Cheating in eSports

Cheating in esports: can you? Will you get away with it? Does it happen? You’d think professionals on the highest level would know better than to cheat! Just think of all the cameras looking at your every move. But it happens more than you think! And probably also more than we think, cause probably not every cheater gets caught!

Different ways to cheat?

There are multiple ways that esporters cheat on tournaments. We made a list of the most common ones and have added some juicy examples:

Throwing

Throwing a game cause you have something at stake. Usually money, but it can be anything. Even skins. A famous example is that of CS:GO where iBuyPower had to play against NetCodeGuides in 2014. On the website CSGOLOUNGE you could bet skins on matches and the odds were 83% for iBuyPower against 17% for NetCode. The gentlemen of iBuyPower made a big (skin)bet against their team and played as if they played for the first time. They got caught and lost everything, you can see the entire story here:

using the audience

There are multiple ways for players to use the crowd to their advantage. Imagine a guy in the audience holding a sign with an innocent: GO Cloud 9!! It’s written in blue letters, but if you look five minutes later he has the same sign written in red letters. It’s a way to sign the team that the opposing team is going to the blue buff or red buff. It’s extremely difficult to recognize this kind of cheating in an audience of 10.000 people.

Sometimes the audience is simply yelling coordinates, but these people are asked to leave the arena.

exploiting a mechanic

Games are programmed and programmers make mistakes. Is it cheating when you discover a mistake and use it to your advantage? Usually players don’t receive a ban for doing so, but it is considered unprofessional and not sportsmanlike. In the following video you see a bug that players used to get the location of their opponents without being seen themselves. When discovered, teams were asked not to use it. But it appeared very hard for people to resist the temptation.

The game H1Z1 punished mechanic cheaters by banning them and only alowing players to come back if they did an apology video on Youtube. The videos are actually really hilarious!

Drugs

The biggest danger to the competitive scene is probably drugs abuse, as in any sport. When cheating in esports, it’s usually the medicine people with a attention disorder. The drugs, basically speed, heightens the concentration and senses. But needless to say, are extremely addictive and dangerous when used in a non medication way.

Betting on decks or players: bet safe on Hearthstone

The most common mistake people make when betting on Hearthstone is lacking knowledge if how a TCG works and how players interact with strategies. More than any other genre, the banning (or nerfing) of cards (items or characters in other games) and the release of new card sets, affect the players greatly. While a League mid laner can dominate years with Kassadin, even after a potential nerf or buff of some items, a Hearthstone player will have to adapt to the changing meta constantly, sometimes changing decks over an adjustment of one card. The big difference with LoL is that a player doesn’t just change champion by changing decks, but changes from mid-lane to adc (to keep the analogy).

In other words, a player that has an insane track record with miracle rogue could have worse results when forced to play aggro pally. When doing your research on how players are performing before placing your bets, always take into account the recent patches, nerfs, buffs and sets.

Play before you bet

There are a lot of games where I can advise you to watch some streams, read some articles and start betting away. Learn the mechanics and learn to recognise skill. With Hearthstone, I advice you to atleast play the game for some time. Unless you have played other CCG’s like Magic the Gathering, or even Pokemon TCG. By playing, you get a sense of what makes a card good in a certain deck, a certain strategy and to certain players. You will understand what it means when a patch comes out, which players lose their edge at least for some time instantly. Playing Hearthstone is free, so why not!

Become a better Hearthstone player yourself?

Want to become a better Hearthstone player? Stop playing Hearthstone for a second. By playing card games that don’t rely on RNG that much and are more interactive, you get a better sense of decision making for card games in general. Don’t forget that the creators and some of the big pro’s of the game started of With MtG first!

Investing in esports, is it worth it?

Time and money. Two things you always wish you have more off. If you decide you want to invest some of these assets in esports, you want to be sure it’s worth your effort. We at Master Mazuma keep a close eye on the development of the esports industry, since we invest a LOT. But we do this, cause we feel it’s worth every penny and every minute of our time. Today we share some of our valuable information with you; so you can decide for your  self if esports is something you want to invest into in the future.

