StarCraft 2 Betting Sites in 2024

StarCraft II is one of the best strategy video games ever, and there’s no doubt about it.

When it comes to esteem, commercial success, and base of followers, StarCraft easily rivals virtually every top video game that has come out in the past decade.

Since first released over ten years ago, StarCraft 2 has achieved enormous success and a massive following, and it didn’t take long for the game to join the eSports scene.

The Best StarCraft 2 Betting Sites in 2021
Site name:	Available eSports	Welcome Bonus	License
GG.BET	Counter Strike, Dota 2, League of Legends, Fortnite, King of Glory, StarCraft, StarCraft 2, Valorant, etc.	$20 risk-free bet	Curacao Egaming Licensing Authority
Luckbox	Dota 2, Stacraft, StarCraft 2, CS: GO, League of Legends, Overwathc, Valorant, Call of Duty, Rainbow 6, etc.	100% match up to $/£/€100	Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
Betway eSports	League of Legends, Dota and CS:GO, Overwatch, Rainbow 6, World of Tanks, VALORANT, StarCraft 2	£30 free bet	U.K. Gambling Commission
arcanebet	CS: GO, StarCraft 2, Overwatch, King of Glory, League of Legends	100% match bonus up to £/€/$30	Government of Curacao
Spin Sports	Dota 2, CS: GO, KoG, StarCraft 2, Warcraft III, Valorant	100% match on initial deposit up to $200	Malta Gaming Authority

StarCraft 2 tournaments soon started to take place on a local and, eventually, international level, drawing in thousands of players and hundreds of thousands of spectators from across the world. And you know how it goes: if an eSports attracts a big enough audience, soon enough it becomes available for gambling.

What is eSports Betting?

E-sports, or electronic sports, are competitions organized for professional video gamers. First-person shooter (Counter-Strike), battle royale (Fortnite), fighting (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat), and real-time strategy games (Dota 2, League of Legends) are some of the most popular video game genres for eSports.

As one of the all-time best real-time strategy games, StarCraft 2 easily ranks among the top eSports in the world. The events organized for these games have been prominently featured on online eSports betting sites almost from the onset.

A Look at StarCraft 2 the Game

You can’t really talk about StarCraft 2 betting without first looking at the success of the game itself without which gambling on StarCraft would be impossible.

StarCraft 2 is a sci-fi real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released in 2010.

Blizzard Entertainment is unarguably one of the top, if not the top video game developer in the world. Virtually every game the company has released has turned into a massive hit. Most of their titles have become successful eSports. Combined, all Blizzard games have more than a billion admirers and players worldwide.

Though Blizzard has also produced hugely successful first-person shooter titles such as Overwatch, the real-time strategy (RTS) genre is what the company is most known for. Every real-time strategy (RTS) title blizzard has produced has turned to gold. World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Heroes of the Storm, Dota – you name it!

The StarCraft franchise is one of two Blizzard titles, along with Warcraft, that have had a singular impact both on multiplayer video gaming and the eSports gaming industry.

The StarCraft 2 saga, which first started in the 1990s, continued with the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in 2010. It was an instant commercial and critical success, selling nearly 2 million copies within 48 hours, making it the best-selling strategy game in the history of video gaming.

On the heels of Wings of Liberty’s success in 2013 came its sequel, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. In 2015, the StarCraft 2 franchise wrapped up with the release of StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void expansion pack.

StarCraft II – One of the Top eSports

StarCraft was a big enough success when it first launched in the late 1990s, and the emergence of the StarCraft II franchise in the 2010s only cemented its status as a cult game.

We can say that the original StarCraft game is responsible for the very genesis of eSports.

While having a massive international fanbase, we have to thank South Korea for popularizing StarCraft 2 eSports. In fact, of the nearly 10 million copies the game sold in the first decade of its release, almost half were sold in South Korea. It’s no wonder that the South Koreans have some of the best StarCraft 2 players. They even have special networks to watch StarCraft 2 and other competitive eSports events such as MBC Game and Ongamenet. The latter had a particular focus on covering every big and small StarCraft 2 tournament taking place in the country.

StarCraft II Gameplay

Each of the three StarCraft 2 titles practices an identical gaming style, albeit the Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void expansions come with modifications and tweaks to the multiplayer mode and units.

In the typical StarCraft 2 match, two players are placed on opposite sides of a specific map.

This StarCraft 2 expansion focuses on one of three distinct races: the human Terran, the parasitic Zerg, and the advanced humanoid Protoss. It is the same gaming style practiced at every StarCraft 2 tournament.

StarCraft 2 eSports tournaments are played strictly 1v1, though players can choose to be part of an individual team that they represent when competing in SC2 tournaments. In the single-player, there are multiple game modes other than multiplayer that can include teamwork against a common opponent.

In eSports, StarCraft 2 is one of the few games that focus on the development of an actual strategy, which often makes for extra-exciting duels between highly skilled and professional players.

Players focus on building their base from the ground up as they gather valuable resources, construct various buildings, and build a strong army to meet their opponent head-on, or surprise them in an ambush attack.

The aim of the game is simple: each player has to destroy the opponent’s base while defending their own to win the match.

A Short StarCraft II Betting Guide

We figure that for new players, some betting tips were to help players increase their chances of winning some real money. Betting on StarCraft 2 is easy, right? You choose a betting market with the most suitable odds, place a bet, and wait to cash out your winnings.

