How to Bet on CS2
How to Bet on CS2? - Counter-Strike 2 Betting Guide & Esports Tips
Betting on Esports is increasingly popular as gaming fans, who watch top tournament action in their millions, look to ramp up the excitement.
Read on to find out about Counter-Strike 2 betting and how you can go about placing your first wager on major tournaments at Stake Sportsbook.
What is CS2?
When it comes to Esports, few games can compete with Counter-Strike, which is one of the original and most popular competitive shooters. Since the first Counter-Strike was released, the game has changed a lot, and the current iteration, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), is the most advanced.
Like previous games in the series, CS2 is a multiplayer first-person shooter that pits two teams, the terrorists and counter-terrorists, against each other in a variety of game modes.
CS2 moved away from the original Source game engine used by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, to Source 2, allowing for improved graphics and better features.
History of Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike was originally developed by fans in 1999 as a mod for Valve’s sci-fi shooter, Half-Life. Valve shortly purchased the rights to the mod and hired the mod development team before releasing a retail version of the game in 2000. It quickly became the most popular multiplayer shooter at the time.
Four years after the original, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero was released on Windows. Featuring two single-player campaign modes and an immersive multiplayer mode, this helped cement the Counter-Strike brand.
Counter-Strike: Source followed in the same year as a remake of the original, while Counter-Strike: Online arrived in 2008 with a primary goal of engaging with the Asian gaming market.
In 2012, Valve released the 4th game in the series, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), for Windows, OS X, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game quickly became one of the most popular first-person shooters of all time, as well as a major Esports title.
In 2023, Valve launched Counter-Strike 2 as a free upgrade of CS:GO, using the updated game engine Source 2
CS2 Rules & Gameplay
Counter-Strike is a team-based Esport, with two teams facing off in each game to complete specific objectives depending on the game mode. In competitive matches, the primary game mode is bomb defusal, where the goal of the terrorist team is to plant a bomb at one of two bomb sites on the map, before defending the bomb before it explodes. The counter terrorists aim to defend the bomb sites, either by defusing the bomb or running out the round clock, which takes 1 minute and 55 seconds. Either side can also win the match by eliminating opposing players, as there are no respawns until the round is over.
The hostage rescue mode sees the counter terrorist team attacking, attempting to rescue non-player character hostages, which are defended by the terrorist team.
At the start of a competitive round, players can purchase different weapons and equipment, such as armour and defuse kits. Money for purchasing equipment is awarded based on kills during the previous rounds. Standard matches end when a team wins 13 rounds. In competitive Esports matches, teams typically switch sides after a set number of rounds and a best of 3 format is used, with teams playing several games over multiple maps.
Counter-Strike is considered one of the most skill-based Esports titles due to the importance of stealthy movements and lightning-fast reactions with weaponry.
Biggest CS2 Tournaments & Leagues to Bet On
Given the huge commercial success of the Counter-Strike series, it’s no surprise to see that there are many popular Counter-Strike 2 Esports tournaments and leagues to watch and bet on today:
Majors - The Valve Major Championships, also known simply as “Majors”, are held all over the world, featuring the biggest teams. Since 2023, all Counter-Strike Major Championships have been played on CS2. 32 teams take part in the upcoming BLAST.tv Austin CS2 Major 2025 tournament, with the entire tournament offering a prize pool worth $1,250,000.
ESL Pro League - Arguably, the biggest professional CS2 league to watch is the ESL Pro League. Every season, the best teams compete for a share of the prize money, with a $1 million prize pool. Team Vitality are the current champions as of 2025.
Intel Extreme Masters - The Intel Extreme Masters, held in multiple locations around the world every year, are among the biggest events in the CS2 calendar, featuring 24 of the world’s best teams.
Esports World Cup - Founded in 2024, the Esports World Cup is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and features multiple events across some of the world’s most popular Esports, including League of Legends, Call of Duty, Dota 2 and CS2.
Skyesports Masters - Skyesports are a major Esports tournament organiser in South Asia, with the Masters held in India.
PGL Tournaments - The Professional Gamers League (PGL) is one of the largest European Esports organisations, which holds multiple events across the year, including PGL Masters Bucharest, PGL Astana and PGL Cluj-Napoca.
There are plenty of other localised CS2 leagues, too, with the CCT European Series, Proving Grounds, European Pro League United21, and Exort Series all popular in Europe. Meanwhile, the Odyssey Cup is a Brazilian tournament organised by Gamers Club, which is surging in popularity across Latin America.
Top-tier CS2 teams to watch in the Esports industry right now include Team Vitality and Team Liquid. It’s always a competitive match between these two titans!
How Do You Bet on CS2
Online gambling is simple enough at Stake. You’ll first need to set up an account, and we recommend checking our full sports betting guide if you’re new. Then, just complete the betting process as follows:
Log in to your account and search for CS2 to see live and upcoming matches.
Select an event or view all to see all the options.
Choose any of the available matches to bet on.
Select a betting market to add to your bet slip.
Enter your stake and confirm to place.
Select the live stream icon to watch the match live for free.
CS2 Bet Types & Esports Betting Markets
As a leading sports betting site, we offer many different types of bets on major Esports events, including CS2. Let’s explain the wide variety of betting markets on CS2 events available right here at Stake Sportsbook:
Match Winner - Twoway - Like a standard moneyline bet, simply bet on which CS2 team you think will win an upcoming match.
