Bet on Intel Extreme Masters 2026

All About CS:GO for UK Gamers

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or CS:GO, is one of the most viewed and played Intel Extreme Masters esports tournaments. In 2020, it garnered over 1 million views. CS:GO is a free-to-play first-person shooter (FPS) game that was released in 2012.

The original Counter-Strike game began as a mod for Valve's popular game Half-Life. Today, there are four games in the CS series.

Developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment, the game pits two teams, Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, against each other in various game modes. The game remains incredibly popular within the gaming community and receives regular updates from Valve.

In 2018, Valve introduced a battle royale mode called "Danger Zone." There are nine other game modes, with "Bomb Defusal" being the most popular. The game has received several accolades in the esports industry, including the Game Awards in 2017, 2019, and 2020.

This iteration is the fourth game in the CS series and is available on Windows, macOS, Xbox 360, and PS3. Since its release, Valve has introduced numerous new features, including new maps, weapons, game modes, and skins. These skins helped form a "virtual economy" within the game, which ultimately led to the rise of esports betting and gambling.

CS:GO Esports Betting and Tournaments for UK Bettors

CS:GO tournaments featuring the largest prize pools are known as Major Championships. These started with a prize pool of $250,000 USD and have climbed to as much as $1,000,000 USD. Intel Extreme Masters hosted one of the Counter-Strike Majors from 2008 to 2012, though it was for the CS 1.6 version.

Prior to the release of CS:GO, the series' standing in the esports industry was somewhat uncertain, as many players globally were hesitant to compete in CS 1.6. However, the launch of CS:GO in 2012 revitalised the esports spirit within the CS community.

While the initial version of the game had its flaws, Valve consistently released patches to enhance it. The first CS:GO Major Championship was funded by Valve and took place in Sweden at DreamHack Winter 2013.

The game has certainly faced its share of controversy. Numerous players have been caught cheating but are promptly banned by "Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC)" upon discovery. Players found cheating in tournaments receive permanent bans and are sometimes removed from their teams.

When weapon skins were introduced, online esport betting sites emerged, specifically for wagering these virtual items. This practice unfortunately led to issues with underage gambling, resulting in lawsuits against Valve and several betting sites.

Intel Extreme Masters Betting Odds for UK Players

There are three main types of betting odds used in the UK:

• Fractional odds
• Decimal odds
• Moneyline odds

Intel Extreme Masters offers a variety of options for those who want to bet on their favorite or the underdog. The most common type of betting odds that Intel Extreme Masters has are decimal odds and moneyline odds. The difference between the two is that the former is used in Europe and the latter in America.

At the IEM Dallas tournament, "Looking for Org" turned out to be the underdog, having odds of 301.00. Team Vitality and Astralis both had odds of 18.00 which made them the safest bet of the tournament.

In the ongoing Intel Extreme Masters Season XVII, Astralis has odds of 3.82 and Natus Vincere has odds of 1.26.

Chances of success are high when you know what odds to bet on. Betting on the most likely outcome and your favorite team may seem like the best option, but the more sensible thing to do is to bet for value.

There are different online esport betting sites where you can look for the best odds. There's not a big difference between the values across these sites, but the small differences can accumulate to give significant returns.

Why is Intel Extreme Masters a Popular Tournament to bet on?

Every year, millions of gaming and videogame betting enthusiasts from all over the world tune in to watch the Intel Extreme Masters leagues. It's a highly competitive tournament that attracts a global audience.

What's the reason for its popularity? It hosts tournaments for some of the biggest games in the world. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Starcraft II are fan-favorite games to bet on.

Another reason that attracts gamers and betters alike to it is the big prize pool. The Intel Extreme Masers Katowice 2022 wasn't a Major, but it had a prize pool of $1 million. $400,000 were given to the top winners.

It has held Major Championships for Counter-Strike and another Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship is going to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2022, the first ever IEM Major to take place in Brazil.

Intel has repeatedly said that their goal is to bring gaming technologies to every part around the globe. The Brazil Major will be Intel Extreme Master's 10th Major. It's one of the oldest esports company and you'll find it on every list of esports tournaments.

Its global appeal is one of the major reasons why it's so popular today.

Intel Extreme Master's Best Teams

Astralis and Natus Vincere are regular players of the tournament. In the 2020 tournament that took place in Katowice, Natus Vincere bagged the first prize of $250,000 while Astralis got the 3rd prize of $40,000.

Team WE (World Elite) is another regular that has won a total of 3 tournaments since 2011. The team is a China-based esports organization.

In the 2017 Intel Extreme Masters tournament that took place in Australia, SK Gaming took the trophy after four days of CS:GO. The team fought against FaZe Clan and won 3 out of 4 matches.

Flash Wolves, or FW, a Taiwanese esports team that was created in April 2013. Its original name was “yoe IRONMEN” and wasn’t changed to Flash Wolves until August 2013. They’re considered one of the best teams in League of Legends and won the Intel Extreme Masters Season XI World Championship.

Gambit Esports is another esports organization that’s known to be one of the top teams in League of Legends. It’s a Russian team that’s based in the United Kingdom. They won several titles in the Intel Extreme Masters from 2013 to 2014. They haven’t announced any plans to participate in future Intel Extreme Masters tournaments.

Intel Extreme Masters’ Biggest Moments

It would be a disservice to the esports industry to not mention the very first Intel Extreme Masters tournament when teams from 24 different countries played Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft III. The prize pool was €160,000.

The Poland-based Team Pentagram and H2K Gaming fought for the final prize and the former took home €40,000. It was a fierce competition that also had Fnatic and SK Gaming participate in it, two teams that would go on to compete in future tournaments as well.

With each season, Intel Extreme Masters expanded not just in terms of games, but also countries and cities. Starcraft 2 was introduced in Season V and it also had a League of Legends invitational tournaments which got fans excited about the next season.

After the invitational tournament, League of Legends was finally introduced in Season VI. In Season XI, for the first time in the tournament’s history, the final event took place in Katowice over the span of two weekends.

Where to Bet and the Best Strategy to Bet on IEM

There are many different esport betting sites where you can bet on Intel Extreme Masters’ tournaments. Here are a few sites that you can use:

• Cyber.bet
• Betaway Sports
• 1xBet
• 20 Bet

Betting on esports Is a very simple process. You pick the site you want to use, look at the odds and place a wager on the team you’re siding with, deposit your money, and then wait to see who wins.

The best strategy to follow is to analyze the odds. Remember that the higher the odds, the lower the chance that the team will win. A team with higher odds would give greater returns, but it would have a low chance of winning.

Another thing to keep an eye on is the team’s history. How have they been performing in the past matches? These are a few factors that you should include in your betting strategy to increase your chances of winning.