Let me be honest with you – when I first started betting on CSGO Majors, I lost more skins than I care to admit. I'd jump on whatever team my favorite streamer was backing or chase the hype around flashy players. It took me three tournaments and about $200 in losses before I realized I needed a proper strategy. That's when I discovered something interesting while playing Assassin's Creed – of all places. There's this mission where to get to the main target, you first need to dismantle her control by taking down her three lieutenants: a spymaster, a samurai, and a shinobi. The game lets you approach them in any order, but each requires different tactics. It struck me that successful CSGO betting works exactly the same way – you need multiple strategies working together, each tailored to different situations.

The first strategy I developed was what I call "The Spymaster Approach" – gathering intelligence. Early on, I'd just look at win rates and maybe check which maps teams preferred. Now? I dive deep. I track how teams perform at different times of day (yes, it matters), whether they're playing close to home or dealing with jet lag, even how individual players match up against specific opponents. Last Stockholm Major, I noticed that one star AWPer had consistently poor performances against a particular rifler from another team – something most analysts missed because they only looked at overall stats. That single observation helped me correctly predict an upset that paid out at 3.75 odds. I probably spend 2-3 hours researching before placing any significant bet, and my win rate has improved from about 45% to nearly 62% since adopting this approach.

Then there's what I think of as "The Samurai Method" – straightforward, disciplined bankroll management. This was the hardest lesson for me to learn. I used to bet emotionally – doubling down to chase losses or getting carried away when I was on a hot streak. Now I never bet more than 5% of my bankroll on a single match, no matter how "sure" it seems. Last year, there was this incredible underdog story where an unknown Brazilian team made a miracle run through the challenger stage. The temptation to go big was overwhelming, but I stuck to my system. Good thing too – they crashed out in the group stage, and I saw forum posts from people who'd lost hundreds following the hype. Having that samurai-like discipline has saved me from myself more times than I can count.

The third approach – "The Shinobi Technique" – is all about finding hidden opportunities. Like how ninjas would use misdirection and unconventional tactics, I look for betting situations where the public perception doesn't match reality. One of my favorite examples was during the Antwerp Major quarterfinals. Everyone was focused on the star players, but I noticed one support player's utility usage had dramatically improved during the tournament. His smokes and molotovs were creating unexpected openings for his team. The odds didn't reflect this subtle improvement, so I placed what seemed like a crazy bet to my friends. That team ended up making a surprise run to the semifinals, and my returns were substantial enough that I finally upgraded my gaming chair.

What makes these strategies work together is the same principle from that Assassin's Creed mission – you can emphasize different approaches depending on the situation, but they all contribute to your overall success. Some matches call for deep research, others require strict discipline, and occasionally you find those hidden gems that defy conventional wisdom. The key is having multiple tools in your arsenal rather than relying on a single method.

I've developed four additional strategies over time, but honestly, these first three form the foundation of everything I do. The fourth involves tracking how teams adapt during tournaments – some squads improve dramatically throughout an event while others peak early. The fifth strategy focuses on understanding meta shifts between tournaments – what worked in the last Major might not work in the current one. The sixth is about reading roster changes beyond surface level – sometimes a seemingly minor substitution completely changes team dynamics. The seventh, and perhaps most controversial, involves occasionally betting against my own preferences – removing emotional attachment from certain matches has proven surprisingly profitable.

Looking back at my betting history from the past two years, I've placed approximately 347 bets on Majors specifically. My tracking shows that when I properly apply all seven strategies, my win rate jumps to around 68%. When I get lazy and skip even one element – particularly the research component – it drops to about 52%. The difference might not sound huge, but compounded over hundreds of bets, it's the difference between buying a new gaming setup every year versus wondering where all your skins disappeared to.

The beautiful part is that unlike many competitive endeavors, CSGO betting doesn't require incredible reflexes or thousands of hours of practice. It does demand patience, research, and the willingness to develop multiple strategic approaches that work in concert. Much like that video game mission where different targets require different tactics, each CSGO Major presents unique challenges that might call for emphasizing different aspects of your betting strategy. What works against an established powerhouse like Na'Vi might not be effective against an unpredictable team like FURIA. Learning to recognize these situations has been my single biggest improvement as a bettor.