text: Live bets on Dota 2 and CS:GO games are both a plus and a minus in eSports betting. For now, we will talk about the pros with an example from Dota 2.
  Competition in the game begins with the selection of five characters (the so-called "draft"), who will be played by the teams. This stage also includes the prohibition of selecting certain characters. This difficult stage often predetermines the course of the match, a team’s strategy for the game becomes more clear after the draft: whether it wants a tight game or to finish quickly; whether players will gain an advantage in collecting gold, destroying buildings, or want to look for enemies on the map, thereby earning money for themselves while interfering with the enemy.
  This is not the same as the conditional pre-match arrangement in soccer- the characters chosen cannot be changed throughout the course of the game. Plus, it is that by properly analyzing the selections and prohibitions (in professional slang "peaks" and "bans"), you can try to draw a conclusion about the outcome and catch very good odds in live.
  Successful bets on matches of CS:GO can be made after the process of selecting the maps (peaks and bans). In CS:GO games are played on special landscapes (maps), the list of which is prepared in advance by the organizers. No team can play well on all maps. Everyone has their own strong and weak locations.
  It is not enough to turn to statistics but to instead look for constant updates during the match. If Team A is poorly playing on a certain map, but by coincidence won the first few rounds, it is not a fact that Team B will lose the entire match. To win on the map, you need to win at least 16 rounds. The in-game economy has a huge impact (if not the main impact) in CS:GO. For each faction (destroying the enemy), round and bomb players are awarded money. With these funds, participants buy weapons, grenades and armour. When one of the teams loses a round by score, but their money is all right, it makes sense to think they still have a solid chance to win and to not jump to conclusions about the winner of the entire match.
  By major tournaments, we will be referring to those whose prize pool is at least a couple of hundred thousand dollars, as well as tournaments in which participation can affect a player’s invitation to the main tournaments of the year from Valve.
  Esports seasons look something like this: the main tournament of the year "The International" (something like the Champions League or the World Series) lasts a total of a week. The rest of the year is divided into several major tournaments, organized by such well-known tournament operators as Starladder, DreamHack, ESL and others. The strongest teams participate in these competitions.
  Many experienced players believe that emphasis should only be placed on the big tournaments. For example, in the $5,000 tournament, the best teams don't play at full strength. Secondly, some teams participate with an incomplete line-up, taking stand-ins (temporary replacements) instead of their official players. It's sometimes hard to track. At times like these, it's more like a basketball game between Lebron James' friends against Stephon Curry’s’ friends.
  In such cases, online leagues come to the rescue, whose seasons of which can last for several months. Often such leagues end in the LAN-finals. But it's a good thing to keep an eye on these leagues.
  Of course, you need to really understand the sport you bet on. Cybersports are no exception: to bet on Dota 2 you need knowledge of the matter and about how the game should be played. Well, at the very least it's good to know the current state of affairs. Not everyone can do it. However, any traditional sport also takes a lot of time from those who are engaged in predicting matches seriously.
  The pros of live bets on eSports are listed above, but they also have disadvantages. The main drawback of eSports "live" is its poor development. The line is closed shortly after the start of the card, and sometimes even before the last hero or map is selected. More often than not, the line for matches of non-major tournaments is very poorly put together.
  Skin determines the appearance of a given object or character. Skins have their own varieties and prices. Up until 2016, it was possible to bet on all Dota 2 things without hindrance, and the same can be said for CS:GO.
  As a result, Valve began to clash with sites offering skin bets on their lines. At the moment, these bets and sites are semi-legal. The valve cannot completely prevent users from changing skins. And sites offering such services are not controlled in any way, can take large commissions and close at any time. If you want to bet skins on Dota 2 and CS:GO, then do it at your own risk.
  Traditionally, bookmakers do not offer a wide variety of bets on eSports in general and on Dota 2 in particular: as a rule, bookmakers are limited to bets on the main outcomes.
  This bet all depends on the format of the meeting. For the "best of 1" format, nothing changes. But in most cases, teams play "best of 3", or "up to two wins", like, for example, in tennis up to 2 sets. Here the odds are either a dry victory, or victory in at least one map, as well as a total of the maps.
  Odds are also considered traditional in eSports lines. Here, by the way, you can sometimes find interesting options: for example, odds on the exact score 2:0 and f (-1,5) can be different, which means that it can be used for its benefit.
  As in the lines for other sports, eSports also have bets on totals. Bookmakers designate them traditionally: "total over" (TO) and "total under" (TU). In eSports, totals are most often the number of cards/frags.
