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Key points
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$40.0M
The International 2021 had a $40,018,195 prize pool, the largest of any single esports event.
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$2.6M
By The International 2024 the pool had fallen to $2,602,164, the smallest since crowdfunding began.
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$1.25M
CS2 Majors carry a $1.25 million prize pool; Team Vitality won the Austin Major 2025 by beating The MongolZ 2–1.
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2016
In July 2016 Valve sent cease-and-desist letters to skin-gambling sites that used Steam accounts and APIs to run betting.
Why Valve titles suit betting
Valve runs its competitive scenes as open ecosystems. Many tournament organisers run events across the year, so there are matches to bet on almost every day. Both games are played in series of maps or games and produce a lot of countable events, which lets bookmakers offer map handicaps, round and kill totals, pistol rounds, first blood and Roshan markets.
CS2 and Dota 2 at a glance
| Counter-Strike 2 | Dota 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Tactical shooter | PC MOBA |
| Flagship event | Two Valve Majors per year | The International |
| Circuit | Organiser events; Valve Regional Standings decide Major invites | Third-party events since the Dota Pro Circuit ended after 2023 |
| Typical markets | Match, maps, rounds, pistol rounds, map totals | Match, maps, kills, Roshan, towers, duration |
| Upset driver | Map veto, Bo1 Swiss rounds | Draft and patch changes |
Counter-Strike: the busiest betting calendar
Counter-Strike 2 replaced CS:GO on 27 September 2023. The competitive scene carried over: Majors with a $1.25 million prize pool, and a packed calendar of events from organisers such as BLAST, ESL and PGL. Since 2025, Valve's Regional Standings (VRS) determine which teams are invited to top events, which keeps the circuit open to teams that earn ranking points.
For bettors, the map veto is the key variable. Teams pick and ban maps, so an outsider can be favoured on its own pick. The Austin Major 2025 final shows how open the top level is: The MongolZ reached the final before losing 2–1 to Team Vitality.
Dota 2 and The International
The International: from crowdfunding peak to a fixed pool
What it means: Prize money no longer measures the event's betting interest. TI is still Dota 2's biggest event for viewers and bookmakers.
Prize pools as reported for each edition (Wikipedia, The International).
Dota 2 has some of the deepest in-game markets of any esport. Drafts take place in front of the audience, and a strong draft read before the game starts is one of the few genuine timing edges for live bettors.
Steam and the skin betting economy
CS2 and Dota 2 items (skins) can be traded and sold on the Steam Community Market and on third-party sites, so they have real cash value. That allowed skin-gambling sites to grow, many without licences or age checks. In July 2016 Valve sent cease-and-desist letters to skin-gambling sites, saying that using Steam accounts and its OpenID API to run a gambling business broke its user agreements.
What this means for your bets
- Expect the deepest markets on CS2 and Dota 2 Use map and round markets only when you know the teams' map pools or drafts well.
- Watch the veto and the draft Both are public before play starts and can change who is favoured.
- Follow the open circuit With many organisers, form across events and online versus LAN results matter more than one league table.
- Keep skins out of it If you bet, use a licensed bookmaker with deposit limits.
Frequently asked questions
Why are CS2 and Dota 2 so popular for betting?
They run all year across many organisers, have long competitive histories and offer many markets per match, from map handicaps to rounds, kills and objectives.
What was the biggest prize pool in esports?
The International 2021 in Dota 2, with $40,018,195.
Why did The International's prize pool drop?
The pool used to grow through compendium sales. With that model scaled back, it fell to $2,602,164 in 2024 and about $2.9 million in 2025.
What is skin betting?
Betting with in-game items that have cash value. Many skin sites are unlicensed and skip age checks; Valve sent cease-and-desist letters to several of them in 2016.
How do teams qualify for CS2 Majors?
Since 2025, Valve's Regional Standings ranking decides which teams are invited to top events and Major qualification.