Well, for the experienced gambler it may be that easy, but not if you’ve never played the game yourself, or seen and wagered money for an actual StarCraft 2 eSports match.

Before you start betting on StarCraft, learn as much as possible about the players participating in the tournament and their respective teams. We recommend you check Liquipedia – the Wikipedia for all things eSports – and scan through some general information about each team and their player rosters.

Decide whether you want to bet with real money or digital currency. eSports betting sites today offer a variety of payment methods, and most of the top online gambling operators are compatible to bet with cryptocurrency. If you are new to eSports betting, we recommend you start placing bets using fiat currency and leave crypto eSports betting to the seasoned gambler.

Lastly, watch as many SC2 eSports matches as you can. If you are unable to install the game for whatever reason, but you desperately want to bet on StarCraft 2, watching videos of professional gamers do combat can be of great help to understand the game mechanics, which, in turn, will make you more insightful when calculating the odds for a given StarCraft II match.

As an example, we strongly recommend you watch the 2019 Global StarCraft II League Code S finals between Cho “Maru” Seong Ju and Kim “Classic” Doh Woo, two of the most skilled StarCraft 2 players.

Types of StarCraft II Bets

Gambling on eSports, while fun, requires a deeper understanding of the teams and players and their specific gaming style, as well as of the betting markets in order to give a greater value to your bets.

Unlike the more popular eSports, StarCraft 2 betting markets remain largely limited to several options. The odds for individual matches can differ from site to site, though they remain relatively high across the online eSports betting industry.

Concerning the betting options, eSports gambling sites usually offer three main types of bets:

• Money-line bet – this is the simplest pre-match bet there is. You simply wager money on which player you think will win a match.
• Outright winner – outright bets are a similar pre-match form of betting, only you don’t bet on a single match but rather on who will win an entire StarCraft 2 tournament. This betting market allows knowledgeable punters to place bets long before a tournament begins and wager money while the odds are still high. As the deadline for the start of the tournament approaches, odds can fluctuate on some betting sites based on player performance preceding the tournament.
• Map winner – you bet which player will win a specific map during a StarCraft 2 match-up. These are the most common StarCraft bets you can find on the majority of betting sites that cover StarCraft eSports events.

Of course, during an active tournament season, the betting markets can diversify to include various other bet types including accumulator bets, in-play, or live bets, handicap betting, correct score, and various other game-specific bets.

StarCraft II Tournaments

StarCraft 2 tournaments are the biggest source of eSports matches for every online eSports gambling site. Events are organized almost on a monthly basis, so you can count on online eSports bookies to supply you with hundreds of action-packed StarCraft 2 matches all year round.

StarCraft 2 tournaments bring in teams from several different regions: Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and South Korea, and each team consists of multiple players.

StarCraft 2 competitive gaming has existed from the early 2000s in South Korea, but the resurgence of the game in the 2010s signaled the arrival of more sophisticated and well-organized competitions. Modern StarCraft 2 tournaments draw the world’s top players competing for huge real money prize pools reaching up to $1,000,000, on top of various other gifts and prizes for participants.

For more than seven years, the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS), organized by Blizzard Entertainment, was the top-tier professional competition for StarCraft II. The competition was split into the WCS Korea (locally called the Global StarCraft II League) and WCS Circuit. The top players from the two regions participated in the World Championship Series Global Finals that were held every year at BlizzCon California. The tournament ceased in 2019.

Luckily for StarCraft 2 betting fans, Global StarCraft II League tournaments are still being organized in South Korea, where the game seems to have found a permanent foothold. If you already missed season one, season 2 of the 2021 Global StarCraft II League is set to begin in June, meaning more matches and more betting options.

Additionally, the Electronic Sports League (ESL), which organizes eSports tournaments, continues to hold StarCraft 2 competitions through the ESL Pro Tour.

The Best StarCraft 2 Betting Sites

Even today, when eSports are dominated by a select few games such as Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends – StarCraft 2 eSports organizers continue to hold their own and provide high-tier events throughout the year.

Before the release of the StarCraft 2 series, the betting markets for this iconic game were somewhat struggling, but today, you can expect to find the unmistakable StarCraft 2 logo on essentially every betting site that has an eSports category.

Below we offer what we believe are five of the best sites for StarCraft 2 betting operating today:

• GG.BET – offers some of the best odds for eSports; welcome bonus includes up to $20 risk-free bet; bonus applies only for new customers; Terms and conditions (T&Cs) apply; +18
• Luckbox – eSports-dedicated site; welcome bonus: 100% match of first deposit up to $/€/£100; T&Cs apply;+18
• Betway eSports – a reputed online bookie with a decent selection of eSports markets; welcome bonus for new customers includes a £30 free bet; T&Cs apply; +18
• arcanebet – and eSports-focused betting site with competitive odds; welcome offer for new customers includes 100% match bonus up to £/€/$30 on sports and eSports; to activate the bonus, place a minimum first deposit of £/€/$10 and use bonus code arcane30; full T&Cs apply; +18
• Spin Sports – covers a variety of eSports games; welcome bonus for new customers includes 100% match on initial deposit up to $200; min. deposit is $10 and bets must be placed at odds of 1.3 or greater to activate free bet; offer available only for new customers; T&Cs apply; +18

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