Counter Strike fans are in for a treat this week as the best 32 teams in professional CS:GO come together for more than a month’s action in Saint Julian’s, Malta. In what will be the final edition of ESL Pro League before the game migrates to Counter Strike 2, there’s $850,000 on the line here, as well as qualification to IEM Katowice 2024, the BLAST World Final 2023 and 3,000 BLAST Premier points.
In what is one of the most competitive CS:GO seasons in recent memory, we can expect ESL Pro League Season 18 to be no different. Team Vitality arrives as the form team, having won recently in Riyadh, while ENCE has put together some incredibly consistent results over the past months. But with double IEM winners G2 Esports and defending champions FaZe Clan all sniffing out a win as well, this will be a hard fought contest.
We break down the latest CS:GO odds form bookmaker bet365 ahead of this tournament and outline the best bets to make on ESL Pro League Season 18 this week.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 29th, 3:30 P.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright betting odds for ESL Pro League Season 18 from bookmaker bet365, this is the definition of a tight race. Three teams—Team Vitality, G2 Esports and ENCE—are tied for first place in the betting odds, all paying out 4.50 for a win. Behind them, Heroic and Cloud9 are just a step off the pace as well, joint at 5.50. Defending champion FaZe Clan is in the mix as well, a few points behind on 7.50 to win.
Odds for making the final are similar with the same three joint leaders followed by Heroic, Cloud9 and FaZe Clan.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 29th, 3:30 P.M. (GMT)
When it comes to betting on this tournament, we see two excellent bets. First, back Team Vitality to assert themselves as the best team on tour this year by picking up what will be their fourth significant title in 2023. After winning the Paris Major and IEM Rio earlier this season, Vitality went somewhat off the boil, failing to make the semi-finals of their next four events. However, they turned that around by winning Gamers8 CS:GO recently, and we say they’re the best shot at backing up and winning in Malta this month.
Another incredibly consistent team in CS:GO this year is ENCE, who have made the last four S-tier finals this season. This includes winning the IEM Dallas then placing runner-up at the ESL Challenger Katowice, the IEM Cologne, and most recently at Gamers8 in Riyadh. Backing ENCE to make the final here is an excellent wager. They’re the best bet to topple Team Vitality but no need to take the risky bet of them winning—simply take the 2.25 payout for them making the final.