  Often bookmakers take bets on the outcome of the statistics of one game. This includes "first blood" (first kill), the first 10 kills, total kills and the duration of the map.
  Some details about the types of bets on eSports are described in a separate post "Dota 2. A few words about the line."
  Analyzing Dota 2 and CS:GO matches is not an easy task. In Dota 2 it is important to know the system of selecting heroes, to know those heroes that the team plays well with, and which characters the team does not like to play against.
  Most professional teams have a special person to collect these statistics. All this is easily tracked on dotabuff.com, and there is a great site with information about matches - wiki.teamliquid.net. In CS:GO, you need to know the cards that you choose and strike out at the peak and ban stage. All maps are unique and have their own peculiarities.
  Map - Dota 2 has one, and CS:GO has several. Most matches consist of a series of maps: up to two or three wins.
  The hero is the character of the game that you choose. At official matches, a team can choose from as many as 109 different characters (that's why the game can boast of such tactical variety).
  Disablers are most often the heroes of magicians, who have in their set of spells, able to immobilize and completely paralyze the enemy for a while.
  Support are heroes who are the support for their team. Their spells can increase the overall potential of the team.
  Push or Rush is a quick exit of the team to the chosen point. You can push for both the attacking and for the suffocating side.
  Eco is an economic round. After the lost round, the team may have little money, which will not be enough for a good purchase. In an eco-round, players either don't buy anything or take a cheap gun.
  LAN - final is the final part of the tournament, which takes place in a certain place (stadium, gaming club).
  Previous: Boxing: What are the rules and how do you bet on it Next: Badminton: How it's played and how to bet on it
  
  In an anti-climactic segment of our “Gun Bullies” series, we blow up our jackass-o-lantern with 2 lbs of binary explosives with our Remington 870 planted in it.
  
  Notice is hereby given that the Planning & Zoning Commission of the Town of Salisbury, Connecticut approved an Application for site plan to enlarge existing entertainment room and screen porch and to add terrace (patio) for property located at 15 Slater Road, Salisbury CT. The applicant was William Barton. Any aggrieved person may appeal such decision in accordance with CGS Section 8-7.
  
  An act to amend Sections 10506.4 and 10506.5 of, to amend the heading of Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 10506.4) of Chapter 2.1 of Part 2 of Division 2 of, and to repeal Sections 10506.8 and 10506.9 of, the Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.
  (1) Existing law authorizes, through January 1, 2017, a pilot program for the Regents of the University of California to contract for certain types of projects on the university of the University of California based on the best value procedures, as specified. Existing law defines the term “university” to mean the campuses of the University of California, including the medical centers. The law requires, on or before January 1, 2016, the Regents of the University of California to report to specific committees of the Legislature regarding the pilot program, including, among other information, a description of the projects awarded using the best value procedures.
  This bill would extend the provisions of the pilot program until January 1, 2018, and would repeal the reporting requirement. This bill would modify the definition of the term “university” to mean all locations of the University of California.
  (2) By extending the requirement that bidders verify specified information under oath, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the scope of an existing crime.
  The heading of Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 10506.4) of Chapter 2.1 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code is amended to read:
  (a) This article provides the Best Value Construction Contracting Pilot Program for the Regents of the University of California for projects over one million dollars ($1,000,000).
  (d) If one or more of the bids is substantially equal to the lowest bid, and at least one of those bidders is a disadvantaged business enterprise, a women business enterprise, or a disabled veteran business enterprise, the regents may award the contract in accordance with the policies and procedures adopted pursuant to Section 10500.5.
  (e) If the regents deem it to be for the best interest of the university, the regents may, on the refusal or failure of the successful bidder for a project to execute a tendered contract, award it to the second lowest responsible bidder. If the second lowest bidder fails or refuses to execute the contract, the regents may likewise award it to the third lowest responsible bidder.
  (g) “Qualifications” means financial condition, relevant experience, demonstrated management competency, labor compliance, the safety record of the bidder, and, if required by the bidding documents, some or all of the preceding qualifications as they pertain to subcontractors proposed to be used by the bidder for designated portions of the work.
  (h) “Relevant experience” means the experience, competency, capability, and capacity to complete projects of similar size, scope, or complexity.
  (i) “Safety record” means the prior history concerning the safe performance of construction contracts. The criteria used to evaluate a bidder’s safety record shall include, as a minimum, its experience modification rate for the most recent three-year period, and its average total recordable injury or illness rate and average lost work rate for the most recent three-year period.
  This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.
  
  People often ask me how I get the ideas for my recipes. Some magically happen from ingredients in my fridge, others are inspired by restaurant meals or ingredient combinations that I like. And then there are those that come from the oddest of sources.