The state of esports 2018

The total market of esports will generate a total revenue of $905 million in 2018. That is an increase of 38% in comparison to last year. This is about the same percentage we saw last year. These figures are from february. The coming of Fortnite esports will possibly push the total amount over a billion. There is also a 48% brand investment increase in 2018. This means a net esports investment of $695 million which can be broken down in $174 million in advertising, $359 million on sponsorship and another $161 million in content licenses and media.

Media rights have gone up the most with 77% due to an increase in consumer spending on tickets and merchandising. Finally, game publishers will invest another $116 million in the esport community. Though these figures will probably turn out to be higher. As for audience, there will be 380 million people tuning in to esports this year. 165 million enthusiasts and 215 million casual viewers.

The future of esports

So, is esports investing worth it? There is more than enough money to be earned and this will only increase in the following years. The expectation is that in 2020 there will be 1.4 billion dollars to go around. While America remains to be the largest market, Europe comes a close second. Especially western- and northern Europe.

There is however an exception and an interesting development. In Asia and especially China, mobile esports seems to have taken off. We at Master Mazuma will keep a close eye on this development and are looking for opportunities to offer betting on mobile esports in the future.

So yes, esports investing is definitely worth it!

Welcome United States esports gamblers!

Finally, a 1992 federal law that prohibits betting on sporting events in North America has been overruled by the US Supreme Court. It’s no clean victory though, from now on each state can regulate sports betting on their own.

The probability that at least a few states will allow sports betting is big. There is a lot of tax revenue to be earned from gambling, so the traditionally progressive states will welcome sports betting no doubt. There is another but; there can be a distinction between esports- and sportsbetting. So different rules could apply to betting on the League of Legends World Series than on the Super Bowl, for instance.

“Today’s decision opens the door for regulated esports betting in the U.S., but the question remains of how each state will treat esports,” Eilers & Krejcik game industry analyst Chris Grove explained in a note to GamesBeat. “In Nevada, for example, esports aren’t handled like traditional sports for the purposes of sports betting. Each state will have to make their own decision about whether to lump esports in with traditional sports or to treat it separately.”

Optimistic

We are optimistic, even though not all bridges have crossed yet. This is a first step to bring U.S. players to the esports betting scene; and we welcome you! We expect a lot of competition to win the heart of the new U.S. players and we’ll meet this competition heads high and with good bonuses and conditions. Betting platforms originating from the United States, like Unikrn will find out if their alternative crypto/skin deposit model will be able to compete with cold hard cash. Being American, they do have the chance to reach out to the newly found playerbase without stretching. On the other hand, established esports betting sites (MasterMazuma😉 do have an advantage in experience with esports betting. Whatever the US players prefer, only time will tell!

Shout out to the traditional sports

Without the lobbying of the NCAA, NBA, NFL and all other major leagues, we wouldn’t have had this change. In a way, esports is hitchhiking on their success. It will only be a matter of time before esports will be big enough to stand on their own feet and return the favor. But a big shout out to all hard work done by these pioniers!

mobile esports are coming; what to expect?

Jup. Mobile esports are becoming a thing. Even though at first sight the games and devices don’t lend themselves for competitive gaming, the market is just to big for companies not to exploit. And so they do.

Two examples of this are the recurring Mobile Masters events organized by Amazon. This year feautering a prize pool of $100.000 and consisting of games like Power Rangers Legacy. Amazon invested in a service called GameOn that allows developers to integrate tournaments on different devices. Allowing players to compete cross-platform.

Another ‘proof’ of mobile games getting competitive is the forming of a Clash Royale team by GenG. You might not be familiar with the name, but you soon will be. Gen G is short for Generation Gaming, formerly known as KSV Esports. The team rebranded itself and went further than just changing the team name. The latest generation of gamers is no longer exclusively bound to the PC Master race.

