Top DOTA 2 Betting Sites

Bovada

No surprises here. Bovada is one of the best homes for essentially every single sport. And that makes it an easy in for our list of Top DOTA 2 Betting Sites.

Their wager-type selection is pretty basic; you’re looking at moneyline odds on single matches and entire tournaments. They do, however, make their Dota 2 lines available pretty far out in advance, assuming the individual head-to-heads have already been set up.

Bovada also provides some nice live-betting options on Dota 2. They offer not only real-time moneyline odds, but also spreads, in which you can wager on how many games a given team takes the match by.

For example, let’s say you bet on Team X to defeat Team Y at a -1.5 spread. Team X needs to beat Team Y by two games for your wager to hit. Conversely, if you gamble on Team Y at +1.5, they need to lose by fewer than two games or win for your bet to be successful.

SportsBetting.ag has DOTA props

We really like SportsBetting.ag as one of the top DOTA 2 betting sites wager specifically because of their organization. Odds for Major tournaments and The Invitational aren’t just found in an esports section. Dota 2 has its own section, replete with lines that are presented in order of the soonest start time.

Everything after that is pretty basic, which is a good thing. You’ll have access to the usual single-matchup lines and tournament-winner odds. You’ll also get a look at pre-match props once you get closer to the opening countdown. SportsBetting.ag’s individual wager box for each matchup will even let you know how many different prop lines are available. If you wish to check them out, all you have to do is click on the link, and you’re done.

There are also more props in general from which to choose at SportsBetting.ag. You can wager on things such as the first team to 10 kills, the first team to draw blood, the character or team who will destroy the most towers, etc.

Early DOTA lines at BetNow

Dota 2 bettors will find BetNow spectacular for early released lines. They don’t mess around. They have single-matchup odds out almost as soon as the fight cards are set, and they’re known to have future lines on The Invitational months in advance, with the caveat that the actual qualifying list isn’t etched in stone that soon. 

Don’t be scared off by that. It’s just like any other sport. You can be on the Cleveland Browns winning the NFL’s next Super Bowl before the season even starts; that doesn’t mean they’ll end up making the playoffs. This is the same idea.

BetNow is also sure to have spreads set pretty quickly as well. Just remember that you’re dealing with baseball, soccer or hockey style spreads. They’re going to range from 0.5 to 1.5 and won’t get any higher. Final scores are always 2-1 or 2-0.

BetOnline

Kudos to BetOnline for making the Dota 2 experience an interesting one. They have all the usual gambling fare available, from moneylines and spreads to future odds at the beginning of each Dota Pro Circuit Season. They’re also good about having individual props set up for each Major tournament, though this is another instance where you’ll need to wait until closer to start times before they’re bettable.

BetOnline really begins to separate themselves from other top DOTA 2 betting sites with specials on The Invitational. Usually, they’ll run something pertaining to underdogs. Most recently, they ran a “free roll” tournament in which you could select one of nine underdogs to make it out of the first group stage. If you were successful you’d get a share of a predetermined prize pool that would be divvied up among everyone who also made your pick. It’s a fun little way to stay involved, without actually spending any money.

Another good thing about BetOnline is they sometimes run these same free rolls for Major tournaments in addition to some of the consolation brackets. They are likewise really good about offering plenty of live-stream options as well, so you can follow the outcome of your wager as it happens.

BetOnline even caters to individual map settings. There are different choices within each game for which locale the teams are playing on. Not many sportsbooks will include props on which maps are chosen or the specific character-related assignments within them, but BetOnline does as part of their extensive live-wagering package.

Dota 2 Betting

Pretty much every sports bettor should be familiar with esports now. It is a booming industry, and one that doesn’t appear to be anywhere near a decline. More than $8 billion alone was wagered on esports during 2019, and that figure is supposed to more than double in 2020.

The only appropriate word here is whoa! That’s a lot of coin. And it makes sense. We live in an increasingly technological world. It is only fitting that esports would be on the rise now. Even live-sports teams are joining in on the movement. Franchises from the NBA now have an NBA 2k league, with a draft, free agency, contracts, large tournaments and everything.

Online gaming sites have, naturally, followed the wave. If you can find a sportsbook that doesn’t allow you to bet on esports, well, it’s time to find another sportsbook. Some sites offer more of a selection than others, but there are a few games that are must-have options, due to their overwhelming popularity.