  Several years ago I’d been perfecting my recipe for salted caramel sauce. When it comes to desserts, caramel is my weakness, and the combination of salted butter and caramel is close to perfection, with the salt accentuating the caramel and balancing its sweetness. During this time, one of the bakeries in my Paris neighborhood, which had been run by an accountant who had exchanged crunching numbers for kneading dough, was bought by the well-known Paris baker Eric Kayser.
  Just after Kayser moved into my part of town, my friend Laura dropped by with a copy of his new tart book. It was full of mouthwatering photographs with short, seemingly simple recipes, each of which fit neatly on a single page. I flipped through it, thinking that perhaps his tarts were better than his bread. (Believe it or not, the accountant had actually made better bread.) When I saw a recipe for tarte au beurre salé, or salted butter tart (aka salted caramel tart), I knew I had to try it.
  It took quite some tweaking, as the brief recipe instructions were not much help, but I finally made a rich, sweet, satisfying version of his tart. The secret, I found, is to be brave and cook the caramel until it is rich and dark without letting it burn and turn bitter. If you lack courage and don’t cook it quite to the daring point that I do, the tart will still be delicious–just sweeter.–Jennifer McLagan
  Mmmmm. Butter. And more butter. And even more butter. While butter is the primary component in this luxe tart, it takes a smidgen of its colossal creaminess from–you guessed it–heavy cream. Author Jennifer McLagan, a proponent of all things fatty fat fat, strongly suggests you buy some extra cream so you can dollop each slice of tart with a cloud of whipped cream. The cream cuts the sweetness—yes, it does work like that, says McLagan. And yes, this is just another benefit of eating fat. Should you end up with a half pint extra cream leftover, lucky you! Just put it in your cup of coffee like they did back in the day. It makes everything better.
  1/3 cup superfine sugar (or just blitz granulated sugar in a blender until finely ground but not powdery)
  Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles very coarse bread crumbs. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
  In another bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar. Pour the egg mixture over the flour mixture and mix with a fork. Squeeze a bit of the mixture between your fingertips. If it holds together, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface; if not, add a couple of teaspoons of ice water and test again. Knead gently and form into a ball, divide the pastry in half, and flatten into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
  Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and line a 9-inch or 9 1/2-inch (23-cm or 24-cm) tart pan. Prick the base of the tart with a fork and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  Place the sweet butter pastry-lined tart pan on a baking sheet. Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans. Bake until the pastry is just set, about 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and continue to cook until the pastry is a dark golden color, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the tart to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
  Meanwhile, combine the sugar and butter in a deep, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir to mix and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter and sugar caramelize, 10 to 15 minutes. The sugar and butter will go through several stages: First the mixture will look like a flour-butter roux, then it will appear curdled, and then the butter will leak out of the sugar mixture. Don’t worry: It will all come together in the end.
  While the caramel is cooking, pour the cream into a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, then immediately remove it from the heat and set aside.
  Keep stirring the butter-sugar mixture, watching carefully as it begins to caramelize and remembering that the heat in the pan will continue to cook the caramel once it is removed from the burner. You want to end up with a rich, dark caramel color, but you don’t want to burn the mixture, which will impart a bitter taste. When the caramel reaches a color that’s just a shade lighter than what you want, remove the pan from the heat and slowly and carefully pour in the cream; the mixture will bubble and spit. When the caramel stops bubbling, return it to low heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve the caramel in the cream. Remove the pan from the heat and let the caramel cool for 10 minutes.
  Slowly pour the cooled caramel into the cooled, baked pastry in the tart pan. Refrigerate the tart for at least 2 hours.
  This salted caramel tart is a FABULOUS dessert…but VERY RICH!!! A small piece is all you need…along with the unsweetened whipped cream to help cut the sugar of the tart.
  This is a simple caramel tart and a good starting recipe for those cooks who fear making pastry dough and caramelizing sugar. The dough came together beautifully with the addition of several tablespoons of ice water. One helpful hint that I learned from Nathalie Dupree is to set aside the smaller portions of dough as they begin to come together. Then, combine all the parts together and knead. This prevents the dough from becoming overworked. Having caramelized several of my pans (not a fun job to clean up), I was fearful of yet another adventure into burned sugar. This was such an easy and foolproof method that yielded a beautiful thick caramel. The end result was luscious.
  This is a simple recipe that works quite well as is or as a starting point for any number of variations. It makes caramel approachable by omitting the use of a thermometer, and you can make your own superfine sugar by pulsing regular sugar in a food processor. Plus, it can be made ahead and/or in brief installments of time for those with, say, infants.
