When you think eSports, one of the first names that pop right into your mind is Dota 2. Valve’s foray into the world of MOBAs is such a global phenomenon, that its fifth main tournament, simply named The International, broke a historical, general eSports record when its grand prize pool reached a mark of over $18,000,000 (USD)! We obviously play this game for the sheer love and fun of it, but such mountain-high quantities of money are quite impossible to ignore! If you wish to check up on different E Sports tournaments and their odds check back with us here.
A Brief History of Dota 2
The beginnings of Dota 2 can be traced back more than a decade ago, to a humble mod (game software modification) created by a small group of Warcraft III players. The mod itself, entitled Defense of the Ancients –DotA, for short– was made available for both Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and interestingly enough, the mod was originally inspired by Aeon of Strife, a map from the game StarCraft. It’s worth noting that both games, Warcraft III and StarCraft, are made by Blizzard Entertainment, a corporate entity which has nothing to do with Valve —the critically acclaimed maker and rightsholder of Dota 2.
Defense of the Ancients (DotA) quickly gained international notoriety, and is largely credited for being the single, most inspiring driving force behind the creation of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) genre.
In October 2009, Valve Corporation hired IceFrog (a game developer whose real name has never been disclosed), whom since 2005 had been the developer of the DotA mod, and appointed him as lead-designer of a new project. Dota 2, the stand-alone sequel to Defense of the Ancients, was officially unveiled by Game Informer on October 13, 2010. The announcement resulted in such high traffic, Game Informer’s servers crashed.
Due to the fact that this all originated as a mod for a game that wasn’t even Valve’s, controversy inevitably ensued. Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of the Warcraft and StarCraft franchises, took legal action against Dota 2 and its maker, Valve Corporation. The dispute was settled on May 11, 2012. The court ruled in favor of Valve, allowing it to retain commercial franchising rights to the Dota brand. Non-commercial usage of the brand’s name by third-parties, however, was allowed.
How to Bet on Dota 2
Dota 2 plays host to six different main types of bets you can make:
Correct Score: Predict what the score will ultimately be at the end of a match. Applicability applies after a minimum of two games end.
Match Winner: The most universally straight-forward betting type! Bet on whom you think will claim victory. Depending on tournament rules, draws may apply.
Map X Winner: If you believe certain teams will fare better than others on specific maps, you can bet on the outcome of certain maps in particular.
Win At Least 1 Map: Bet on any given team to win at least a single map. You can go with either favorites or underdogs. Favorites are of course safer bets, but improbability tends to yield greater rewards!
Double Chance: When you believe a result will be unlikely, you can bet the other two with Double Chance! The way this works is that you can bet Team A or draw, bet Team B or draw, or that it won’t be a draw.
Handicap Betting: Dota 2 features Best of 1 (pretty straight-forward, since only a single match is played), Best of 2 (where two matches are played), or Best of 3 (where three matches are played and a team wins by scoring at least two matches) victory types, commonly abbreviated as BO1, BO2, and BO3. To exemplify this, if you think Team A is going to win a BO3 2-0, it would then be advisable to bet on them with a -1.5 handicap. This is because your odds will increase, even though so will the risk.
These listed six are the main ones, but there are, of course, many other wagering types, and the bigger the event, the larger your options.
Betting on Dota 2 Tournaments
There is a wide variety of Dota 2 tournaments, but we are going to focus on its three biggest tournaments. These are a bit of an unconventional lot, because there is no set schedule to when they will take place. They usually occur simultaneously, and typically last for only a couple of days. This is a very real case of “you snooze, you lose,” so keep an eye out for when they happen.
The International: Hosted by Valve, creator of Dota 2, this is hands-down the most profitable tournament in the entire history of eSports. The 2015 tournament saw a jaw-dropping, record-shattering total prize pool of $18,429,613 (USD). Just to put into perspective, this is a larger prize pool than even that of the Super Bowl.
Dota 2 Asia Championships: Also known as DAC, and also as The Oriental, this is a tournament organized by Perfect World and MarsTV. In 2015, the Dota 2 Asia Championship finals had a prize pool of over $3,000,000, and were held in Shanghai, China.
World Cyber Arena: This is a series of internationally-held qualifiers. The participant series are the China Pro, Americas Pro, Europe Pro, SEA Pro, China Open, Americas Open, Europe Open, SEA Open, and Wild Card qualifiers.
Dota 2’s professionally competitive scene is a rich and exciting one. If you are interested in boosting the thrill of eSports, betting on Valve’s MOBA is one of the funnest, most riveting options you could ever hope for!