Future of esports (betting)

Only last year people would thought I’d be joking when taking mobile games into account of future esports. Now, I’d feel stupid to leave it out. Vlash Royale, Vainglory, Summoner War; they are all titles that are attracting a vast number of viewers (resp. 50-200.000 on average). Not to mention Hearthstone, that is in the twilight of being a mobile esports or a traditional one. Mobile gaming is around 42% of the entire market and will increase to 50% in 2020. It generates more money than traditional games and is worth multiple billions of dollars. If Fortnite is released on Android and develops a competitive scene, it will mean the definitive breakthrough for mobile games as competitive esports.

A new generation of esporters will rise and it will be a wild west for the betting community; betters and bookmakers a like. It will take some time before teams are formed and talent is scouted. Most mobile games are not initially designed for esports, so chances are players initially will find glitches to abuse certain tactics.

Exciting times!

This is a good time for betting on League of Legends!

Remember a couple of years ago? You had Telecom T1 with their Messi of Lol, midlaner Faker. You had Team SoloMid with Bjergsen and G2’s Perkz. Greatness existed on midlane and whoever got out on top on that lane had a good chance of carrying their team to victory.

Things have changed.

There is no Faker, no Bjergsen and no PerkZ in the Mid-Season Invitational of 2018. We are entering an age where the AD Carry will determine the outcome of a game. It’s the dawn of the marksman. The Meta will shift to bottom lane. The four regions that are automatically qualified for the main event group stage that consists of six teams, namely South Korea, North America, Europe and China, have all brought forth their ruthless sniper.

Meet the gamemakers of this years season

Kingzone’s Kim “PraY” Jong-in, Royal Never Give Up’s Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, Fnatic’s Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and Team Liquid’s Yiliang Peng are the names that not only rival for the trophy, but for the honour of being the most skilled ADC as well. Of these, we expect to see the most from Pray. This HAS to be his big year. Qualifying yearly for the World Championships with his trusted support GorillA, he never got to take home the prize. Always standing in the shadow of Telecom T1. But that team doesn’t participate and PraY’s Kingzone is now the only Korean team to contend. There is much at stake, which can be a good thing or a bad. Time will only tell.

Follow PraY in mid-season for world championship betting!!

The Mid-Season Invitational will be the perfect opportunity to see if PraY can handle the pressure. If he shines this tournament, you want to place your bet on Kingzone in the World Championship. PraY has proven to have the skills, dominating with Kog’Maw many times as a solo carry.

A good AD Carry must above all have a lust for gold. So let’s see the art that is last hitting into action during the following weeks! Expectations in his words: ‘World Championship, nothing less.

Getting into esports betting: the basics

So you want to get into esports betting? Good move! Unlike physical sports, esports betting is a land of opportunities! No Real Madrid here, but a land full of surprises, especially with games not dominated by South Korea. There are some factors you need to take into account before placing your bet in order to increase your chances of turning your bet into a profit. Master Mazuma got you covered, we show you what you can do to be a successful esports better!

Original settings

A team with their main players all aboard always has a shot of winning. The same goes the other way around; teams with new players on a tournament always have a shot at losing. No matter how good the reputation. Last minute switches due to illness, fights or whatever reason, completely nullifies most of the preparation done by that team for the tournament. Choose for stable teams that have a history of consistency!

Avoid drama

Drama, drama, drama. It makes for really interesting content (believe us, we like drama) and even more interesting personalities. But as much as you secretly enjoy to see Faker cry or Vasili flip out against his girlfriend; it means bad news when it comes to betting. Boring, emotionless robots. Those are the safest bets. But we understand that watching them can be a ordeal, so make sure to bet drama once in a while just for fun!

Check the statistics

Since around 1860 people have been starting to use statistics for everything. Insurance companies build their (lucrative) business model purely on statistics. In theory, this means that with enough funds and data betting should always win you money. And since bookmakers do exactly this, it’s a proven theory. So though it might be a bit boring, check the statistics! Oh, did you know 87% of the statistics is inaccurate (it’s a joke).

What rules might benefit a team?

Usually a game has multiple ways of being played. Be sure to check the rulings of a tournament and see if there are any peculiarities that have proven to be of worth to a team in the past. For example: if a Hearthstone tournament allows players to ban one or more classes, this means bad news for players that specialise in a few classes.

Esports betting is a sport, and like any other sport it’s a mixture of skill and luck. Make sure you get that first variable constant and the second…. Well, that is what makes it exciting!

