Tournament · CS2
ESL Gaming is a Cologne-based tournament organiser founded in 2000 and owned by Savvy Games Group. It does not run one tournament but several: Intel Extreme Masters and the ESL Pro League in Counter-Strike 2, and DreamLeague in Dota 2.
ESL Pro League Season 24 is being played from 3 to 11 October 2026 with a $1,000,000 prize pool; Natus Vincere won Season 23 in March. This page covers the Pro League record and how to bet on ESL events; IEM and DreamLeague have their own pages.
Liquipedia: ESL Pro League (finals); Wikipedia: ESL (company); Intel Extreme Masters.
Short answer
ESL is the organiser, so you bet on its events: ESL Pro League and IEM in CS2, and DreamLeague in Dota 2. CS2 matches carry series winner, map winner, round handicap, total maps, total rounds and pistol-round markets. Pro League Season 24 is being played now, so check the esports section of your bookmaker for this week's matches.
ESL Pro League
Team Vitality, MOUZ, Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan have won two or more Pro League titles since 2022. Vitality won three; MOUZ won two seasons in a row in 2023 and 2024.
| Season | Dates | Champion | Runner-up | Prize pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 24 | 3–11 Oct 2026 | In progress | $1,000,000 | |
| Season 23 | 13–15 Mar 2026 | Natus Vincere | Aurora Gaming | $275,000 |
| Season 22 | 28 Sep–12 Oct 2025 | Team Vitality | Team Falcons | $400,000 |
| Season 21 | 1–16 Mar 2025 | Team Vitality | MOUZ | $400,000 |
| Season 20 | 3–22 Sep 2024 | Natus Vincere | Eternal Fire | $750,000 |
| Season 19 | 23 Apr–12 May 2024 | MOUZ | Team Vitality | $750,000 |
| Season 18 | 30 Aug–1 Oct 2023 | MOUZ | Natus Vincere | $850,000 |
| Season 17 | 22 Feb–26 Mar 2023 | FaZe Clan | Cloud9 | $850,000 |
| Season 16 | 31 Aug–2 Oct 2022 | Team Vitality | Team Liquid | $835,000 |
| Season 15 | 9 Mar–10 Apr 2022 | FaZe Clan | ENCE | $823,000 |
Liquipedia: ESL Pro League, finals table.
Outright vs match
Pick the winner of the event before or during it. Pro League and IEM fields are large, so the outright favourite is rarely as safe as the price suggests.
So what: bigger payout but a bigger margin, and your stake is locked until the trophy is lifted.
Pick the winner of one series. Most CS2 series are best-of-three; the map veto shapes the price.
So what: the lowest margin on most books, and you can react to form, patches and roster news.
Total rounds on a map, pistol rounds, first to 10 rounds and player kills where offered.
So what: thin markets with wide margins; compare two or three books before you bet.
Odds through the bracket Example odds
A worked example: a team with a 60% chance in every series and an example outright overround of 25%.
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Grand final
Champion
Title chance = chance per series to the power of the series still to win. With 3 series left the chance is 21.6%, fair odds 4.63. Each series win removes one factor.
What it means: a price of 3.70 before the playoffs only pays if the team wins every series, so compare it with backing the team series by series.
Worked example, not a forecast. Book odds = fair odds ÷ (1 + overround).
No, ESL Gaming is the company that organises tournaments. Its main betting events are the ESL Pro League and Intel Extreme Masters in CS2 and DreamLeague in Dota 2.
From 3 to 11 October 2026, with a $1,000,000 prize pool. Season 25 is listed for 6–14 March 2027 with $1,250,000.
Natus Vincere won Season 23 (13–15 March 2026) against Aurora Gaming. Team Vitality won the two seasons before that.
Savvy Games Group is ESL's parent company. DreamHack is also an ESL Gaming brand.
IEM is a series of standalone arena events through the year; the Pro League is held twice a year. See our IEM betting page.
Our CS2 betting page ranks the bookmakers and explains each market. Betting is 18+ and the rules depend on your country.
Responsible gambling
Esports betting attracts a younger audience than most sports. These rules apply on every page of this site.
Licensed bookmakers check age and ID before you can withdraw. If you are under 18, this site is for information, not for betting.
Our responsible gaming policyDecide what a month of betting may cost before you deposit, and use the deposit limits your bookmaker offers. Outright bets lock money up for weeks, so count them in that budget.
Gambling addiction helpGambling Therapy offers free, confidential support by chat and in forums, in several languages, wherever you live.
Gambling TherapyOther tournaments
