DotA 2 is an extremely popular game made by Valve. Along with the first person shooter series Counter-Strike, it is one of the only Gabe’s products with a recognized and official pro scene. Initially released in July 9, 2013, DotA 2 is Valve’s most popular free game.
It is a MOBA-based game similar to League of Legends in which your goal is to destroy the enemy team’s Ancient. You have your hero to battle through enemy towers to kill the ancient, and most matches take about an hour each.
Because there is a pro scene, many people place bets on pro players. DotA 2 betting is popular because they are exciting games to watch, and many people like to predict which team will win. DotA 2 bet market started around 2014, and has become really popular.
Match Winner
Let’s start with the most obvious one, total winner. This one is fairly self-explanatory. You pick who will win the game straight up. Let’s say heavily favored team A is playing with underdog crew B. Then the match winner odds would be something like 1.2 (-500 if you are American), and 4.8 for squad B.
You have to decide which odds give you most value compared to the chance each team has to actually win the competition. DotA 2 matches are usually best of 3’s in which the winner is the crew that gets 2 maps first. The most famous teams are in the Asian area, so the play times can be quite odd for Americans and Europeans.
Keep this in mind when betting on DotA 2, because you probably want to be able to watch the game while it’s being played if you put money on it. This is the most obvious market, and we will get into more different ones as we proceed.
Individual Map Predictions
This is quite similar to match winner prediction with one exception. You are only betting on specific rounds, not the whole game. For example, instead of predicting that team A will win the whole competition, you bet that they will win the first map. This is useful if you don’t have the time to watch a full game.
Individual maps are also more volatile that full matches because one stupid mistake can doom you. In this way, individual betting keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire map, because if your team makes one stupid mistake you are done. So this type of prediction is useful when you don’t want to watch an entire match, or want a more exciting bet.
First Blood
It is a bet on which crew will kill an enemy hero player first. These outcomes are usually decided in the first few minutes of a match and are often purely luck as it is hard to predict which team get the first kill. Regardless of this, first blood is a very popular option at online Sportsbooks.
Lots of people want to place a bet that they can watch and settle in fifteen minutes. This is really useful for those who want to watch the start of a contest, maybe during a lunch break and don’t have time to watch a full game.
Because of how unpredictable these kills are, they usually have very low bet limits. This is a big con, as many people want to play big when they are watching matches. First Blood is a very unpredictable and quick option if you don’t have much time, however, it has low bet limits, which keeps some customers away.
Map Handicap
It is when you put money on how many maps a team will win and/or allow. Let’s say that crew A has a handicap of -1.5 because they are better than squad B. If you are betting on -1.5 in a best of 3, you are actually putting money on a 2 – 0 in the favor of the crew with the handicap. This can be a favorable bet for you if you think one team will not allow the opposing one to win a single map because the odds are very good for the crew with the handicap.
Remember how team A was 1.2 in the match winner prediction? Well, with the handicap, they would be at odds such as 1.7 – 1.8, which can be good if you feel like B squad simply can’t compete. On the flip side of the coin, maybe you don’t think that crew B can win, but will put up a good fight. Then you can bet on B +1.5, in which you are betting on B to win one map or more. So this option can be useful for more accurate predictions in which you are choosing the total score, not just the winner.
Over/Under
Our last betting Dota 2 market is the over/under. In this, you predict whether the map will take over or under the amount of minutes the oddsmaker set. Because the length of the contest usually shows how competitive it is (usually, not always), you are basically predicting how competitive the match is.
Let’s say the Tigers are playing the Bulls. Both are good teams, so the oddsmakers set the over/under to 48 minutes. You now have to predict whether the game will take more than or less than 48 minutes. This is a good bet when you feel that you know when a match will be competitive or not but don’t want to predict who will win.
I may have missed a few markets, but I only went over the major ones, so don’t hate if I missed your favorite type of DotA 2 bet.
The biggest Dota 2 tournaments so far
Sports prediction has existed for a long time, but over the past decade eSports betting has grown into a mature and widely accepted market. By 2026, betting on competitive video games is no longer a niche activity, and Dota 2 remains one of the most important titles for esports bettors worldwide.
Thanks to its global fanbase, deep competitive structure, and high-profile tournaments, Dota 2 continues to attract significant betting interest, especially during major Valve-supported events. Some tournaments generate more betting activity than others due to prestige, media attention, and the level of participating teams.
Although it is impossible to determine the exact number of bets placed on any single competition, tournament scale, prize pools, and viewership numbers offer a reliable indication of betting popularity.
The International 2024
The International 2024 marked another major chapter in Dota 2’s competitive history. Unlike earlier editions with record-breaking crowdfunding, Valve continued its newer approach with a more controlled prize pool model, shifting focus back to competitive integrity rather than escalating rewards.
Despite the reduced prize pool compared to peak years, TI 2024 still attracted the world’s best teams and remained one of the most heavily bet-on Dota 2 events of the year. For bettors, the tournament offered a wide range of markets, including match winners, map handicaps, totals, and outright tournament predictions.
The event once again demonstrated that betting interest in Dota 2 is driven as much by prestige and competition as by prize money.
