The exciting world of esports tournaments awaits at Bitcasino!

The booming esports industry revolves around global tournaments and leagues where professional teams and players battle in the digital sphere for the coveted title. 

What started as a basement LAN party among hardcore gamers of Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and countless other games in the late 90s to the early 2000s quickly became a multi-million dollar industry. Surprisingly, esports has existed for more than four decades. 

You can be a part of this enticing world by creating an account at Bitcasino! There are countless games that you can check out as well as leagues and tournaments to bet on. 

Humble beginnings of esports

The popular format that people know today is far from what it was back in 1972 during the era of arcade games at Stanford University where students were invited to an ‘Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics’ to compete against each other for a subscription to a Rolling Stone magazine. 

This simple tournament heralded competition between gamers and became the foundation of esports tournaments in the early 2000s. The industry grew from LAN parties with teams competing against each other to global tournaments with professional gamers vying for the prize pool.

Esports became a phenomenon that gained popularity and a worldwide audience, with multiplayer games like Dota 2, Valorant, League of Legends, Call of Duty and Rainbow Siege dominating the esports tournament scene. 

Nowadays, countless matches and tournaments take place annually. Aside from the prestige of winning titles within tournaments, there are also cash prizes that can reach up to millions of dollars.

How esports tournaments work

There are different esports tournament formats that you should know before you start betting. Some of these formats overlap with each other depending on how the games are played, as well as the tournament goals. Knowing how each format works can help you decide which teams or outcomes to bet on at Bitcasino. 

Open vs closed formats

Esports tournaments vary depending on whether they are open or closed to gamers. Open tournaments allow anyone to participate as long as they fulfil specific requirements, while closed ones are purely invitational.

Open tournaments allow teams to participate and pass registration requirements even if they aren’t from the region. As long as you qualify for the tournament, you’d be able to play. Closed tournaments do not allow outsiders to enter without invitation. This applies to exclusive tournaments supported by game developers. 

Global competitions such as The International and Call of Duty Championship only allow teams to play through invitation. These coordinators choose who will compete based on winning teams from Pro Circuit matches and regional league qualifiers. 

Some teams such as Evil Geniuses are often invited to Dota 2 global tournaments since they qualify in regional leagues and matches.

Match types

To determine a winner, esports games like Call of Duty: Global Offensive purges teams through a series of matches. This can come in three forms including: 

Tournament stages

Esports tournaments often take days or weeks to finish since players or teams undergo various rounds of elimination to determine the winner. These stages apply to team games to make things exciting for players and bettors alike. 

Group stage

This stage comes in a variety of formats. Some games pool players and split them into groups, while others are randomised and seeded. Here are the main types you should know: 

Swiss Seeding 

Larger tournaments with hundreds of teams signing up make it impossible for Round Robin or Double Round Robin to happen. This is where Swiss Seeding comes to play wherein opponents are drawn at random or through predetermined seeds during the first round. Whoever teams win the initial round will go against each other in the second round.

Teams will continue to fight other teams with a similar score record until the grand finals. The rounds will be set by the organiser, enough to eliminate teams and move forward to the finals.

Playoffs or the knockout stage

From a group stage, often through a swiss seeding format, groups will compete against each other to qualify for the playoffs or the single elimination bracket. Those who qualified for the bracket will then compete to advance onto the next stage. 

Double elimination bracket

For larger tournaments, a double-elimination bracket is used to progress teams or players. It’s similar to the knockout stage with one major difference: losing teams can still qualify for the grand finals through the lower bracket. 

To advance towards the finals, a team needs to compete with an opponent. The winner will advance to the next stage while losing teams are dropped a bracket lower. Once the team loses in the lower bracket, they’ll be eliminated from the tournament. 

As an incentive, the teams that advance on the upper bracket are given a 1-0 advantage. Double elimination brackets often use BO1, BO3 and BO5 match types depending on the bracket. Lower bracket games are mostly done through the BO1 format while upper bracket games have higher stakes on BO3 and BO5 formats.

Global tournaments you should know

Competitions are the bread and butter of esports tournaments. This is where the best of the best in each game and regional matches prove themselves worthy of the championship title. Bet on the teams, players and outcomes of these global tournaments here at Bitcasino!

League of Legends World Championship

The League championship is the most awaited League of Legends (LoL) tournament of the season. It’s supported by the game’s founder, Riot Games that invites top teams and players all over the world to compete for the 70-pound trophy called the Summoner’s Cup and a prize pool of up to US$10 million. 

This tournament brings together more than 100 million viewers during its run. It’s the championship that has the strongest and highest viewership among all global esports tournaments which makes betting for the outcome all the more exciting. 

Partnering with various gaming organisations, the strongest LoL teams have proven their worth in the championship’s decade-long dominance in esports tournaments. The matches are also filled with dramatic and emotional moments from the players that are inspiring to watch.

The International

The International remains the biggest, most influential and prestigious tournament in the world of esports. It’s been around since 2011 when Valve held the first tournament in Germany with a prize pool of US$1.6 million which was considered huge during the early years of esports. Today, the prize pool is around US$40 million.

Teams and gaming organisations including Evil Geniuses are invited to play for The International. Some teams are also invited based on their standing in their respective leagues and at the Dota Major Championship series. 

What makes The International an institution in the esports industry is its crowdfunding beginnings. Valve implemented this model in 2013, allowing enthusiasts and gamers alike to fund the whole event and the prize pool through generous donations.

