VALORANT is a new first-person shooter title from Riot Games, the creators of the biggest esports title in the world: League of Legends. Pinnacle continues to expand into new and vibrant markets. Read on to find out more about how to bet on VALORANT.
What is VALORANT?
VALORANT is a 5v5 character-based tactical first-person shooter (FPS). It blends aspects from other FPS titles like the hugely popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Overwatch (OW), and Rainbow Six: Siege (R6S) to create a unique, highly competitive experience. You can read our article explaining the basics of VALORANT on our blog.
VALORANT odds: What are the available markets?
Pinnacle offers a number of markets for VALORANT, the most common being on the outcome of a match - known as the Money Line. The Money Line reflects the relative skill of each team with their recent wins and losses used to set the line. Due to the short competitive history of VALORANT, a Money Line bet can be an opportunity for eagle-eyed bettors who follow the scene to take advantage of their knowledge.
The competitive VALORANT map pool currently consists of the following seven maps:
- Ascent
- Bind
- Fracture
- Haven
- Lotus
- Pearl
- Split
Each map presents a different strategic proposition for a team, and assessing how well a team performs on each is crucial especially when some matches can be best-of-three (Bo3). A Bo3 match involves teams selecting one map each, with the third match being decided by any shared picks.
Aside from the Money Line market, which is a bet on the winner of the match, Pinnacle also offers Totals betting, which is a bet on how long a match may last (Over / Under 2.5 maps), and Handicap betting, which is a bet on whether a team can win a match from an advantage or disadvantage (+1.5 / -1.5 Handicap) set prior to the start of the game.
VALORANT betting: Research your predictions
Unlike other esports titles, VALORANT does not have an extensive competitive history that allows bettors to conduct research on the historical performance of players and teams. While some information can be found on players that were formerly professionals in other titles like CS:GO, and some skills are transferable, the data from one game can’t be considered a reliable source of information.
A good place to start with your predictions is to find out how long a team has been playing together, or perhaps take a look at our VALORANT Power Rankings. Teams that have had the experience of competition in VALORANT, no matter how small the tournament might be, will have the advantage of understanding how the game is played at a professional level, what constitutes a good team player, and how strategies within a competitive match are implemented.
What tournaments are offered for VALORANT betting?
The competitive landscape of VALORANT is focused mainly around the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), the official tournament series organised by Riot Games.
The VCT consists of different events throughout the year. There are the three main regional leagues: the EMEA League, the Americas League, and the Pacific League. Then there are the Masters events, where the best teams from the regional leagues face each other.
The main event on the VCT calendar is Champions. This tournament features the top teams from the regional leagues and teams that qualified through the Last Chance Qualifiers.
There is also a lower tier system, which consists of 23 minor regional leagues, again divided between the Americas, EMEA, and the Pacific. These are called the Challengers Leagues. From these leagues, there is a chance at promotion to the VCT Regional League through a tournament called Ascension.
VALORANT betting strategy
As a first-person shooter, VALORANT’s in-game objective is relatively easy to understand - either eliminate the opposing team, or plant and detonate (or defuse) the Spike at a bombsite. While the concept of the game is simple, understanding how to bet successfully on VALORANT requires a deeper knowledge of how the game works.
Take Agent Select for example. This brief period before the start of a match allows a team to select five out of the 11 available agents in the game. Each agent has a unique set of abilities, which in-turn provide a unique set of strategies for a team to leverage while playing a match. Having knowledge of how different agent line-ups interact can go a long way in helping you to understand the chances of a team winning or losing a match.
Another aspect of the game that bettors will want to take note of is the seven different maps in the game's competitive map pool: Ascent, Bind, Fracture, Haven, Lotus, Pearl, and Split. Each map has unique properties - for example, Bind has teleporters that allow players to quickly move around areas of the map, and Haven has three bombsites instead of the traditional two. Read more about all the different VALORANT maps in our dedicated Maps in VALORANT explained article. As many of the competitive matches are best-of-three (Bo3), understanding how a team performs on each map can help you make an informed decision for the Totals and Handicap betting markets.
How to bet on VALORANT
For those making their first bet on VALORANT, the easiest market to understand and get involved with is the Money Line market.
Betting on the Money Line is a bet on the winner of a match, the odds on the Money Line reflect how likely it is our traders think a team will win or lose. For example, if Team A have a Money Line set at 1.15 and Team B have a Money Line set at 2.30, Team A is favoured to win in this matchup.
