Bouke Vogelaar is an esports fan and keen Counter-Strike bettor. We've asked Boukev, as he is known to his friends in the Luckbox Discord server, to share his CS:GO betting tips to, hopefully, help you make your own winning selections...
Flashpoint Season 1
Team Envy vs Cloud9
What's your prediction?
As the last teams try to make it to the overall playoffs Team Envy will have to once again win from Cloud9 after their 2-1 victory last week. While their chances of actually reaching the playoffs are slim this step is a requirement.
Envy's last victory was almost fully made possible by an outstanding performance of Calyx. This time I am not expecting Cloud9 to be surprised and, even though they are already placed for the playoffs, I assume they will not allow another loss to their honor.
Boukev's best bet: Cloud9 to win vs Team Envy at 1.5x
Agree with Boukev? Make your predictions on Envy vs Cloud9.
Gen.G vs Dignitas
Dignitas and Gen.G are level on points in the Flashpoint Season 1 ranking and looking at the other teams points this match will probably decide which one of them makes it to the playoffs.
The veterans of Dignitas have had plenty of trouble getting victories in the Flashpoint tournament. With their points only from beating the Orgless team they have suffered losses against Gen.G and Cloud9.
While their reputation should give them plenty of faith from players the absence of hallzerk as the new blood seems to hurt them in this competition. Gen.G also has had problems getting the victories losing against MIBR and Chaos along the way. Overall, I would give Gen.G the benefit of the doubt and will have faith in Dignitas again when hallzerk is back on the team.
Boukev's best bet: Gen.G to win vs Dignitas at 1.6x - make your Gen.G vs Dignitas predictions now
Previous CS:GO betting tips
Gen.G vs Chaos Esports Club
In the second week of Flashpoint 1 we see the two winners from the first week in a match to battle out who gets the ticket for the Grand final match of group B.
Now in an online format, it is hard to predict how outcomes will change due to all the differing circumstances players are faced with. Chaos Esports Club are playing this tournament with Hunter "SicK" Mims as a replacement for Ben "ben1337" Smith.
SicK has the potential to go mad in games - in the week-one match versus MIBR, we saw nice 1v2 clutches by SicK. While his individual skill should be able to match Gen.G on their good days, the match results of late are definitely speaking for a Gen.G victory in this match.
Gen.G have played about 18 maps with the current line-up and won 16 of them including North, Furia, ENCE and Chaos. Interestingly, SicK who now plays for Chaos has been a stand-in for Gen.G as well playing at least 16 maps with them. His 16 maps will not be enough to get a full grasp of all the strategies from Gen.G but some information might be used in Chaos's favor.
In summary, I have been very impressed by Gen.G so far and I am preciting a continuation of their improvements that they have started this year.
Boukev's best bet: Gen.G to win vs Chaos esports club at 1.5x - bet and watch Gen.G vs Chaos live
Agree with Boukev? Get $5 free to make your CS:GO predictions at Luckbox.
HAVU vs c0ntact Gaming
The ex-CR4ZY squad named c0ntact since January will meet the all-Finnish HAVU Gaming in week two. Both teams will have to adjust to the new online format due to the Coronavirus but seem to have gotten a good location to set up their teams.
The coach from c0ntact Tweeted that: "c0ntact are giving us all needed to make us feel comfortable to be safe from the virus with food deliveries/water supplies/PCs at home (red. apartments in LA) to try avoid going out."
Meanwhile, HAVU Gaming and player sLowi both tweeted videos about their new hangout to play from also located in LA with high speed-internet and a decent looking setup for the short timeframe it was set up in.
It is unknown how these matchups will be affected in this new situation but single-language-speaking teams have an easier time adjusting to new settings and all the possible interaction and communication frictions that arrive in crisis situations.
Looking at in-game performance HAVU have also played way more matches in the past three months, with the players from c0ntact only playing one match since Dreamhack open in January. My bet is on HAVU to beat the odds and win against c0ntact.
Boukev's best bet: HAVU gaming to win vs c0ntact Gaming at 2.2x - bet and HAVU vs c0ntact Gaming
Orgless vs Dignitas
On Sunday the Canadian / USA group of players named Orgless have a match to play that might make them a bit starstruck.