Chances to win big; the semi-pro circuit

How do bookmakers decide on their odds? Well, a magician never truly tells ofcourse. But, you can assume that bookmakers have a closer watch on the major leagues and teams. Making the odds on the regional and semi-professional circuit a ‘wild west’ of odds. A place where you can win big, and likewise, lose big as well…

League of Legends European Masters tournament

A perfect opportunity to try profiting on bookmakers limited ‘scouting’ capacities is just around the corner! 26 teams take it out for a prize pool of €150,000 in the League of Legends European Masters tournament, starting with the group series 14th to 17 of April. The tournament, held in the UK, features players that are on the threshold of making it big. There is a good chance that we’ll see the winners of this tournament in the EU League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). Knockouts will follow in the weekend of April 19 to 22 and the grand finals will take place April 28-29, live in Leicester.

Getting an edge

Though a week’s time isn’t a whole lot, it is still worth it to dive into the statistics of the participating teams. It’s the group stage where the odds are most ‘unbalanced’, due to no one really knowing what to expect. Maybe you are not into taking big risks, just sit out the group stage and find out who has chances on taking the title and perhaps, who might be outsiders that bookmakers missed.

“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Riot Games by powering the League of Legends European Masters,” said James Dean, UK Managing Director at ESL. “From our time running the ESL Premiership for League of Legends, we know how incredible the level of play in these competitions can be! The Spring split is a great opportunity for fans to see some of the most impressive rising stars in the European League of Legends scene. Our aim is to offer an even better competition experience for fans, and even more opportunities for talented European players to raise their game in esports.”

Players to watch (our tips)

We wouldn’t be MasterMazuma if we didn’t atleast gave you some tips on players to watch this tournament.

Quixeth (support), SPG Esports (Switzerland)

A support that knows how to play lot’s of support characters and wants to prove the world wrong about Europe not having any good support players. Making name since last year, this Norwegian player is one to keep an eye on.

Milica (midlaner), Kliktech Esports (Croatia)

Watch out PerkZ, Milica is here for your title as best east-european midlaner. His team absolutely dominated the regionals in the balkan with an unprecedented 20 win streak.

Crownshot (ADC), Mad Lions (Spain)

This youngster formerly known as Crownie, coming from Slovenia, wrecks havoc with his Ezreal plays. The French already know what he is capable of, now the rest of Europe follows.

SendOo (toplaner), ExceL eSports (UK)

One of the few promising top-laners the UK has to offer. This will be a tournament where he can make or break; we can assure you he wants to prove himself!

Kikis (jungler), Illuminar Gaming (Poland)

The pressure aint that high for everyone, we conclude with a veteran that has been around making name since 2011. After a successful international career, Kikis now focuses on supporting the LoL scene in Poland.

ESL Pro League Finals Preview

This week in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive features the ESL Pro League Finals. The best 12 EU and NA teams have fought their way to the live finals in Denmark. The event will take six days. The total prize pool is $750,000. You too can earn a lot of money with Master Mazuma betting. Read on to find out what the best odds are in the ESL Pro League Finals.

ESL Pro League Finals betting: The best teams in CS:GO

G2 eSports won last year’s ESL Pro League Finals but failed to qualify this year. The favourites to win it all are SK Gaming and FaZe Clan. But there are many strong dark horse teams at this event. There is a lot of games to play and a lot of games to bet on.

Will SK follow up their recent success with another win in Denmark? Or will FaZe step up to their potential and take home their share of $750,000? These are two potential outcomes, but there are many strong teams at the event.

The teams are placed into two groups of six teams. Both groups have clear favourites, so we might see less group stage upsets. It might be best to play safe until the group stage is over. The quarterfinals will definitely feature much closer matches.

Each team will play one game against every other team in their group. This means a total of five games for each team. The team that finishes as number one in their group immediately goes to the semifinals. The second and third place teams play each other in the quarterfinals. The bottom three teams are eliminated from the event. The quarterfinals and semifinals become best-of-three matches. The finals will be a best-of-five.