This tournament is highly competitive and takes place every August of the year in various places. For 6 seasons, The International took place in KeyArena Seattle. This is where Evil Geniuses won their championship title in 2015. 

Let the tournament unfold and bet for your predicted game outcomes here at Bitcasino! Be part of the exciting journey of these Dota teams and leagues by wagering on each match. 

EVO Championship Series

When it comes to the oldest and most successful fighting game tournament, EVO Championship Series reigns supreme. This tournament that was previously coined as the Battle of the Bay started small in 1996 and featured matches for games including Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2. 

By 2004, the whole series gained popularity among the gaming community since the tournament transitioned into seventh-generation console games. EVO continued to grow in the esports scene and now hosts a plethora of fighting games such as:

• Mortal Kombat
• Super Smash Bros
• Pokemon Tournaments 
• Tekken games

The tournament is open for all gamers bold enough to compete against pro gamers of console titles. Through its double-elimination format, you’ll have the time of your life following the drama and emotional journey of each player to the grand finals. 

EVO Championship isn’t going anywhere so it’s time you take a leap of faith and bet on your favourite teams at Bitcasino! You can also bet on tournament outcomes once you sign up for an account. 

Fortnite World Cup

Fortnite is one of the most recent mobile games that quickly gained popularity in just a few years. The game was released by Epic Games in 2017 and had a successful turnover in the next few years. This led to the developers creating Fortnite World Cup, the official tournament for the game. 

The tournament was first held in Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, United States with a prize pool of around US$30 million. It was the largest prize pool in esports history at the time.

Events in the world cup utilise two of the official game modes namely Fortnite Battle Royale and Fortnite Creative. Players can opt for solo events or two-player teams when participating in the tournament. Although, it focuses more on solo players than the duo events, hailing the last man standing as the ultimate champion of the series. 

Bet for your favourite Fortnite players when you create an account at Bitcasino. Watch how the games unfold and wager for the last man standing in the Fortnite World Cup.

Call of Duty World Championship

Call of Duty is considered as one of the most popular first-person shooter games in the world. It was franchised by Activision with the help of prominent game developers to make the experience exciting and competitive. This led to the birth of the Call of Duty World Championship that made the game more popular worldwide. 

The tournament was created to determine the year’s best players by letting teams compete for the championship title and the prize pool of around US$2 million. Teams that have qualified for the tournament will be sorted into groups until everyone has been eliminated except for the top 3 teams and they would compete for a double elimination in the grand finals. 

The game has a variety of versions featured in each tournament every year. This includes:

• Black Ops II
• Ghosts
• Advanced Warfare
• Black Ops 4 
• Modern Warfare 

This world championship has a prize pool that is significantly lower compared to other global tournaments but it also has a large fanbase. Most gamers enjoy Call of Duty for its novelty and the adrenaline rush of anticipating which teams would emerge victoriously. Bet for your favourites here at Bitcasino and watch as each team competes voraciously for the title!

Intel Extreme Masters

The Intel Extreme Masters World Championship tournament is considered the longest-running pro gaming tour in the world. It is a series of esports tournaments that are held in various locations all over the globe. 

It is under the Electronic Sports League (ESL) management in partnership with Valve and has continued to dominate the esports scene since 2006. 

This tournament has had 15 seasons since its inception and featured multiple games including:

• Counter-Strike 1.6
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• World of Warcraft
• Quake Live
• Dota
• StarCraft II
• League of Legends

It’s one of the most attended esports tournaments in the world with a prize pool of up to US$2.5 million. Betting for your favourite teams and the outcomes in the elimination rounds will fuel your desire to win here at Bitcasino!

Halo World Championship

As part of the ESL initiative in partnership with developers Microsoft and 343 Industries, Halo World Championship was born in 2004. It’s the biggest event in the Halo competitive scene and propelled teams like Evil Geniuses, Domination and OpTic into popularity on the esports scene. 

The tournament gathers at least over a million in unique viewership across various platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and Microsoft’s gaming site Beam. This makes it one of the most popular and successful global tournaments when it comes to first-person shooter games.

Evil Geniuses won two consecutive seasons in the championship in 2014 and 2015, collecting a part of the prize pool of around US$1 million. You can root for your favourites here at Bitcasino when you sign up and start betting for the upcoming season of the Halo World Championship. 

Start your betting journey at Bitcasino!

With its massive viewership and multi-million dollar profits for tournaments, esports is here to stay. It’s time to join the movement and be in the know with the latest updates and important events happening in the esports scene. 

You can access different betting options using your Bitcasino accounts. Sit back, relax and bet for your favourites and various game outcomes through these betting types at Bitcasino: 

• In-play – Bet for teams and game outcomes while the tournament is still ongoing.
• Next 24-hours – Place your bets for your favourite teams a day before the game begins. 
• Future – Feeling lucky with your team’s chances of winning? Bet for their odds through the future betting option!
• Outright betting – Bet on the overall winner for the most awaited tournament of the season.
• Match Winner – Make a bold claim and predict which team will emerge victorious in the matches of your favourite championship series. 
• Tournament Winner – Have a good idea of how the tournament will unfold? Bet for the winning team and win incredulous payouts when you hit the jackpot. 

What are you waiting for? Sign up for an account and start your esports journey today. Access numerous odds analyses, esports betting strategies, news updates and current betting options here at Bitcasino. 

Enjoy as the drama and action in each tournament unfold and bet for the winning team in your favourite esports tournaments!