. Shopify Rebellion
8. Talon Esports
9. Beastcoast
10. Team Spirit
11. TSM
12. BetBoom Team

Regional Qualifiers

• Nouns (North America)
• Keyd Stars (South America)
• Thunder Awaken (South America)
• Entity (Western Europe)
• Quest Esports (Western Europe)
• Virtus.pro (Eastern Europe)
• Azure Ray (China)
• Team SMG (Southeast Asia)

Who Are The Teams To Watch Or Back At The International 2023?

• Team Liquid (4/1 fav)

A former winner of this tournament and also a runner up, the team finished third in 2022 and after a solid season which has seen them land a number of second place finishes at Dream League Season 19, ESL One Berlin Major 2023, Bali Major 2023 and the Riyadh Masters 2023. Their later DreamLeague performances have been disappointing (15^th/16^th in Season 20 and 9^th/10^th in Season 21) but they always tend to show up well at The International.

• Gaimin Gladiators (9/2)

No team has enjoyed more success in 2023 than the Gaimin Gladiators. After a 9^th/12^th finish at The International 2022, they have rattled off wins in the Lima Major, Dream League Season 19 and 20, the ESL Berlin Major 2023, the Bali Major and most recently BetBoom Dacha. Four of those tournament wins have seen them beat Team Liquid in the Grand Final of each of the events.

• Team Spirit (9/2)

The Serbian/Ukrainian team won The International in 2021, picking up over $18.2m for that win and they also landed a $5,000,000 prize this season winning the Riyadh Masters, plus $300,000 for taking DreamLeague Season 21. Other performances this season have been a little less impressive with a 9^th/12^th finish at the Bali Major and the Berlin Major.

• Tundra Esports (7/1)

Winners of The International in 2022, for which they won over $8.5 million, Tundra have enjoyed an inconsistent season since. Wins at the BetBoom Universe Episode 1 Comics Zone and the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 3: Division One were their sole victories. While their performances in main events have been disappointing with a 3^rd at the Bali Major the best they’ve managed. However, the team is looking like it is getting back to form just in time for The International 2023.

And Who Is Our Tip To Win The International 2023?

It’s tough to look outside the four teams I have mentioned above to win this tournament, despite the high quality teams competing.

However, looking at their form this season, I would back Gaimin Gladiators at odds of 9/2 to become the eventual champions of The International 2023.