Among these mainstream options  is Dota 2—also known as Defense of the Ancients 2, a sequel to the original Defense of the Ancients. You can count the number of games that get more play on one hand. In 2019, Dota has an estimated 11.2 monthly users. That is beyond nuts.

Top DOTA 2 betting sites are loaded with information as a result—tournaments, start times and, of course, betting odds. But how do you go about betting on Dota 2? And where are the best places to do it? And, frankly, what is it? We’ve got all the information you could ever need right here.

What is Dota 2?

Dota 2 is considered a multiplayer game, with two teams consisting of five players apiece. Each squad must defend their own base on a map, and every individual player controls their own specific character, which is called a “hero.” Every one of these heroes has their own special set of abilities and, thus, contrasting play styles. During play, users aim to have their heroes collect experience points and items, which will in turn allow them to defeat the rival squad’s players in heroe-vs.-hero head-to-heads. 

Winning is represented by a singular accomplishment: destroying the opposing team’s “Ancient,” which is a large structure located within each squad’s base. The game has ended once this happens.

If this sounds similar to another game, you’re not far off. The popular esport League of Legends follows a similar format, though there are drastic differences. If you’re new to the Dota 2 scene, it’s important to note that it’s difficult to predict how long each match lasts. The average competition will span between 30 and 40 minutes, but they have been known to end in as little as 15 minutes and last as long as 170 minutes. Typically, the lengthier matches will be played at the highest levels, under the highest stakes, since that’s when the cream of the crop are going up against one another.

Dota 2 Tournaments and Seasons

Since Dota 2 results are based on matchmaking rankings—called MMR for short—it can be difficult to predict the exact end of a season. Typically, though, most campaigns last around seven months. During the offseason, any battles played do not count toward any individual rankings.

Beginning in 2017, the Dota Pro Circuit was introduced, so that the game could be played at a more competitive level on an international scale, and to also help decide which teams received an invite to The International, a tournament we’ll speak about in just a minute.

The Dota Pro Circuit consists of Majors, which in essence are sponsored tournament that includes two teams apiece from the North American, South American, Southeast Asian, Chinese, European and CIS regions. The prize pools for these individual events have gotten pretty steep over the years, most recently reaching a minimum of $500,000. 

Each Dota Pro Circuit season finishes with a local area network (LAN) finals. They set it up this way so that even team members needn’t be in the same location to compete. These are great things to check out at top DOTA 2 betting sites. 

Anyway, squads receive points based on how they perform in all these tournaments. The top twelve teams at the end of each season earn automatic bids to The International. Another six teams are sent based on who wins a playoff bracket in each of the six regions mentioned above.

However, because points are awarded to entire teams rather than individual players, the competitions committee needed a way to preserve lineup continuity. Now, if a team changes players in the middle of a season, it costs them 20 percent of their total points.

Biggest Dota Championship Games

The International is considered the main Dota 2 championship event. It comprises the 12 teams who top the standings on the Dota Pro Circuit, plus the six individual winners of regional playoff brackets.

Just to give you a sense of how popular it is, the most recent championship, in 2019, drew over 1.1 million viewers for the final round. For the record, that’s more than some title bouts in live sports get.

Oddly enough, the prize pool for this tournament has been crowdfunded for nearly a decade, which shows you just how much interest people have in Dota 2. The most recent event included a $34 million pot, and experts expect that number to remain on an upward trajectory.

At the end of The Invitational, the final team standing receives what is called Aegis of Champions trophy. And just to give you an idea of how much the landscape changes, there is only one team in the history of the tournament to win it more than once.

Dota Betting Types

Like many other esports, Dota betting odds focus on the two different wager types: matchup winners and moneyline odds on entire tournaments.

Selecting matchup winners is straightforward enough. You’re picking one team to beat another in a single battle that’s part of a larger tournament. For the moneyline odds on an entire tournament, you’re attempting to predict who will win the entire event. Though the latter is infinitely harder to hit on, the payouts are also far more lucrative.

Many top DOTA 2 betting sites also allow you to bet props on Dota 2 matchups and tournaments. These lines are also straightforward. The most popular ones include the over/under on the length of matches, which character racks up the most points and so on and so forth.