eSports

Odds on: Unlocking the potential of AI for esports betting

Published

2 years ago

August 13, 2024

odds-on:-unlocking-the-potential-of-ai-for-esports-betting

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Jordan Peltier, Chief Data Officer at PandaScore, says that humans and machines must work together if businesses are to maximise the potential of AI when it comes to esports betting odds.

Artificial intelligence has been one of the most discussed industry topics over the past 12 months and it’s easy to see why. AI can be transformative for operators, suppliers and bettors, and while there are concerns around adversarial AI, when used in the right way, it’s a game-changer.

At PandaScore, AI plays a crucial role in the odds we deliver esports betting operators. This is because it is incredibly effective at handling complex, high-dimensional and unstructured data and finding patterns within it – these patterns are needed to predict the outcome of events.

This, of course, is the foundation needed for determining the odds for each market that we offer. But the power of AI goes beyond this.

It can adapt dynamically to new data which is just not possible with old statistical models like parametric distributions as they struggle to capture the non-linear relationship between variables so require additional manual engineering which takes time and resource.

But does this mean the AI machine is taking over from human trading teams? Absolutely not.

Leveraging the capabilities of AI and combining it with specialist human traders is the optimal approach because you have models that can capture the complexity of esports supported by human traders with a deep understanding of each discipline.

Odds should always be based on true probabilities and while there have been significant breakthroughs in AI – I’m talking about transformer-based models such as Large Language Models – it is still prone to making errors, especially when it comes to forecasting.

Let me explain by way of percentages. AI alone can get you 90% of the way to determining the true probability of an outcome but you need the human specialist trader to get you the final 10% of the way to perfection. And perfection is a must when it comes to odds.

Ultimately, this is what allows operators to offer high-value odds to their customers while ensuring a strong and stable margin from their esportsbook. What’s more, it only takes one small error for sharp, savvy bettors to exploit a mistake and that’s not what operators expect from their data partners.

It must be remembered that AI models are only as good as the data they feed from and still require training. Human traders help in this regard, providing a layer of security for core actions like settlement and odds checking when the model goes off market.

In some instances, the trader will have access to data the model doesn’t see of wasn’t trained on – things like a last-minute change to the player roster.

This is why our human traders are responsible for picking the tournament and market coverage that will most appeal to our operator partners, and our traders are on hand 24/7/365 to support operators in their efforts to offer a top esports betting experience to their players.

The training of AI models is crucial and again sees our trading and data science teams work together during the entire lifecycle of each AI model we build from designing the model to testing and interacting with models in production to ensure they are performing.

This is a virtuous cycle with our data scientists training the most optimal models that prove to be the easiest for our traders to manipulate. Traders also give a ton of deep and detailed feedback which our data scientists can use to improve the models.

The idea here is that the trading team has little input once the model is rolled out and often only make one input per match with the AI model then calculating all of the odds and markets. This ultimate is what powers our BetBuilder and PropBet products.

Having specialist traders for each esports discipline is also important. Each video game is like its own sport and while there are some similarities between some titles, the differences have an impact on the markets and odds offered and that’s exactly why specialist traders are a must.

Take shooter-round based game like CS2 and Valorant and MOBA games like Dota2 and LoL. With the former, there’s a lot of repetition in the gameplay which takes place round after round. This means betting markets are focus on rounds and kills for teams and players.

With MOBA games, there are objectives within the game that have a direct influence on who wins the match – things like kills, towers, nashors, inhibitors and dragons. This is complex – and doesn’t exist in traditional sports betting – and is why pricing teams must master in-game dynamics.

Again, this is something that AI can’t do on its own right now.

AI is a key pillar of our business, and we are incredibly proud of how we have used it in collaboration with our data scientists and traders to create models that deliver top odds for our operator partners and their players.

But working with AI is all about staying ahead of the game and our work is never done. This is why we continue to test, iterate, innovate and do all we can top perfect our models. This would not be possible without our incredible team which stands as a testament as to how machines and humans can work together in harmony.

The post Odds on: Unlocking the potential of AI for esports betting appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

creator-economy

Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

red-bull-runs-one-day-balatro-speedrun-event,-boss-rush,-on-april-17

Eight creators compete across five timed stages with eliminations, broadcast on Red Bull’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

Red Bull will stage a one-day Balatro speedrun competition, Red Bull Boss Rush, on April 17, 2026. The event brings together eight creators for timed runs in the roguelike deckbuilder, with viewers able to follow via individual creator POV streams and a central hub broadcast.

The competitor lineup includes Red Bull Player Ludwig, plus The Spiffing Brit, FrostPrime, Feinberg, Adef, Yahiamice, mbtyugioh and dreads. Red Bull said live commentary will be provided by esports host Yinsu ‘Yinsu’ Collins, card-game specialist Blake ‘Rarran’ Eram, and DrSpectered.

Boss Rush is structured as five 30-minute stages, with players ranked by completion time. Red Bull said the opening three stages use a shared random seed with unlimited resets, and points are awarded by placement each stage; the bottom four are eliminated after stage 3. Stage 4 determines the finalists, followed by a final winner-takes-all matchup.

The event also includes a downloadable Red Bull Boss Rush mod featuring a custom-branded deck and new Red Bull-themed Jokers, Bosses and Skip Tags. Red Bull highlighted additions including ‘Witch’, ‘Princess and Frog’, ‘Zebra’, Old Dog, ‘Pirate’, ‘Genie’, ‘Prince Charming’, and ‘Jester’, each designed to alter scoring or run economics.

Red Bull Boss Rush will stream on twitch.tv/redbull and Red Bull’s YouTube Gaming channel. Scan is supplying gaming PCs for the competition, according to the company.

