Dota 2 Betting 2025 Guide: How to Bet on Dota 2

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Best Dota 2 Betting Sites and Offers in 2025

Let’s kick off our Dota 2 betting guide with a breakdown of the top Dota 2 betting sites and their respective bonuses and offers. If you’re going to take part in Dota 2 gambling, you’ll really want to make sure you’re using one of these sites, as they’re all reputable, reliable, and popular.

Dota 2 Betting: Everything You Need to Know

Dota 2 is a free-to-play video game created and published by Valve Corporation. It’s one of the most successful esports games ever, and it is one of the biggest MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arena) games out there with millions of active players.

There are hundreds of professional teams and a professional circuit that holds around 25 big tournaments per year. Recent changes to the DPC will be changing the landscape of professional Dota. But rest assured that betting on Dota 2 is one of the best ways to add a bit more excitement to these events.

The major Dota 2 tournaments bring in arenas of thousands of fans. Even the minor tournaments have impressive prize pools, with majors typically giving away millions to their contestants. At the end of this circuit, a world championship takes place, The International.

This event brings together the best Dota 2 teams from 6 different regions: Europe, CIS, China, Southeast Asia, North America, and South America. It’s the culmination of the game for the year, and always a big draw. Dota 2 betting sites offering odds on this event can make even the biggest Dota 2 tournament more exciting.

Tundra Esports won The International in 2022. Source: Dota2TI on Twitter

How is Competitive Dota 2 Played?

Dota 2 is a complex game to learn. There is an awful lot going on, but even with all this complication high skill teams and the best Dota 2 players can do remarkable things with the game. Each match is played between two teams of five, in an area split down the centre. You’ll need to know how the more complex mechanics work to bet on Dota 2.

A game can last anywhere between 15 and 75 minutes, with a mixture of real-time strategy and role-playing game elements. Players pick heroes out of a pool of 124 possibilities. This isn’t just a choice of picking the best Dota 2 heroes, it also has to synchronise with their teammates in order to bring down the opposition’s Ancient, which is the most important structure inside a team’s base. When this building collapses, the game is over. The game itself is actually Defense of the Ancients 2, so it’s all about that ancient when you’re looking to gamble on it.

As the games are relatively long, Dota 2 betting live is a popular practice – there’s plenty of time for punters to determine what’s going to happen in a match and place wagers on it.

Three Reasons Why Dota 2 Betting is so Popular

1. Backing the best Dota 2 teams

As Dota 2 is a team sport, you can have a great time working out which legendary Dota 2 teams to back. Whether you are doing some Dota betting on a top European side like Team Liquid, or a tough Chinese organization like LGD Gaming, there’s something endlessly enjoyable about watching these incredible gamers win you some decent profits.

2. Take part in the greatest Dota 2 tournaments

We all know how Dota 2 tournaments like The International regularly provide some of the biggest prize pools in esports. And even if we can’t take our share of the multi-million dollar sums that are awarded to the winners, we can all try betting on Dota for a similarly profitable outcome.

3. Picking the most profitable Dota 2 bets

And as more bookies are starting to offer decent Dota 2 bets, it’s also great fun to hunt down the most profitable odds out there. This is something that can get even more thrilling when you use a resource like Esports.net to compare how different bookies are rating your favourite Dota 2 teams and players.

How to Make a Dota 2 Bet:Use Your Knowledge

Dota 2 is a considerably complex game, and so is the practice of betting on it. If you’re new to Dota or looking to bet on Dota for the first time, there are some things you should know. This is everything you need to get the most out of betting on Dota 2.

Research the game

Some people criticize Dota 2 for having a steep learning curve and too much complexity, but these are precisely the main reasons why betting on Dota 2 can be such a rewarding activity. After all, it’s only by having a decent understanding of the main gameplay features of Dota 2 that you are going to be able to win your Dota 2 bets.

There is a lot more to Dota than just defending and destroying the ancients. If you want to have fun betting, you’ll need to know the teams and the league. Past results can be as helpful to betting on Dota 2 as a cheat sheet in another game. Knowing about the past form of the top players and teams is vital if you want to make smart Dota 2 bets with money. In addition to this, many people have found that they need to do some homework on how different players perform in the different ‘hero’ roles in the game.

So that whether they are playing as an Earth Spirit, a Dragon Knight, or even a Legion Commander, we can try and predict how this will influence their team’s overall success. The best bookmakers will give you great Dota 2 odds if you’re going for the right team and predicting success.

What Tournaments Can You Bet On?

Dota 2 has regular tournaments throughout the year, the biggest is the International. Now that Valve has announced there will be no more Dota Pro Circuit tournaments, things are a little more up in the air. However, with the next year of Dota confirmed, fans can expect a plethora of new tournaments to be announced. In fact, ESL have confirmed the ESL Pro Tour for 2024 and beyond.

