What is First Blood?

First Blood is an esports bet on which team or player scores the first kill of a map, round or match, offered on titles such as CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends and Valorant. It is a fast-settling, event-specific market that resolves within the opening minute or two of play, independent of who eventually wins. The exact trigger depends on the game. In Dota 2, First Blood is a formal in-game mechanic — the first hero kill grants a gold bonus and is announced on screen — so the market maps cleanly onto it. In CS2 and Valorant, "first kill" usually means the opening kill of a specific round (often the pistol round or map one, round one), while League of Legends markets typically settle on the game's first champion kill. Always read the bookmaker's rules for which map, round and kill type applies, since a wrong assumption can cost a settled bet. Worked example: in a CS2 map, Team A is priced at 1.80 (55.6% implied) to draw First Blood and Team B at 2.00 (50%). A EUR 20 stake on Team A returns EUR 36 (EUR 16 profit) if their player lands the opening kill; the combined implied probability of 105.6% reflects the bookmaker's overround, or margin. For affiliates, First Blood and related opening-kill props are popular in-play hooks because they settle quickly and re-offer every map, driving repeat engagement. Because outcomes hinge on early positioning and can turn on a single duel, treat these as high-variance micro-bets rather than value plays. Compare with kill-betting, pistol-round-betting and first-map-winner.