Relevant data as follows:

Red Bull Gaming on Twitch; https://www.twitch.tv/redbull Primary broadcast destination for the event.
Red Bull Gaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/redbullgaming Secondary broadcast destination cited in the release.
Red Bull Gaming: https://www.redbull.com/ Official Red Bull site for event context and confirmation.
Balatro on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/ Authoritative reference for the game featured in the competition.
Scan Computers: https://www.scan.co.uk/ PC supplier mentioned as providing systems for the event.

The post Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Asia

S8UL signs Team Question Mark roster for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS ahead of EWC 2026

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2026

Wladimir P.

s8ul-signs-team-question-mark-roster-for-pubg:-battlegrounds-ahead-of-ewc-2026

The CIS-based EMEA lineup brings past EWC experience and titles including PUBG Global Series 8 as S8UL targets Riyadh qualification.

S8UL has signed the Team Question Mark (QM) roster to represent the organisation in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS on PC ahead of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026. The deal was announced April 16 from Mumbai as S8UL prepares for the tournament in Riyadh, scheduled for July 21 to 26.

The CIS-based EMEA lineup includes:

captain Roman Zinovev (ADOUZ1E),
Andrey Ionov (Bestoloch),
Mansur Tsimpaev (f1lfirst),
Nikita Odobesku (Molodoct),
and coach Yermek Torebekov (Ermaak).

S8UL said the roster will compete through the qualification pathway for a place in the 24-team event, which has a $2 million prize pool.

S8UL is adding a roster with a proven record in top-tier PUBG competition, including wins at PUBG Continental Series 7 Europe 2022 and PUBG Global Series 8 in 2025. The team has also posted a Top 3 finish at PUBG Global Series 2 in 2023 and a Top 7 finish at PUBG Global Championship 2022. The organisation said the roster has competed at both previous editions of the EWC in 2024 and 2025 and has amassed approximately $713,000 in total prize winnings.

Commenting on the move, Naman Mathur, Co-founder, S8UL said, “Signing the QM roster is a significant step for us as we continue to strengthen our presence in global esports. PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is one of the most competitive titles in the world, and this team has consistently proven itself against the very best. At a broader level, this move reflects the direction S8UL is heading in. Over the past year, we have focused on building depth across our rosters and competing consistently at the highest level. As we prepare for the Esports World Cup 2026, we are committed to providing the team with the right support and resources as they aim to make a strong impact in the qualifiers as well as on the global stage.”

Roman Zinovev aka ADOUZ1E added, “Becoming part of S8UL is a big opportunity for us as a team. As a team, we’ve always believed in our ability to compete with the best in the world, and having the backing of a global organisation allows us to push even further. With the Esports World Cup coming up, we’re focused on working through the qualifiers and making sure we deliver performances that match our potential.,”

S8UL said the announcement follows its selection as a Club Partner by the Esports Foundation (EF), placing it among 40 global organisations. The organisation has also listed 13 titles it plans to enter for EWC 2026, including PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Apex Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, EA Sports FC, FATAL Fury, Fortnite, Honor of Kings, MOBA Legends 5V5, Street Fighter 6, TEKKEN 8, and Trackmania.

Relevant data as follows:

S8UL Esports: https://s8ul.gg/ Official organisation site for roster and announcement verification.
PUBG Esports (PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS competitive updates): https://pubgesports.com/ Authoritative source for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS esports circuits, event results, and qualifiers.
Esports World Cup (official site): https://esportsworldcup.com/ Event organiser site for EWC 2026 schedule, formats, and prize pool confirmation.

The post S8UL signs Team Question Mark roster for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS ahead of EWC 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

eSports

MEGA hires Leapfox founder Patrick Collins as VP of Growth

Published

5 days ago

April 15, 2026

Wladimir P.

mega-hires-leapfox-founder-patrick-collins-as-vp-of-growth

The ex-Wasserman and former Excel Esports partnerships lead joins the London-based group behind the Esports Awards and MOBIES.

The Mobile, Esports and Gaming Alliance (MEGA) has appointed Patrick Collins as Vice President of Growth, the company said on April 15, 2026. Collins will lead growth strategy, including commercial partnerships and new business development, from London.

Collins joins from boutique agency Leapfox, which he founded in early 2022. Prior to that, he led commercial partnerships at UK esports organisation Excel Esports, securing deals with brands including BT, Sony, JD Sports, Neosurf and Chupa Chups, alongside partners such as HyperX, Anda Seat, Belong Gaming Arenas and Chillblast PCs.

Earlier in his career, Collins worked at sports marketing agency Wasserman, where MEGA said he helped secure EE’s six-year partnership with Wembley Stadium and advised brands including American Express, Vodafone and PepsiCo. The company also cited experience working with Premier League football clubs and brands including Barclays, Santander, Under Armour and Puma.

“I’m pleased to officially join MEGA at such an important time for esports and gaming,” said Patrick Collins, VP of Growth at MEGA. “Having worked across traditional sport, esports, and commercial partnerships, and founding Leapfox to bridge these worlds and guide my clients, I’m looking forward to applying my experience to support MEGA and our properties as we continue to grow.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Patrick to MEGA as our new Vice President of Growth,” said Michael Ashford, Co-Founder of MEGA. “His extensive experience, including founding Leapfox, uniquely positions him to shape the future of our company. With Patrick on board, MEGA is determined to accelerate our growth, embark on transformative partnerships, and deliver world-class experiences that will define the next era of esports entertainment.”

Relevant data as follows:

MEGA (Mobile, Esports and Gaming Alliance): https://themega.global/ Official company site to support the appointment and provide background on MEGA.
Esports Awards: https://esportsawards.com/ Official site for one of the properties referenced in connection with MEGA.
MOBIES: https://mobies.com/ Official site for the Mobile Gaming Awards referenced alongside MEGA.

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