With most players of orgless being 21 or 22 years old, they will have to face Dignitas, the veteran team of f0rest, GeT_Right, Xizt and Friberg from 2003's Legendary NIP team. The only 'young' member of Dignitas, rookie Hallzerk, is absent due to visa issues so another veteran, Guardian, has been brought in as a substitute for the Flashpoint tournament.
Anything can happen in CS:GO but the current recent results of Orgless are not an indication that they have the right ingredients to cause havoc among this team of legendary players now running under the Dignitas banner.
Boukev's best bet: Dignitas to win vs Orgless at 1.3x
Cloud9 vs FunPlus Phoenix
The organisation of the well-known LoL world champions FunPlus Phoenix have taken over the Danish Heroic roster and the Flashpoint tournament is their first chance to perform under their new organisation.
With the increase in funding and ambition that is brought by FunPlus it is interesting to see if the Danes can get the results they want. Even before the team change I would have picked Heroic as the favorite against the current Cloud9. Cloud9 seem to still be in a formative state getting good wins over NA and SA teams but lacking the momentum to break the foreign teams. I am expecting a decent win for Funplus Phoenix and would be surprised otherwise.
Boukev's best bet: Funplus Phoenix to win vs Cloud9 at 1.6x
ESL One Rio Closed Qualifiers
Mythic vs Chaos Esports Club
It is always dangerous in CS:GO to pick a "safe bet", since map picks and daily form can highly affect the outcome of any match but if I would need to pick a decently safe bet with a currently decent return I would pick the match of Mythic vs Chaos Esports Club.
Chaos have plenty of potential since their reshuffle in january with Smooya being a constant high hitter. Mythic hasn't really been tested against strong opponents but also isn't showing any impressive results against lower ranked teams.
I can't find any hints in their statistics that would indicate an ability to outperform Chaos. But as said, stranger things can happen but for me even the 1.35x return on a Chaos Esports Club bet seems juicy enough.
Boukev's best bet: Chaos Esports Club to win vs Mythic at 1.35x.
Agree with Boukev? Make your Mythic vs Chaos Esports Club predictions now.
Blast Premier Spring 2020 group C
100 Thieves vs G2 Esports
Another week and and another round of BLAST Premier. The former Renegades who ended up as 100 Thieves in November have been the spark of conversation during IEM Beijing at the end of 2019 with an okay follow up during the ESL Pro League finals. As Renegades they already had a decent following but with the name of 100 Thieves on their shirt a lot of interest has been generated.
This match will be the first official moment in which the public gets to gauge their current level and how much they benefit from the support of the 100 Thieves organization behind their name.
Meanwhile G2 has added Hunter and Nexa in October but seem to have remained on the same level as before. That would make this a highly interesting matchup that will tell a lot about the current form of both teams when the match is over.
For now I am expecting 100 Thieves to suffer from a bit of a lag in performance having to deal with such high expectations from the crowd at the start of the season which tips the scale into G2's favuor for me.
Boukev's best bet: G2 esports to win against the 100 Thieves at 2.0x - make your prediction - get $5 free
Evil Geniuses vs OG
The new OG currently feel like a tower of Babylon having five nationalities on their team who all seem strong individually but they haven't shown that special team-building sauce in their results yet.
Their victory against ENCE is the only real indication of their potential. Meanwhile the Evil Geniuses have been struggling since November after an amazing victorious run in the months prior.
They have had two months to regain their composure and they could also just win this match purely on individual skill alone. With Evil Geniuses in need of a good feeling I am hoping OG can take a map but the entire victory seems out of reach for now.
Boukev's best bet: Evil geniuses to win against OG with a 2-1 mapscore at 1.9x - make your bet now - create an account and start with $5 free
Blast Premier Spring 2020 group B
Na'Vi vs Team Vitality
Na'Vi vs Team Vitality is looking to be a coinflip all the way with even odds against both teams on almost all fronts. To gain an edge and beat the house it might be a good idea to look at possible map picks for these teams to see who might get on top in a best of three match.
With Vertigo and Train being likely bans in the first round it is highly likely the matches are being played on Nuke for Vitality and Dust2 for Na'Vi, which would create opportunities to play either Inferno or Overpass as the decider map.
Looking at these possible maps, I am picking Na'Vi as my final winner for their slightly stronger performance on Inferno.
Boukev's best bet: Navi to win against Team Vitality at 1.8x -
Astralis vs Complexity
With the first match of the day being a coinflip this match is shaping up to be the opposite.
