Brace yourselves eSports fans because the battle of Texas is going down this weekend. The HCS Global Invitational Dallas features the best 16 Halo teams in the world, all going head to head in the second major event of the 2023 Halo Championship series.
With OpTic Gaming winning an epic final to claim the first event of the year in Charlotte, can they extend their advantage with another title here at the Dallas Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center? Or will FaZe Clan get their revenge? We break down all the best eSports bets to place this weekend, ahead of the HCS Global Invitational Dallas.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: June 1, 11:30 P.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright betting odds ahead of the HCS Global Invitational Dallas, this tournament is something of a three-horse race. bet365 has OpTic Gaming as the favourite on 3.00 but right on their coattails is Spacestation Gaming listed at 3.25 followed by FaZe Clan at 3.50. Behind these three, however, there’s a significant drop off in the odds. Next are Complexity and Native Gaming Red, who are well behind at 13.00 and 15.00 in the betting odds.
Odds to reach the final reflect a similar pattern with OpTic Gaming, Spacestation Gaming and FaZe Clan all neck and neck at 1.83, 1.90 and 2.00 respectively. Complexity sits at 6.50, Native Gaming Red at 7.50, and Natus Vincere at 21.00.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: June 1, 11:30 P.M. (GMT)
In terms of favourites, OpTic Gaming is the only team to have won a big title this year. They won the Year 2 Kickoff Major Charlotte to go with their Halo World Championship 2022 title. This puts them as the favourite here, however, some of their other results have been mixed—a 5th-6th finish most recently in a B-tier tournament.
Spacestation and FaZe are the two main rivals to OpTic heading into Dallas and for good reason. Spacestation won the most recent tournament a fortnight ago, defeating FaZe 4-0 in the final of the NA FaZe Clan Online. Prior to this, they’ve had a mixed bag in 2023 with a third place finish at the first Major their main benchmark.
For FaZe Clan, they’re eSports heavyweights. In the year’s first Major, they came second to OpTic and will be eager to avenge that. FaZe has been there or thereabouts in 2023 with four C-tier wins and another runner-up finish in their most recent event. After a rough 2022, we say they’ll bounce back strong here and pick up the title in Dallas, defeating OpTic in a rematch of the Charlotte final.
For a dark horse bet, back Natus Vincere to make a deep run here and make the final. With odds of 21.00, this is a lucrative wager on a team that is a powerhouse across European eSports. While their results at Majors have been underwhelming recently, Natus Vincere has made the final of their last 14 C-Tier events and are primed for a result on the big stage now.