Markets That The Bookmakers Offer

Fascinating betting options

Just as players of Dota 2 can select many different ‘heroes’, you can also enjoy lots of different Dota 2 gambling markets with the Dota 2 betting sites. Betting markets are the different scenarios that bookies offer odds on. So that if you wanted to bet on Natus Vincere to win the next International, or hoped to win some money on OG reaching the final of the next Major, then these are betting markets that most esports betting sites should cover.

What’s great is that more bookmakers are now starting to include betting markets on some of the more specialist aspects of the Dota 2 game. It’s always good when you’re taking advantage of a Dota 2 betting site with real money.

This means that you can now find bookies who will help you lay down some bets on the team to draw blood, the first team to get fifteen kills or even the team to slay the first Roshan. Dota 2 gambling now has a lot of different options open to you. You can also take some decent two-way bets that can give you a touch of insurance when trying out some Dota 2 betting.

Whether you are betting on the team to destroy the first barracks, or are even wagering on the region of the winner of the next International, it seems that the gambling markets for betting on Dota 2 are opening up all of the time.

These are some of the main markets you can bet on DOTA 2 in:

Betting on a Match Result

This is the simplest type of esports betting, you can pick which is going to win a match. Dota 2 matches are usually played in a Bo1, Bo3 or Bo5 (only Grand Finals) format, meaning that the winner is decided by going through a maximum of 1, 3, or 5 games, maps or rounds (the equivalent of sets in Tennis). For some tournaments, the organizers choose a format that includes Bo2 matches, such as Dreamleague. These types of matches can also end in a draw. You’ll be able to do these bets on Dota 2 on pretty much any site, although some will give you better Dota 2 odds.

Betting on a Match Result with a Map Handicap/Advantage

Bookies offer handicaps or advantages to teams based on how their performance is expected. So if a game seems like an easy win, this market will level things out a bit. For instance, betting that team A will win a match with a 1.5 map handicap against team B means that you believe team A is going to win the match with a score of 2 – 0. If it wins with a score of 2 – 1, your bet will be lost because of the handicap, which makes the final score 0.5 – 1 in favour of Team B.

In exactly the same way, if you bet that team A will win a Bo3 match with a 1.5 map advantage against team B, this means that you believe team A is going to win at least 1 game against team B. If it does that, even if this team loses the match with the score of 1 – 2, the real score after adding its advantage will be 2.5 – 2. This one is more complicated, but it evens out the odds of mismatched teams. The best Dota 2 betting sites will offer plenty of these.

Betting on the Occurrence of an Event

This is a type of bet in Dota 2 that allows you to bet on a certain event that takes place during a certain game. Examples include: an Aegis of the Immortal being stolen by any of the teams, an Animal Courier getting killed, a player getting a Godlike streak (9 consecutive kills dying), or a player getting a Rampage (5 kills in quick succession). Keep up with Dota 2 news to get a handle on how common these events are.

Betting on the Team which will be the first to accomplish something

This type of bet allows you to pick which team will be the one to do something within a particular game of the match. For instance, you may be able to choose the team that will kill the first Roshan, destroys the first Tower or Barracks, gets the first kill (First Blood), or be the first to get 10 kills on the scoreboard. The best Dota 2 betting sites are going to offer you a lot of different choices in this area. However, this can be a bit harder to predict. Even if a team is likely to win, it is harder to judge that they’ll be the first to achieve a specific thing.

Betting on the tournament winner

This type of bet is available before the start of a tournament, allowing you to pick the team that you believe is going to claim the title. The odds on things like this are probably going to be quite high, even for favourites since there are a lot of unknowns at play.

Betting on the tournament finalist

This type of bet is available before the start of a tournament, allowing you to pick a team that you believe is going to qualify for the Finals. As with betting on the winners, this type of Dota 2 is more unpredictable.

Betting on a tournament statistic

This type of bet is generally available before the start of very important tournaments, such as The International, allowing you to bet on things like the most picked hero (throughout the entire tournament), the most banned hero, the hero with the highest GPM (gold per minute) within a game, the player with the most number of kills within a game, and other statistics of this kind.

Which Dota 2 Players Can You Bet On?

Only the best players

Although Dota 2 now has a reported ten million players worldwide, you won’t be betting on all of them! You’ll only want to bet on the Dota 2 players who are operating at the top level of the game.

So, rather than losing money on the misguided playing antics of Dota 2 newbies, most bookmakers will be offering odds on the top competitions that only feature the world’s best Dota 2 players. As a result, you can look forward to placing your betting on Dota 2 stars like Quinn and dyracho who have helped Gaimin Gladiators become a major force in this exciting realm. And watch out for some of the current Dota 2 stars like Mind Control, Kiyotaka, and Boxi who can also help you get some decent payouts on your Dota betting.