It's clear Astralis are the huge favorite and the obvious choice is to expect a lopsided victory for Astralis vs Complexity. With Astralis already having a 82% winrate in the last three months I wouldn't state otherwise.
So, to gain an edge, we need to look if some of the more unlikely scenarios are still somewhat likely to occur. A return of 8x can be found betting on a Complexity win so even if they only win once in eight matches we find a break even point but they will have to take two maps from the Juggernaut.
If that scenario is way too unlikely for you betting on a 2-1 victory for Astralis gives Complexity two opportunities to give us a return of 3.8x which is my pick for this match.
Boukev's best bet: Astralis to win against Complexity with a score of 2-1 at 3.8x. Agree with Boukev? Make your predicitons now
Related: Dota 2 predictions
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Blast Premier Spring 2020 group A
Ninjas in pyjamas vs Faze clan
As the first big event of 2020 the Blast Premier Spring 2020 will give us plenty of information about the form of the top 20 teams in CS:GO.
Faze has had plenty of time to fully commit to Broky and Coldzera since their arrival at Faze in September while NiP has to get used to playing without f0rest after 7 and half years.
Ex-Gamerlegion player nawwk might have to get used to a role as a hybrid/second AWPer. Looking at both teams I predict Faze to win against a new NiP that has the potential to get stronger later in the year.
Boukev's best bet: Faze tp win vs NiP at 1.4x
Team liquid vs Mibr
You might become confused if you look at Team Liquid's win rate since September but with the end of year breaks in between and a quick look at the matches played you quickly realize that they have mostly lost against Astralis. Their map-win rate jumps from 55% to 70% if you discount their lost matches against Astralis.
Mibr on the other hand has struggled to reach a 50% winrate after meyern joined in December and has not broken 54% since September. Bookmakers seem to agree giving only 1.2x odds on Team Liquid's victory. Feeling confident that Team Liquid has almost the entire map pool under control (assuming Train is not played), I am taking a guess on them winning the Bo3 with a 2-0 score.
Boukev's best bet: Team Liquid to win vs Mibr with a map score of 2-0 at 1.7x
United Masters League
ARCY vs Copenhagen Flames
The United Masters League is a great way to get a good look at the most prominent teams of the European stage that play just outside the spotlight.
Familiar teams such as Sprout, BIG and ForZe battle it out to decide who is the best of the rest in Europe.
It's a great moment to watch up-and-coming teams and get knowledge to do some underdog betting when they happen to join a big tournament in 2020. The team ARCY is the rebranded Aristocracy team from Poland with veteran player Taz as captain after losing funding in November 2019.
Their results have been less than usual since but they have always been close to on par with the Danish Copenhagen Flames. Just like ARCY, the Copenhagen Flames pick up European B tournament wins from time to time but fail to break into the big leagues. Looking at this match I was expecting a 50/50 split in win-odds but the recent worsened results of ARCY put them at 2.6x for a win. I am not judging the Polish Power yet and feel they could win from the Danes.
Boukev's best bet: ARCY to win vs Copenhagen Flames at 2.6x - make your predictions now
Havu vs Illuminar Gaming
Havu gaming had a decent year in 2019, joining plenty of events and tournaments and gathering quite a lot of lower-level prize money along the way. Havu and Illuminar Gaming (former X-kom team) played each other at least 17 times in 2019 with most of the wins (10W-5L-2D) going to the Finnish Havu.
The Finns gained at least 50% more prize money in 2019, making them my favorite for this matchup. Take a special look at player ZOREE, of Havu, who has been getting in form in the last three months and is performing better than ever before.
Boukev's best bet: Havu to win vs Illuminar gaming at 1.6x - make your predictions now
EPICENTER 2019
Heroic vs forZe
Since I started to watch the Russian team forZe, I have been impressed with their play and considered them a top-10 team early on. While I lost some predictions with my faith in them, this EPICENTER 2019 tournament seems to be a renewed start of showing their potential.
With wins over EG and Virtus.pro (Ex-Avangar) they are on the right direction for now. Meanwhile, Heroic have been an solid but not overwhelming opponent for a long time now. Heroic win against lower-ranked teams (<#20) and lose against higher-ranked teams (>#20). With forZe's improvements in this tournament, I see them winning this matchup.
