Published on: 04/10/2021

Valorant Betting

When Valorant was first revealed, it was penned as the perfect cross between Overwatch and CSGO. It had extremely similar gameplay to the latter but boasted the Hero mechanic of the former. Today, it’s one of the most popular esports in the industry, and we’re here today to provide you with a Valorant betting guide.

As it only launched in June of 2020, Valorant is a relatively new competitive title. It doesn’t have the legacy of a title like CSGO, nor the financial backing of a platform like the Call of Duty League. What it does have is a determined and dedicated fanbase and a whole host of competitive players. And, it’s a pretty exhilarating game in itself.

Let’s get into the Valorant betting guide.

How Is Valorant Played?

Officially, Valorant is a ‘first-person hero shooter’, played with a Team A vs. Team B structure. It features a host of ‘agents’ that players fight as, competing to either attack or defend objectives. There’s generic, traditional gunplay, mixed in with a plethora of agent abilities and upgrades.

If you look at the base, foundational elements of Valorant on paper, you’ll see CSGO. There’s a remarkably similar style of movement, and the in-game purchasing and leveling mechanics are identical. Therefore, if you’re used to betting on CSGO, you’ll have few issues when it comes to Valorant betting.

There are a few game modes present, but Valorant esports are most commonly played on the ‘standard’ Unrated mode. In 2020, shortly after launch, Riot Games introduced the first official esports tournament to the Valorant landscape.

Valorant’s esports rules are relatively simple to understand. When a tournament takes place, matches will feature a best-of-25 structure. This is due to the rapid nature of the game – those extra rounds are needed.

The attacking team will need to plant and detonate ‘spikes’, bomb-like objects, at one of the locations on the map. On the other team, the responsibility is to defend those locations. If one team is completely wiped off the map, the round will also end.

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Best Valorant Tournaments To Bet On

There are plenty of tournaments in the Valorant space, but not all of them are worth your time or money. In many cases, the best betting sites will only offer markets for top-tier tournaments. If you want to bet on Valorant, you’ll almost certainly be paying attention to these high-value tournaments.

For example, the most valuable tournament in the Valorant space is the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT), which was first hosted in 2021. In May of 2021, the Stage 2 Masters event was hosted within this tournament, boasting a prize pool of $600,000. It doesn’t come close to the $5 million Call of Duty League, but it’s still a considerable pot.

Most esportsbooks, for instance, Bet365’s Valorant markets, will cover sporadic tournaments throughout the year. The lowest-tier tournaments will almost certainly go unnoticed, but there are still plenty of games and competitions to choose from when looking to bet on Valorant matches.

As with most esports platforms, the best odds and biggest potential returns are found in the most prolific tournaments. This is especially true for Valorant.

Best Valorant Betting Markets

If you’re betting on Valorant through a traditional sportsbook, you can’t expect too many options to be present. However, if you’re betting through a more specialised platform like GG.bet, you’ll be open to many more markets.

On platforms like GG.bet, you can expect as many as thirty markets per Valorant fixture. These markets range from the typical outright winners’ markets to the more ‘exotic’ handicap and dynamic markets.

If you’re new to Valorant betting, it’s usually worth sticking with outright winners for a while. Alternatively, you can pick a total maps market, or try and guess which team will win which map – particularly the first map.

These more unique, more specific markets tend to offer better odds. You’ll need a little more in-game knowledge to be successful in these markets, but to be honest, it doesn’t really take too much effort. As esports are slightly more limited than traditional sports, the markets aren’t too remarkable, but there are plenty of options to keep you occupied.

In today’s world, almost every aspect of esports betting is carried out online. There are many digital platforms out there dedicated to competitive gaming, and it can be hard to know which are the best. In the next section, we’ll discuss some of the best betting sites to bet on Valorant games.

Best Valorant Betting Sites

Valorant markets and odds can be found in many places online, but which sites are the best? In 2021, Luckbox added Valorant to its books, becoming the latest in a long line of esportsbooks to cover the game.

At the top of the table sits GG.bet, arguably the best Valorant betting site out there. It’s an esports specialist website, and it offers the widest variety of markets for Valorant. There’s also a lengthy assortment of welcome and deposit offers, and the odds are some of the best you’ll find.

In other areas, Betway, a ‘hybrid’ betting site, also offers a fair range of Valorant markets. It’s a tried and tested website that is more than a decade old. Although it focuses more on traditional sports betting, Betway does boast an extensive esports section.

There are many smaller, less prolific platforms to choose from, as well. For instance, you could try your luck with Winners.bet or Loot.bet.

If you’d like to try another esports-focused platform, then you can aim for Unikrn. This platform offers a great set of odds for Valorant and tends to cover a wide range of tournaments within that space. It’s not as popular or as well built as GG.bet, but it’s still a fantastic option to pick.

Valorant Betting Tips

There are a few differences between Valorant and every other FPS title out there. Firstly, players aren’t permitted to select their own specific classes, there are no in-game respawns, and there can be one-shot kills.

#1 Play

When it comes to Valorant betting tips, there are few quite as helpful as this: play the game.

If you follow the game itself, and actively play it, you’ll get an understanding of the mechanics. Therefore, you’ll become a better bettor by default.

It’s totally free-to-play, so there’s no initial investment to worry about.

#2 Learn

Also, try and learn a little about the teams and competitors themselves. There are some huge names in Valorant, such as Team Liquid, G2, and 100 Thieves. It’ll pay off when you know who is most likely to win any given match. For instance, if Team Heretics was going to square off against Fnatic, who is more likely to win?

Here’s a hint: it’d probably be Fnatic.

#3 Try

Furthermore, when it comes to the actual markets themselves, try and play it safe until you understand the overall environment. While bets with weaker odds offer a smaller payout, they are inherently safer. Once you’ve picked up more in-game knowledge, you can move on to the bigger slips, and even start building accumulators.

#4 Don’t underestimate

Finally, one of the greatest tips in esports betting goes: “never ever count out an underdog team”. In many cases, esports tournaments are relatively unpredictable environments, and that weaker teams regularly just pull off huge wins.