Our esports tipster Michael Lee is back with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting predictions for three Elisa Invitational Winter 2023 games on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 14 & 15. Today he looks at Illuminar Gaming vs Tricked Esports, BIG Academy vs Dynamo Eclot, and 9INE vs EYEBALLERS, who’ll meet in the second round of the Main Stage.
Check out our esports betting tips below, and make sure to head over to Picklebet to take advantage of some of the best odds in the industry.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday & Wednesday, February 14th-15th
Illuminar Gaming vs Tricked Esports
Elisa Invitational Winter 2023
Illuminar Gaming and Tricked Esports both started Elisa Invitational Winter 2023 on the wrong foot, having lost their opening series of the tournament against IKLA and Monte, respectively. Even though IKLA and Monte were the best teams in the Contenders stage that’s a bad excuse for either team losing those bouts.
Tricked Esports were much closer to ending their opening series ahead, as they seemed to have the opening map (Mirage) in the bag after a 12-3 half-time lead, but they ended up choking and lost (16-19) in overtime. Illuminar only looked good on Anubis (16-12) in their game against IKLA, but were outmatched on Inferno (5-16) and Overpass (13-16).
Despite Illuminar Gaming’s poor showing against IKLA, they enter this match as strong favourites (1.53 at bet365), likely because they already won against Tricked (2-0) in November. But Illuminar Gaming hasn’t looked good this year and, outside of an occasional solid showing, haven’t produced much.
I’m not defending Tricked Esports here, as this is not a good team. They’ve lost six of their last 10 games, including one against Prosapia. But while Tricked’s record is far from good, they consistently win at least one map in their losses and can be competitive on a good day.
Betting on Tricked to upset Illuminar isn’t too crazy even though we will likely see this game go to the third map.
Tricked Esports to win
$2.37 (1 Unit)
BIG Academy vs Dynamo Eclot
Elisa Invitational Winter 2023
The second Round 2 Low Match of the day will see BIG Academy clash with Dynamo Eclot, hoping to get back on track and take one step closer to reaching the playoffs, after losing to Endpoint and Copenhagen Flames, respectively.
Both teams competed in Elisa Invitational Contenders Stage, which they finished with a 3-2 record. BIG Academy won against GTZ.Esports, Turow Zgorzelec, and Team Falcons (forfeit), while Dynamo Eclot defeated GODSENT, 00 Prospects, and ECSTATIC.
Besides playing in Elisa Invitational, BIG Academy also attended MistGames Heroes of Lofoten: Closed Qualifier, where they crashed out in the second round against 00 Prospects, after beating Metizport. Dynamo Eclot did not have any obligations elsewhere this month, but they did participate in Intel Extreme Masters Spring 2023: European Open Qualifier #1 and #2, where they achieved very little.
Both teams are evidently struggling, and based on what I’ve seen, there isn’t much to separate them. Even the map pool doesn’t help draw any clear lines; however, BIG tend to do better on Inferno, Overpass, Vertigo, and Anubis, whereas Dynamo Eclot have a better win % on only Mirage and Ancient (by mere 8%).
Priced at 2.62, BIG Academy are a clear choice in my eyes. I wouldn’t say they’re undeniably stronger than Dynamo Eclot, but I can’t find a reason to believe they’re weaker. The offered odds are just way too high for what Dynamo Eclot have shown lately.
BIG Academy to win
$2.62 (1 Unit)
9INE vs EYEBALLERES
Elisa Invitational Winter 2023
9INE and EYEBALLERS will play a day after the first two fixtures, in Round 2 High Matches, after winning their opening series of Elisa Invitational Main Stage. 9INE defeated Partizan Esports, whereas EYEBALLERS edged past 500.
EYEBALLERS were better than 500 last Monday, and they could’ve easily won 2-0, but a moment of weakness saw them lose Overpass (14-16) before closing out the deal with a 16-9 on Inferno. 9INE, on the other hand, didn’t struggle against Partizan, dropping just 11 rounds across the two maps (16-7, 16-4).
9INE have since played five more games, against Bad News Eagles, Sprout, Monte, HONORIS, and Team Falcons and won all five with a combined record of 10-3. They’re now 13-1 over the last two weeks, and their only loss over that stretch came against Astralis.
EYEBALLERS’ record is far less impressive, with seven wins from their last 11 (7-4), including a loss against Astralis, but also Young Ninjas, Partizan, and 500.
I don’t like overhyping a team just because they suddenly started winning games, but 9INE look legit. They’ve shown a lot over the last few weeks, and until I see a sign of struggle, I prefer them over any other team in this tournament. And EYEBALLERS are just not at the same level, talent or form-wise, so the choice is easy.
9INE -1.5 maps
$2.37 (1 Unit)