Match Winner - Threeway - This is the same as the above bet, but it adds the option to bet on a draw.
Map Handicap - Bet on a CS2 team to win a best-of-three match with a map handicap applied in their favour or against them. Handicap betting is popular across both Esports and traditional sports betting markets
Total maps - With this type of bet, you predict the over/under total number of maps played during the entire match. It’s also possible to bet on whether the number of maps will be odd or even.
Correct Score - Bet on the final score of the match, using the sliders to choose the number of maps won by each team.
Map Winner - Bet on the outcome of map 1, 2 or 3. You can bet on twoway or threeway map winner markets.
Wins at Least One Map - Bet yes or no on whether or not a team will win at least one map during the match.
Prop bets - Prop bets allow you to bet on events during the match that aren’t tied to the game outcome, such as the score of the pistol round or duels between specific players.
Parlays - Combine multiple bets into one to create a parlay. CS2 matches on major tournaments also offer same game multi bet markets, which let you combine multiple bets on the same game.
Outright Winner - The popular outright betting option allows you to wager on the potential tournament winners of CS2 events and leagues.
How to Live Stream CS2 & Place In-Play Bets
If you prefer betting on sports and Esports in-play, Stake Sports offers highly competitive in-play Esports odds for online sports bettors, including CS2 matches. We also offer many of the major CS2 events via free live streams, which you can access as long as you’re logged in at the time of the event.
CS2 Betting Strategies & Tips to Win
Now that you know the wide range of CS2 betting markets available at Stake.com’s online sportsbook, take note of our top tips to build your own CS2 betting strategy:
Don’t give too much weight to rankings. Keep a keen eye on a team’s recent CS2 form. It might be that Team A has a better ranking and is, therefore, the pre-match favourite team, but the lower-ranked Team B may be going into their encounter in a winning vein, potentially offering value odds pre-match.
CS2 bettors should take advantage of both pre-match and live betting options. This will open the doors to a wide range of betting opportunities and increase your odds! Our guide to pre-match and live betting explains this in more detail. will only choose to bet in-play on matches they can live stream.
Some CS2 teams focus on being supremely efficient on certain maps. If a team is on a lengthy winning streak on a specific map, you might consider betting on the team to be the next map winner with in-play prop bets.
Whether you're a Counter-Strike fanatic or a keen sports bettor, you can get more betting tips and tricks with our Esports betting guide. For more information, get expert betting advice and predictions from our team of professionals with our sports betting articles!
CS2 Betting Mistakes to Avoid
Letting emotions affect your decisions - If ever you get to a point where you’re chasing losses, it’s time to call it a day and bet on CS2 another time. Emotional betting can lead to overstaking and betting on markets in which you’ve little or no experience.
Not paying attention to the odds - Don’t just take the first price you get. You may find better value elsewhere, like Stake Sports. At Stake.com, we always offer highly competitive CS2 odds on all events.
Failing to research - Look at the recent form of the CS2 teams you’re betting on or against. Use all the available data to make informed betting decisions.
CS2 Betting Odds & Payouts Explained
When placing your bets, you should always pay close attention to the odds. Higher odds mean a higher potential winnings, although they also imply the probability is lower. Take a look at our guide to reading odds for more information, and don’t forget you can switch between decimal, fractional and American odds to make things easier.
Deposit & Withdrawal Methods for CS2
Signing up, making payments and placing bets should be as simple as possible. Follow the steps below to fund your Stake account and cash out your winnings:
Log in to your account and check your available balance in the wallet.
Choose from thedeposit methods and select any of the availablelocal currencies such as CAD, JPY, INR and more. We have a selection of guides on how to deposit with Canadian Dollars,Japanese Yen, Turkish Lira, Vietnamese Dong, Argentine Pesos, Chilean Pesos, and Indian Rupees.
Either that, or you can bet using crypto at Stake. We support a range of popular cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, USDT, EOS, DOGE, LTC, TRX, SOL and more.
Use the deposit address as the “send to” location from your wallet or exchange.
Alternatively, use Mesh to deposit crypto from an exchange or wallet.
You can also purchase crypto at Stake using Moonpay or Swapped.com . Make sure you store your funds safely in the Stake vault.
To withdraw winnings from Stake Sportsbook, follow these steps:
Log in to your account.
Open the wallet and choose the withdrawal option.
Select your payment method and enter the amount you want to withdraw.
If you’re using crypto, ensure you’ve selected the right cryptocurrency network .
Confirm all the details are correct before confirming the payment and waiting for it to be completed.
Esports Betting Promotions, Stake VIP Club & Responsible Gambling
While betting on Esports like CS2 at Stake, you can make the most of our exclusive sports betting promotions. For example, the CS2 Overtime Payout promotion, which will payout your bet as a winner if your selected team loses in overtime on the deciding map at specific events.
Our online sportsbook also rewards loyal, regular Esports bettors as members of our VIP Club. We offer regular reload bonuses and tiered benefitssuch as loyalty rakeback and even your own VIP host as a ‘thank you’ for choosing Stake. Find out more on the VIP FAQ page, and remember to follow our Stake Smart guidelines and use responsible gambling tools to bet responsibly.