Whilst there is plenty of debate about who is the best Dota 2 player in the world, if you see a bookie offering generous betting odds on any team containing legends like Ceb, Ame or Nisha, you’ll know that this could be a good Dota betting option. But regardless of whether you are backing a rising European star-like Nine or an established Korean player like QO, you should always check into Esports.net to make sure that you are betting on Dota with the best odds possible.

Source: ESL

Top Three Reasons to Try Dota 2 Betting Today

1. It’s Fun and Can Be Profitable

Just in case you had any doubts, here are three great reasons why you need to place an esports bet right now.
Great way to boost your enjoyment of esports

Regardless of whether you’re watching Dota 2 matches or a Super Smash Bros battle, we all can agree that the on-screen action gets a whole lot most interesting when you have some money riding on the winner.

2. The Bookies are Offering Great Odds and Tempting Promotions

More and more bookmakers are now including esports as part of their betting options. And we’ve seen how some bookies are starting to provide evermore generous welcome bonuses like the MyStake bonus and tempting odds to get new customers. So be sure to take them up on their offer whilst the going’s good.

3. There are More Games Being Featured Each Year

And, if you eventually get bored betting on Dota, then fear not as there are more great games being added to bookmakers’ websites each year.

Recently we’ve seen titles like Valorant and PUBG become major hits in the esports gambling world, and it’s going to be fascinating to see which game will become the next esports sensation.

What Are The Different Types of Dota 2 Gambling?

There are more things to do in the Dota 2 gambling space than just bet on the tournaments themselves. For instance, a punter could make use of the best Dota 2 skin betting sites, where players venture to place bets on various esports games using Dota 2 skins as credit.

It’s an age-old practice that has been popularised by Counter-Strike skin betting, but it’s also a thing in the Dota 2 community. It simply requires a bettor to have access to some Dota 2 betting items (the skins themselves), and a good, reputable platform.

As it’s a relatively grey area in the world of gambling, most publications will avoid directing you to a skin-betting website. However, if you make use of Dota 2 betting Reddit forums, you may see a few tips scattered around that will get you on the right path to what you’re looking for.

The Best Dota 2 Tournaments Are Record-Breakers

Source: Valve

Global Dota 2 entertainment

As Dota 2 gaming is a worldwide phenomenon, you can expect to be able to place a bet on this classic battle arena title at any hour of the day. Whether you are betting on the legendary International tournament in Seattle, or the Perfect World Masters in Shanghai, you are sure to find some great odds being offered on Dota no matter what time zone you are in.

Obviously, it’s The International that receives the greatest amount of attention when betting on Dota 2 world. This legendary competition regularly produces record-breaking prize pools for its star players. But even when the dust has settled on this epic gaming event, there’s plenty more Dota 2 action out there. Events like the recent Boston Major showed how the ‘majors’ are starting to get many bookmakers interested in providing odds on these competitions.

And with the Dota Pro Circuit giving us all a regular dose of top-level entertainment, it’s clear that we’ll have a calendar full of Dota 2 esports betting to look forward to. But regardless of whether you are betting on the Global Grand Masters or the Captains Draft, be sure to check back with Esports.net to make sure that you are getting the best odds from the bookies.

There are so many Dota 2 esports tournaments every year, it’s insane.

Why is Dota 2 Betting Different From Traditional Sports Betting?

Know the Key Differences

For most regular sports, the normal sports bookmakers have things down. However, offering great odds on the football doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best spot for esports.

There are Dota 2 tournaments with matches of all sizes taking place all over the world. Not every bookmaker offers the best odds on all of them. Equally, it can take a bit of time for you to get used to the names of the teams, and the players who can give you some confidence when placing a bet.

The normal approach of going for the big names in each sport might not apply when you are betting on Dota 2. There’s something about the unpredictability of Dota 2 betting that’s capable of providing some decent payouts.

As there is more chance of a big upset, it means that you have a better chance of getting one over on the bookies who haven’t recognized the talents of a promising new team. So whilst gambling on Dota 2 can be a leap into the unknown, it’s a great way to add to the excitement to your viewing.

Dota 2 Team Betting: Best Dota 2 Teams to Bet On

Which Ones Are The All-Time Greats?

Despite the unfamiliarity of many Dota 2 team names, there are a few organizations who have helped punters place some bets with a reasonable degree of confidence.