The International 2025
The International 2025 is expected to continue the same competitive format introduced in recent years, with a strong emphasis on balanced competition and long-term sustainability of the Dota 2 esports ecosystem.
From a betting perspective, TI 2025 is anticipated to be one of the most active esports betting events of the year, driven by returning powerhouse teams, emerging regional contenders, and extensive pre-tournament speculation. As with previous Internationals, bookmakers are expected to offer deep markets across group stages and playoffs.
While final prize pool figures may vary, The International remains the most prestigious Dota 2 tournament, making it a focal point for bettors regardless of total rewards.
Looking ahead to The International 2026
By 2026, The International is firmly established as a legacy esports event rather than a prize-pool spectacle. Even without the record-breaking sums seen in the late 2010s, it continues to generate significant betting volume due to its status, competitive depth, and global audience.
For bettors, future Internationals are expected to remain among the most attractive Dota 2 tournaments, offering long-term markets, live betting opportunities, and high liquidity across all stages of play.
As you can see, DotA 2 is a very popular game to bet on and has had one of the largest prizes in eSports history, loved by millions around the world and played by millions more. With a fast rise to the top of the eSports gambling world and lots of matches with odds often better than with other games, you can’t go wrong with DotA 2 betting!
Rules of competitive Dota 2 eSport
DotA 2 is a very complex game, as you may already know, and it requires teamwork that turns what seems to be nothing into a win. If you keep up with the pro scene, you will know most of the rules – but how do they actually play the game? How do tournaments and squads choose how many maps are played, and what heroes they choose? If you want all this information and more, we’ve got it all right here.
Most events in eSports incorporate a bracketed type of play, with group stages, eliminations, then the semifinals and finals. But how do teams even get into the group stages? The answer lies in the qualifiers, which often have squads battling it out on two or three maps.
Most major competitions use a Bo3 like the Boston Major, but some smaller contests may use Best of 2s. Very few events use Bo1s. Most tournaments use Best of 5s during the finals, which is very difficult not only for the viewers but for the players, that have to sit for nearly 5 hours of DotA, quite a lot of time compared to other eSports- by then, the game’s focused more on endurance than anything else.
Why can you be banned from participating?
Some players can also be banned for throwing a tournament for money, which is rare but not impossible (witch hunting often happens with teams because of this – it’s good to know the difference between a crew that is simply slumping versus a squad that is completely and intentionally losing a map or contest).
If you’ve heard of CS:GO, you’ll know that the players on team iBuyPower have been banned for life due to throwing a tournament for money. This happens in lots of eSports, but the punishment in Dota2 is much less severe than in other games like CS:GO- most guys only get 1-year bans from valve before being let free.
Some organizers may choose to ban these gamers as well- valve has no say on this. The major rule on this, however, is the fact that a banned team may not play at valve-sponsored tournaments. This wouldn’t be a big issue if it weren’t for the fact that most of the money comes from Valve events. Without it, a crew is almost guaranteed to die.
It’s very difficult for a team to earn money outside of these large events, although there have occasionally been rare exceptions. Valve’s bans, although only encompassing their own sponsored tournaments, really do cover the entire game, as they seal off most of the opportunity in those players for the period that the ban lasts.
How do pro-gamers choose characters and roles?
Most teams choose heroes out of preference. As obvious as it seems, they choose characters because they are trained and good with them, not because it is simply a good hero. A pro can use their heroes to do what they so choose to do and will do whatever it takes to win- whether it’s exploiting a new glitch or simply testing out a new trick. With so many strategies that are possible in such a diverse game, there’s practically no limit to how much one can do in DotA 2.
Certain teams also ban certain heroes because by studying the enemy squad, they know the enemy’s preferences and the enemy’s playstyle and know some part of their gameplay well enough to counter them. This is a very big part of DotA 2 – hence why many pros do not stream.
By streaming you may be giving away some of your new strats or playstyles, something that many CS:GO pros also do not do – whether it’s a massive changing move that will completely destroy your opponents or just a small action that creates a small advantage in an even situation, everything counts.
Such a small difference can make a huge change, especially in such a big eSport as DotA. One little mistake can create huge ripples in the pond. By choosing to stay unpredictable, both teams are kept on their toes – this is what makes DotA exciting and what makes upsets happen.
Roles are also very important in DotA, something many players, even the experienced, do not know and understand very well, causing the downfall of their crews or even a match loss. Every decision made on a hero counts towards the game, and so bans on heroes must be especially carefully done.
Although it does not completely decide the outcome of the competition, some matches can be very well predicted based just on what characters are chosen.
Most common DotA 2 strategies
Pros often use unpredictable strats that catch their enemy off guard – something difficult but not impossible to do. The game specific and theory is something that often changes, and may seem very useless to know, but can influence entire communities and entire professional squads.
For example, some heroes like Huskar used to dominate pubs and somewhat are still dominating low-level pubs today. Although he is great at lower levels, but he’s usually bad at other scenarios – a reason why some characters are not used very often or are never used – although there are many, many exceptions and it’s almost impossible to say never in DotA 2!
