Fortnite World Cup 2019 Betting Preview

The Fortnite World Cup is one of the most anticipated esports events of the summer, and it all kicks off July 26^th in New York City.

The weekend will begin with a Pro-Am tournament on Friday, and all World Cup action will be broadcast live on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and within the game itself.

Players who qualified for the World Cup underwent ten weeks of rigorous Online Open qualifiers to claim their spot at the upcoming LAN Finals in New York. Forty million players competed in the Online Open qualifiers, but only 200 have a seat at the World Cup Finals.

The Finals will feature two separate divisions, Solos and Duos, each containing 100 players.

The 2019 World Cup will dispense one of the most lucrative prize pools ever seen in esports. There is $30 million at stake, and players are guaranteed at least $50,000 for qualifying.

First place in both divisions will take home $3 million, an unprecedented sum of money that sets the bar for all esports competitions.

In this article, I’m going to take a look at the Vegas odds for the Solos and Duos divisions of the Fortnite World Cup, as well as give you some general tips for betting on the tournament.

The World Cup Finals in New York will be a LAN tournament, meaning all 200 players will be playing in the same arena on a local area network. For some players, this will be their first experience playing at a LAN tournament. Fortnite veterans, who have been on the professional circuit for a while and competed at other LANs, will have the advantage here.

Points will be awarded for eliminations and placement after each match. The player or team with the most points after six matches will be crowned as the Finals Champion.

The breakdown of the scoring system for each division is as follows.

Many professionals complained during the Online Open qualifications that the scoring system was weighted too heavily towards eliminations and did not place enough emphasis on placement or wins.

Bettors might want to use this information to prioritize teams who utilize an aggressive style of play with high-elimination potential.

Ultimately, the winning team will need to strike the right balance between going for kills and late-game placement.

Let’s take a look at the favorites here.

Turner “Tfue” Tenney is the undisputed star of the World Cup due to his massive following on YouTube and Twitch. Tfue’s odds to win the World Cup might be slightly inflated because of name recognition, but he still has a storied history of winning tournaments with large cash prizes.

Tfue won three weeks of the Fall Skirmish Series and Week 3 of the NAE World Cup Qualifiers all within the last year. Tfue possesses all the tools and experience to be the last one standing at the end of the tournament and is sure to be one of the most featured players on the Fortnite World Cup broadcast.

Klaus “Stompy” Konstanzer is a European player signed to the esports org Eleven Gaming. He is the #2 betting favorite heading into the World Cup due to his unbelievable play in the Solo and Duo World Cup Qualifying events.

Stompy qualified for the World Cup seven times in the ultra-competitive EU region, two times for Solos, and five for Duos. Stompy’s weakness could be his lack of experience at LAN tournaments, and bettors are curious to see if Stompy can keep up his stellar play on the big stage in New York.

Timothy “Bizzle” Miller could be underrated as the #3 betting favorite. He is the highest-earning Fortnite player of all time and has racked up countless podium finishes at some of Fortnite’s biggest events like the Secret Skirmish and Fortnite Pro League NA Season 1.

A member of Ghost Gaming’s notorious Fortnite roster, Bizzle plays and practices on a daily basis with some of the best Fortnite players in the world. I surmise that Bizzle’s odds to win the World Cup are lower than Tfue’s largely due to a vast difference in social following. No player has enjoyed a more accomplished professional Fortnite career than Bizzle.

Noah “Vivid” Wright could be a nice value bet as a player with middle-of-the-pack odds to win the tournament. Vivid, a member of Team Liquid, has already proven he has what it takes to win against the best players in the world.

Vivid won three weeks of the Summer Skirmish Series in 2018, which earned him a spot on Team Liquid, and placed third at the Secret Skirmish in February of 2019. Some have theorized that after Vivid qualified for the World Cup in Week 1, he shifted his focus back to his stream instead of continuing to grind the Online Open events.

Vivid could be slipping under the oddsmaker’s radar because of his so-so Online Open performances, but when he puts it all together, Vivid has as much talent and experience as any competitor in the field.

Let’s take a look at the top three duos in the betting.

Thomas “Tschinken” Hörak and Klaus “Stompy” Konstanzer are the Duos betting favorite thanks to their incredible run through the Duos Online Open qualifiers. Tschinken/Stompy qualified for the World Cup more times than any other team in the competitive EU region and finished qualifiers with an average placement of 1.8.

Tschinken/Stompy have been duos partners since 2018 and have developed excellent chemistry together. Both players are exceptionally aggressive, early and late game, which helped them to put up big scores throughout qualification. If they can continue their aggressive playstyle in New York, they have a great chance to win the whole tournament.

Benjy “Benjyfishy” David Fish and Martin “MrSavageM” Foss Andersen have the second-best odds to win Duos, and both players also have top-six odds to win Solos. This tandem will be a fan favorite because of their notoriety within the community and the fame they gained by constantly pushing the limits of what is possible while playing Fortnite.

At 15 and 14 years of age respectively, Benjyfishy and MrSavageM are the next generation of Fortnite stars. The World Cup will be the first real chance for Benjyfishy and MrSavageM to prove themselves in a professional environment thanks to the event’s 13 and older age policy. Many bettors are sure to be torn between the duos’ lack of experience and their insanely high upside.

Kyle “Mongraal” Jackson, 14, and Dmitri “Mitr0” Van de Vrie, 17, is another young duo with excellent odds to win the division. Despite their age, both players are veterans within the Fortnite community.

Mongraal has become somewhat of a legend at this point because his age has prevented him from competing at most of the major Fortnite events. Mongraal has over 1.1 million Twitch followers; his incredible mechanical skill has been on display to the world for years, but never at a high-stakes LAN environment like the World Cup.

Trevor “Funk” Siegler and Nate “Nate Hill” Hill is a potential value pick at +1500 because of their prior experience in professional competition and their long-time relationship as teammates. Nate Hill and Funk (previously FunkBomb) have been Duo partners since the earliest iterations of competitive Fortnite.

The Duo was suspended from competitive play in September of 2018 after allegations of stream sniping/watching during the Fortnite Fall Skirmish series. The suspension was short, but it was enough to hurt the duo’s perception as one of Fortnite’s best teams.

In a high-stakes LAN environment, the teams with the most practice and the strongest chemistry will have the best shot at winning. There are few duos in the world with more experience and success together than Funk/Nate Hill.

Odds for the World Cup are provided by Bovada. If you live in the United States, give Bovada a try as they offer excellent odds on Fortnite and a variety of other esports.

For those outside the US, check out our regionalized recommendations of the best Fortnite betting sites.