• OG had been the Dota 2 team to watch for many years. The European organization had a string of big successes that included resounding wins at the Dota 2 Major Championship in Frankfurt in 2015, and a surprise triumph at the Manila Major in 2016. They went on to become the only team in Dota history to win The International twice, let alone consecutively.
• But as Dota 2 has grown in popularity, it has seen many more great teams forming a formidable challenge. Western Europe’s Gaimin Gladiators have had a monumental rise to power in 2024, winning six S Tier tournaments in one year.
• It would also be unwise to bet against teams like Team Spirit. The underdog TI winners may have had a rough 2024 but they proved they’re here to stay at Riyadh Masters.

Dota 2 Betting Tips

These are some Dota 2 betting tips for doing as well as you can:

Know the Markets

Betting on the outcome of a match is the simplest way of betting in Dota 2, but it isn’t always the most exciting.

• Betting on specific game events and outcomes can be a bit more interesting and get you better odds.
• The odds of such an events are always significantly higher than the ones associated with a match victory in favour of the stronger team.
• Betting on specific game events is usually possible only when using the services of one of the esports-dedicated bookies such as Thunderpick Esports.

Most bookmakers don’t bother too much with their esports section and only provide odds for the matches themselves, going with a dedicated esports bookie is a better call. Do some research on your bookie beforehand. For example, if you’re using Betway it is best to read our Betway review to make sure you’re using the right site and getting the best bonus that you can.

Look for specific signals and drafting strategies

Look for hero compositions that are designed to put early-game pressure on the opponent.

• These are used against drafts that revolve around defending until the late game when the carry hero can overcome the entirely enemy line-up (Anti-Mage or Terrorblade drafts for example).
• In these scenarios, the team that goes for the early push draft will often be the one to kill the first Roshan.
• Especially if it has a hero like Troll Warlord or Ursa in its lineup.

Looking out for strategies can help you a lot when you’re betting on Dota 2. Dota 2 gambling isn’t going to be something you can predict entirely, but knowing a bit more about the deeper strategies at play can help you.

Stay informed

• New game patches, roster changes, stand-ins, and other similar events can significantly change the results of a match or a tournament.
• Subsequently, you need to stay informed about these things if you want to be successful as a Dota 2 bettor.
• These kind of changes are extremely common in Dota so it’s worth keeping your eye on Dota 2 news.

Only bet what you can afford to lose

Betting on Dota 2 can be a lot of fun, but you need to make sure it just stays fun. Damage control strategies that involve doubling down on betting aren’t the best solution. Make sure you only bet what you can afford to lose. This way, the game stays fun and betting makes watching games even more fun. If it comes more about the betting than the game, then you might need to cool off for a bit. Most bookies offer deposit limits that can help with this.

Dota 2 Match Betting: Your Options

Dota 2 esports betting gives punters plenty of options, with events taking place daily and round the clock. The most common bet that is offered by bookmakers is a simple match winner market where you choose the outright winner of a given battle. This is clearly the most straightforward wager to follow, but you have hundreds of other bets that can enhance the fun – these are known as prop bets and include markets such as “most kills”.

There are other recommended ways to enjoy Dota 2 match betting in all its glory, with most modern betting sites offering the following:

Dota 2 Live Betting

For the ultimate immersive experience, Dota 2 live betting is recommended. This is the option to bet in-match whilst the action is taking place. The odds will fluctuate as match dominance changes hands so it pays to keep a close eye on the match via a live stream.

Dota 2 Esports Crypto Betting

If you want to be at the cutting-edge of technology then you can go a step further and take part in Dota 2 esports crypto betting. This is available at many major online betting sites that accept cryptocurrencies; you simply deposit in your chosen currency and you can then use those funds to bet on Dota 2.

Find The Perfect Dota 2 Bookmaker

There are a lot of Dota 2 bookies out there. Since it is one of the biggest esports, most normal sports bookies even offer markets on Dota. To choose the best bookie though you’ve got to look at a few things. Offering a variety of markets and ways to bet is a bonus, some bookies much more than others. You’ve then got to look at the average odds for each bookie. They can vary quite greatly from site to site, so you’ll want to find the best odds for Dota 2 betting. Therefore, if you want to add a bit more excitement to Dota 2 events you should definitely try betting on Dota.

If you’re more of a mobile bettor, you’ll want to be tracking down the service that offers a Dota 2 betting app, so you can keep on the move while winning your wagers.

Who Offers the Best Bets

As Dota 2 is one of the most popular esports to bet on, you should be able to find a decent bookie offering you some good odds on this iconic battle arena title.

Traditional bookmakers like Betway have quickly adapted to the Dota 2 betting craze, and they now feature simple bets that allow you to wager on specific games and teams. However, their markets are more limited for games, they don’t cover as many events, and you might not be getting the best odds compared with more esports-centric bookies such Thunderpick. Going for one of these bookies will make it easier to bet on Dota 2 well.