Boukev's best bet: ForZe to win vs Heroic at 1.8x - bet now
Related: The top CS:GO gambling sites of 2020
Evil Geniuses vs Na'Vi
The winter months have not been kind to Evil Geniuses so far. They looked close to unbeatable in October and September (77% WR) but have lost most of their flair in November and December matches during both their tournaments in Asia and during the ECS and ESL Pro playoffs (44% WR).
S1mple and the boys from Na'Vi have been doing their thing, with electronic stepping up from time to time they have performed like a top-10 team all year round but have a hard time actually winning a tournament.
All in all, I believe this match can go either way, with EG showing more of their old potential or Na'Vi just doing their thing and profiting from EG's winter blues. Due to the better odds on an EG victory, I am picking them to win.
Boukev's best bet: Evil Geniuses to win vs Na'vi at 2.2x - make your prediction
BLAST Pro Series Global Final
The island of Riffa in Bahrain will be the 2019 home of the Blast Pro Series Global Final in which four teams battle it out for the season finale. The format will be a double-elimination BO3 bracket over three days with a $500,000 prize pool.
The first matches will put FaZe up against NIP, while powerhouse Astralis will meet the young Team Liquid, who are growing eager for a trophy.
NIP vs FaZe
Looking at possible predictions the odds seem to suggest that FaZe will continue their current seven-win streak against NIP but I am betting on NIP to show up to this event and proof us wrong. This will require an highly activated plopski / f0rest combo that has shown success in recent events.
Boukev's Best Bet: NIP to win versus FaZe at 2.3x - make your prediction
Astralis vs Team Liquid
The Astralis vs Team Liquid clash is one match to pay special attention to as this is the moment for both teams to finalise the feelings about their performance in the past year.
Astralis are motivated to win to be able to end with another tournament victory in 2019 only confirming their dominance for another year. Even naysayers will have a hard time picking another number one team for the full 2019 year.
Team Liquid, on the other hand, enjoyed a strong first half of 2019 but failed to confirm finals in the second half of 2019. For Team Liquid, a win in the BLAST Pro Series event would provide a hopeful boost for 2020 and a welcome break from the last tournament results.
My bet will go to Astralis at this time because I feel the significantly younger Team Liquid might have trouble focusing in a venue like Bahrain even when tournament organiser BLAST Pro and the city will try their best to make them feel at home.
Boukev's Best Bet: Astralis to win versus Team Liquid at 1.4x - make your prediction
If things happen as predicted I assume Both Astralis and Team Liquid to make quick work of NIP and FaZe in the semifinals and continue their fight again in the Grand Final. I know I will be watching!
ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals predictions
Between December 3rd and December 8th, 16 teams will battle for the 2019 season of ESL Pro League with a $600,000 prize pool to be divided in Odense, Denmark.
Astralis are fresh from victory at ECS Season 8 Finals, winning in convincing fashion and are again our favorites for the overall victory. They just have to beat the home soil jitters, considering the fact they normally perform better outside of Denmark. For now let's consider some potential betting opportunities for the first round.
Check the Full ESL Pro League Odense schedule.
MIBR vs FaZe Clan
With a strong performance at IEM Beijing, FaZe may have found some new energy in their team. Their last matches in the Pro league have also been great, beating both Vitality and Fnatic.
MIBR performed in keeping with their #14 HLTV rank in recent times. Swaying my bet is the fact that FaZe's coldzera might have inside information about their dominant strategies which could help Faze greatly in this match up against coldzera's former team.
Boukev's best bet: FaZe clan to win vs MIBR at 1.6x
Fnatic vs Evil Geniuses
The star match of the first round is without a doubt this titanic battle between Fnatic and Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses currently have the upper hand in odds especially since their double victory over Fnatic during the StarSeries.
But without any statistic of result to back me up, I do feel like Fnatic have been performing better in the last months. So I am betting on Fnatic to win this time.
Boukev's best bet: Fnatic to win vs Evil Geniuses at 2.1x
Heroic vs 100 Thieves
In my mind Heroic has been an "almost great" team for ages now. They consistently beat lower-ranked teams and should be ready to start getting some results against the best teams but never seem to shine at the right moment. They remain a dangerous outsider.
Meanwhile, 100 Thieves have only started to perform better after their new name and have only suffered against Astralis. For this match, I am betting on 100 Thieves to win and I remain happy with Heroic increasing the odds and potential winnings.
Boukev's best bet: 100 Thieves to win vs Heroic at 1.6x