Pros also intensely study the game and its parts and analyze their own play to find out what’s wrong with it and just to see what the enemy is doing to make sure they aren’t having major issues in their playstyle, just like most people study for an exam (hopefully). Coordination is a key in all competitive games, and nowhere is it more present than in Dota2. Strats are affected very heavily by squad coordination – one bad step and a whole strategy falls apart.
Whether it’s the support going to the wrong lane or something else, pro-players have top-tier communication that makes this all possible. Often, crews will rehearse their strategies against bots that somewhat resemble people to get a good feel on how a strat works and how it can be improved.
Even if you just play for fun with a team or are trying to get to the top, consider getting better communications equipment and practicing executions – a bad execute that has a good plan at the core will not work out. If it takes buying a new headset and new microphone, it’s well worth it if you plan on getting the best out of the game.
Strats, naturally, also change throughout the match’s major phases, beginning, middle and end. Some teams tend to be more aggressive towards the beginning and start to play more passively towards the end – just like other eSports, DotA 2 is also a mind competition and your enemies may be falling for things they should not be falling for later in the game as your strategies change.
As we noted earlier, pros like keeping their enemies on their toes – and it’s something they’re great at doing, something that makes them different from the rest and makes them stand out from the rest. Whether it’s baiting players out of their lanes and catching them in a trap elsewhere, or just a simple move that turns out to be something completely unexpected, pros make the best out of any situation and always manage to do something – whether for the better or for the worse.
The best Dota 2 teams
Dota 2 pro gaming is a big market, with it being one of the biggest eSports out there, rivaled by League of Legends. When a game gets that big, it starts to have some influential, popular and dominant teams. DotA 2 is no exception to this, and it has its own share of big ticket squads.
Liquid
In the fifth spot, we have the multi-esports organization Team Liquid. Based in the Netherlands, Team Liquid has featured players from across Europe and has long been one of the most respected names in the Dota 2 scene.
The lineup that made Team Liquid famous consisted of MATUMBAMAN (position one), Miracle- (position two), MinD_ContRoL (position three), GH (position four), and KuroKy (position five and captain). This roster competed at the highest level between 2016 and 2019 and is considered one of the strongest Western lineups in Dota 2 history.
Team Liquid’s biggest achievement came in 2017, when they won The International, earning the largest prize pool in esports at the time. Additional notable results include strong finishes at Majors and ESL events, as well as consistent playoff appearances.
Liquid became extremely popular in the betting scene due to their stability, strategic depth, and reputation as one of the strongest non-Asian teams of their era.
Newbee
In the fourth spot, we have the Chinese team Newbee, one of the most successful organizations in early Dota 2 history.
Newbee rose to prominence after winning The International 2014, where they dominated the competition and secured one of the largest prize pools of the time. The roster included players such as Hao, Mu, xiao8, Banana, and SanSheng, and their disciplined team play made them a favorite among fans and bettors alike.
While Newbee struggled to replicate the same level of success in later years, their TI4 victory cemented them as one of the most memorable teams in Dota 2 history. It should be noted that the organization is no longer active in top-tier Dota 2, but its legacy remains significant.
Virtus.Pro
In the third spot, we have Virtus.pro, one of the most recognizable teams from the CIS region. Virtus.pro experienced their strongest period between 2016 and 2018, when they were consistently ranked among the best teams in the world.
The most well-known Virtus.pro roster featured RAMZES666 (position one), No[o]ne (position two), 9pasha (position three), Lil (position four), and Solo (position five and captain). This lineup was famous for its aggressive playstyle and strong laning phases.
Although Virtus.pro did not win The International during this period, they achieved multiple Major victories and consistently placed high at international events. Their matches were extremely popular in betting markets due to their explosive style and unpredictable results.
Evil Geniuses
In the second spot, we have the American organization Evil Geniuses, one of the most successful and iconic teams in Dota 2 history.
Founded in 1999, Evil Geniuses entered Dota 2 early and quickly became the strongest Western organization of its time. Their most famous roster included Arteezy (position one), SumaiL (position two), UNiVeRsE (position three), zai (position four), and Cr1t- (position five).
Evil Geniuses’ greatest achievement was winning The International 2015, along with multiple Major tournament victories and consistent top-three finishes at Internationals. Due to their reliability and long-term success, EG was one of the most trusted teams for bettors for many years.
Although Evil Geniuses no longer competes in Dota 2, their impact on the competitive scene remains undeniable.
Wings Gaming
Taking the top spot, we have Wings Gaming, one of the most unique and dominant teams Dota 2 has ever seen.
Wings Gaming reached their peak in 2016, when they won The International 2016 in spectacular fashion. Their roster consisted of Shadow (position one), bLink (position two), Faith_bian (position three), y’ (position four), and iceice (position five).
What set Wings apart was their incredibly deep hero pool and unpredictable drafting style. At one point, they famously picked more than 20 different heroes in a single tournament, making them extremely difficult to prepare against.
Despite disbanding shortly after their TI victory, Wings Gaming is still remembered as one of the strongest teams ever to play Dota 2, and their run at TI6 remains legendary among fans and bettors alike.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you, see you next time. Good luck!