With the first week of the electronic sports season at hand, now is a perfect time for some expert top eSports betting picks. Let’s get started with some League of Legends news and picks, but don’t worry, Overwatch comes next.
Expert Top eSports Betting Picks for First Week of the Season
Team Liquid vs. TSM
- Saturday, January 20, 2018, 5:00 p.m.
Team Liquid enters the spring season with some legitimate championship hopes as they sit just outside the top 10 in the preseason power rankings. The starting lineup for the team will include most of the core that made up the Immortals team that made the World Championship last year, although they’ve swapped a couple of positions.
Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng takes over AD carries duty, and the other, Jung “Impact” Eon-Yeong, is a side-grade in mechanical talent with a more shot calling edge helping out the roster. Right now, Team Liquid is in ‘championship-or-bust’ mode with its boatload of talented players.
100 Thieves vs. OpTic Gaming
- Saturday, January 20, 2018, 6:00 PM
100 Thieves is a ‘struggling’ title hopeful entering 2018, but OpTic Gaming is more of a bottom-of-the-barrel longshot. I’m feeling some longshot value coming from OpTic gaming in this one people!
Clutch Gaming vs. Golden Guardians
- Saturday, January 20, 2018, 7:00 PM
Clutch gaming has some middle-of-the-pack championship hopes entering 2018 while the Golden Guardians are much more of a longshot pick. Keep it simple here e-Sports bettors and ride the likely favored Clutch Gaming.
eSports News Overwatch League Debut
The Overwatch League is an eSports league created and run by Blizzard Entertainment that will showcase the game of the year un 2016, its popular first-person shooter. The inaugural season will feature 12 teams, each of which paid $20 million for a franchise spot.
Each team will represent a city with all teams playing the first season in Los Angeles. Future seasons will see home and away games for which teams will travel to compete against one another in the cities they represent, similar to a traditional sport.
Minimum player salaries are $50,000 with a one-year contract (minimum) and a second-year option, and teams are required to provide players with a house, health insurance, retirement options and more.
The preseason ran from December 6 until December 9. The regular season began on January 10, 2018, and runs until July. The total prize pool is $3.5 million, with the Season 1 champion taking home $1 million. You can also win big as an eSports betting enthusiast.
Overwatch & Counter-Strike Schedule
Overwatch (Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018)- Los Angeles Valiant vs. London Spitfire 2 PM ET
- Los Angeles Gladiators vs. New York Excelsior 4 PM
- Boston Uprising vs. San Francisco Shock 6 PM
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Friday, January 19, 2018, 9:00 AM)
- Cloud9 vs. G2 eSports
