Paddy Power CSGO

Our Paddy Power esports betting site review will focus on Paddy Power’s operations and what kinds of services it provides to fans of Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Ireland’s biggest bookmaker, Paddy Power is known for its irreverent marketing campaigns, and an often brash sense of humour, which is reflected in its online services. The company has been around since 1988, when three other Irish bookmakers merged to form a new company. They have been online since 2000, and are now the third largest online bookmaker in Britain and Ireland.

Paddy Power Overview and Esports Betting Markets

Paddy Power prides itself on being a little different to other bookmakers, and makes much in its promotional material that one of its original aims was to shake up what it regarded as somewhat staid betting industry in its native Ireland, as well as the UK. The company’s television advertising has often been viewed as being in somewhat poor taste, with one advert featuring a blind football team and a cat being one of the most complained about TV adverts in recent years. It has carried out a number of other provocative marketing stunts in recent times, and likes to trade on its edgy reputation as a result.

Once the layers of marketing are stripped away, however, Paddy Power is pretty similar to most other bookmakers, certainly in terms of what it can offer to fans of esports betting. At the time of writing, there were two CSGO competitions on which Paddy Power was offering markets. These were the ESEA League and the Stream.me Gauntlet. Alongside these CSGO markets, Paddy Power was also offering markets on Dota 2 Kiev Major. For CSGO punters, the only betting option available is to bet on individual match outcomes; there is no way to bet on overall tournament winners. Dota gamblers can bet solely on overall tournament outcomes, so there is some inconsistency here which can hopefully be resolved in the near future.

Nevertheless, at the time of writing, CSGO gamblers were being offered markets on matches between Athletico Bh and Avant Garde CS, in the ESEA League, as well as Elements against ACG in the Stream.me Gauntlet. Punters can use Reddit to help them pick winners and losers, and to check out the recent form of CSGO’s top players, such as Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub, Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo or Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer, and to find out which tournaments they are currently competing in.

Paddy Power Website Functionality and Betting

The Paddy Power website is a fairly slick effort, although it looks a little less attractive than some of its rivals, in terms of its design. Plenty of ‘quick links’ and tabs exist on the site to make navigation straightforward. There is a list of sports at the left side of the page on the home page, with each of the sports on which the company offers markets being listed. This list is alphabetical, apart from when it comes to esports, which are listed at the bottom of the list, just after weightlifting and winter sports. Once a customer has found the tab, clicking it brings up the available markets, which are presented in a clear and simple format, which is easy to understand, even for newcomers to the world of esports betting.

Paddy Power has a mobile sports betting app available for both iPhone and Android users, for phone and tablet. This is particularly useful for fans of live, in-play betting, so it is a shame that this option does not currently exist for customers who want to bet on CSGO.

Live Streaming, Bonuses and Extra Features

While Paddy Power does offer live streaming for many sports, including football, tennis and snooker, esports fans cannot currently watch live streams of CS:GO events at the site. If customers are keen to bet with Paddy Power, and watch the action, then they need to use a site such as Twitch, which has a great legal live streaming service for esports lovers.

A more appealing feature of Paddy Power, though, is the bonus on offer to new customers. Each new customer who places a first bet of £10 or more will receive £30 of free bets credited to their account. This applies to all sports bets, including those placed on CSGO markets, so it is a useful bonus to have. Paddy Power is also well-known for offering more established customers a series of event specific bonuses throughout the year. Although these are currently aimed at fans of mainstream sports such as football or snooker, the growth of esports means that this could change in the future, and it is worth checking back frequently to see what has become available.

Customer Service, Licence and Security

Customer service options are well developed at Paddy Power, with a live chat function available most of the time. Customers can also email and use free phone numbers if they are in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. There’s an international phone number too, for customers not currently in those territories. There is also an extensive help section on the website, covering a good range of likely queries, as well as the company’s betting rules.
For customers in the UK, Paddy Power is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and by the Malta Gaming Authority for customers elsewhere in the EU.

Paddy Power offers good security services to its users, with Thawte technology being used to encrypt transactions. The company also carries out extensive credit card checks on customers, in order to minimise the risk of fraud. Any documents which customers submit to the company for identification verification are stored on a secure server, which is not connected to the internet. Paddy Power is a very safe site to use.

Overall, this Paddy Power esports betting site review scores a good rating, especially for security and customer service. There are, however, limitations to the amount of markets it currently offers for CSGO fans, and this is an area which could be improved in future. The bonus for new customers is very appealing.