Counter Strike Global Offensive, better known by its catchy acronym CSGO, is one of the most popular  online multiplayer first person shooter games ever. It is, therefore, not a surprise that it is one of the most bet on games as well. However, this raises another important question: is it legal?

To answer that question, a lot of things need to be taken into consideration. First of all, it must be noted that Counter Strike Global Offensive is classified under ‘E-Sports’ and not a lot of countries have brought regulations regarding this issue. This brings up the second way of looking at this issue: classifying it under sports. If the country’s government has not passed any legislation regarding e-sports, the next thing that has to be looked up is the country’s rules against betting. If a country is against betting money in general (like the UAE, Qatar, Iran, Lebanon, Japan, China etc.) then it is probably going to be the same for e-sports. But most countries haven’t even brought restrictions to online gambling, so it will be quite some time before legal action is taken against someone betting on CSGO.

Some things that bettors need to keep in mind while betting are given below.

Research The Team

This is undoubtedly the first thing the bettor has to do before betting on a team. The bettor should have done background checks on each player. Bettors will have to check the team’s consistency, how each individual fairs on each map, their head to head as well as tournament performances, and most importantly their win percentage.

Watch Games

To assess a team, reading up a team or collecting data can only get a bettor so far. Most of the people who bet on e-sports are generally match fanatics or players themselves. Just like you cannot tell how a footballer fairs under pressure or how well a basketball player plays defense by looking at long statistical analysis tables, you need to invest in the team’s games, understand their strengths, weaknesses, how well they play alongside one another, how well their teamwork pays off, etc. All of these factor in while betting.

Making Your Own Odds

One of the ways you can improve your betting skills is by making your own odds. After doing sufficient research on both teams, you can create a betting line of your own parallel to the actual line. The advantage of this method is that with experience, you can find small inefficiencies and bet on your expected outcomes against the betting public. This would mean betting for the underdog when the bet is leaning the other way. There are several other ways to risk it, but this is one of the best ways to win big by wagering little. Winning a bet on the underdog is a significant achievement all on itself.