ESL Pro League Finals Schedule

Who will win the group stage?

The 12 teams in the ESL Pro League Finals have been put in Group A or Group B. Both groups contain teams who can win the tournament. Let’s analyse the groups  to see which teams are most likely to win it.

Group A

  1. Fnatic
  2. FaZe Clan
  3. Astralis
  4. Liquid
  5. Hellraisers
  6. Luminosity Gaming

Group A has three clear favourites: Fnatic, FaZe Clan and Astralis. All group stage matches are best-of-one though, which means it’s easier to cause upsets. Team Liquid and Hellraisers have both proven that they are capable of upsets. Luminosity is the weakest team and has the worst odds.

The top three teams in this group are all playing well. FaZe has the most individual talent in the world. Based on recent results, FaZe might be the favourite to win the tournament. Read more about FaZe Clan in the Spotlight article.

Astralis still misses its star player dev1ce. The team still finished second at BLAST Pro Series last week without him, behind the strong SK Gaming. Astralis also has the home crowd advantage, since they’re a Danish team. This might be the best place to make it far into the tournament.

Fnatic is one of the most improved teams of the year. The Swedish team has the talent to make it far, but has to prove itself against the best teams in the world. Expect great results in the group stage. The playoffs is where it gets hard though.

Group B

  1. OpTiC Gaming
  2. SK Gaming
  3. North
  4. Ninjas in Pyjamas
  5. Misfits
  6. NRG eSports

Group B has two favourites for qualification; SK Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas. The third spot is up for grabs for North or OpTic Gaming.

SK Gaming comes into this tournament with recent wins at BLAST Pro Series and EPICENTER. The Brazilians might be the best team in the world. They beat Astralis, North and Ninjas in Pyjamas all at BLAST Pro Series.

Ninjas in Pyjamas won IEM Oakland over SK Gaming and FaZe Clan. The team is coming into this event with confidence and strong form.

North has a slight advantage over OpTic for third place. North has been playing better and better. The Danish team als has home crowd advantage, just like Astralis. OpTic struggles to play as team, but still has some of the best players in Europe. Nobody should underestimate OpTic.

The weakest teams are Misfits and NRG eSports. Both played well enough to qualify for the Finals. However, they are outmatches by the strong top four teams in their group. Their upset potential looks quite weak.

ESL Pro League Finals Odense

ESL Pro League Finals odds: Insight into the favourites

SK Gaming is the team to beat right now. SK won two of their last three live events and looks to be in top shape. Especially their leader FalleN has been playing great. He finished the BLAST grand final against Astralis with a 1.63 kill/death ratio. If SK’s other stars Coldzera and Fer can find their form as well, SK Gaming would be a good bet in the ESL Pro League Finals odds.

Astralis was the big surprise at BLAST Pro Series, almost winning the event. The team has great momentum coming into the ESL Pro League Finals. Their biggest weakness is RUBINO, who is the stand-in for star player dev1ce. Astralis had little time to practise with RUBINO. The team will probably struggle in the quarterfinals.

FaZe Clan has the talent and firepower to win this tournament. However, recent events have shown that the team has been struggling to find consistency. FaZe’s teamwork also doesn’t match that of other teams. FaZe relies on its star players to carry the team with their aim heavy style. This means that the players must individually outplay their opponents. Some teams have found ways to counter this with teamwork. FaZe’s leader karrigan will need to give the roster a more tactical approach to the matches.

ESL Pro League Finals Trophy

Chances for upsets?

Ninjas in Pyjamas proved to be capable of upsetting top teams FaZe Clan and SK Gaming. The team defeated both to win IEM Oakland. Ace players f0rest and GeT_RiGhT are veterans of the game, on par with FaZe and SK’s best. Ninjas in Pyjamas could potentially win it all if the pieces fall into place.

North could also cause an upset in Denmark. The team showed promise at BLAST Pro Series. They had some encouraging results against FaZe and Astralis. North might be able to turn the home field advantage into some upsets in the group stage.

Now that you know more about the exciting ESL Pro League Finals, visit mastermazuma.com. Put your knowledge to the test and win a lot of cash!