  The pastry dough came together easily without any water (or humidity in the air) and baked into a flaky, golden-brown tart shell. It was neither too sandy, as are some pie crusts with minimal water, nor too tough, as some tart doughs can be. The salted caramel also worked as written, with the caramel passing through the various stages the author describes. I cooked my caramel for 15 minutes and wound up with the color pictured here and a flavor that was just short of bitter (much like the taste of a Cadbury's Crunchie bar). One caution: the cream not only bubbles and spits when added to the caramel, but it also gives off a lot of steam. My only complaint is that the saltiness was not strongly perceptible, so I might add a bit of salt next time. After filling my 9-inch tart shell to the brim, I had about 1/3 cup of caramel left over. The tart was excellent in very small slices paired just with whipped cream, but I can imagine it with a drizzle or a layer of dark chocolate ganache, or spiked with liqueur.
  Salted Caramel Tart Recipe © 2008 Jennifer McLagan. Photo © 2008 Leigh Beisch. All rights reserved. All materials used with permission.
  The recipe was right on with clear and concise instructions—even including a note that the caramel sauce might not look right in its initial stages of preparation, and to relax, that it “would come together.” It certainly did, although I couldn’t get the dark-chocolate brown color in the recipe’s accompanying picture. However, the flavor of Jennifer’s caramel was exquisite. It was proclaimed by my wife as the very best caramel she had ever tasted. We’ll use it for sundaes and tarts. The crust portion was easy to prepare and tasted better than any crust that I’ve made over the years. It’ll be my basic tart crust recipe. I wouldn’t change a thing in the recipe. There was one deviation I made out of necessity, however: I used frozen butter to cut into the tart pastry. It worked well, leaving visible pieces of butter in the rolled-out dough.
  Ralph, we’re delighted you and your wife liked the tart. And she has an exquisite palate. She’s a keeper, sir!
  Hello Maria, the recipe says 6 to 8, but even cut into 8 this tart is indulgent. So if you are serving 6 people, follow Renee’s advice, I didn’t know she was so devious, but cut it into 8 and keep two pieces for later. If you are 8 at the table you’ll have to make another tart.
  Good morning, Marla. As noted at the top of the recipe, this ridiculously indulgent tart serves 6 to 8. But my advice? Plan on it serving six, slice the tart in the kitchen, hide a slice or two for yourself for later, and then bring your first slice and everyone else’s only slice to the table already plated. Works like a charm.
  Hello Barbara, Like you I only buy unsalted butter, except when making this tart or my Salted Caramel Sauce. In France you can buy demi-sel, which is only lightly salted and perfect for this recipe. I suggest you buy some good quality salted butter to make this tart rather than add salt. As David says you can make another tart, the sauce, or add it to vegetables or mashed potatoes where you would be adding salt anyway. You should also try it on toast with jam, the salt enhances the flavours of the jam, especial apricot.
  I buy ONLY unsalted butter for the many known reasons…not only can I control the salt level, it seems to me to have a fresher taste. That said, how much salt do I need to ADD to the concoction to get to the level of ‘salted butter’?
  Hi, Barbara. The salt content of salted butter varies significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer. My official answer is buy some salted butter. This recipe requires one stick, and if you get a half-pound box, you have an extra stick to make another tart! I hesitate to give you an exact amount, as It could over salt the butter. But if you don’t want to buy more, mix the butter with with 1/2 teaspoon of salt to start. Take a taste. You don’t want it to taste salty-salty, but rather just salty enough for the flavors to pop. Add more if you need it.
  Well, I didn’t officially test this tart, but I have made it twice and so thought I’d add my two cents (besides just agreeing that it’s a caramel addict’s dream). One thing you can do with this recipe with great success is make individual, bite-sized tarts using mini muffin pans (about 18 to 24 from the quantity of caramel in the recipe); add toasted pignoli pine nuts for added visual interest and some crunch; freeze for later; impress everyone who tastes it, and I mean everyone.
  Hi! I’m not sure if anyone will see this comment, but I’m also interested in making individual servings of this. Can you say anything more about how the method varies for tartlets instead f a whole tart? Specifically: 1) Do you still bake at the same temperature for the same amount of time? 2) In what kind of a container do you freeze them, and what’s your defrosting method? Thank you!
  Sandra, thanks for writing. There are many factors involved, most important being the size of the tartlets. You would indeed bake the tartlets at the same temperature, but for less time. Smaller tarts don’t always need beans to help them keep their shape; others will, depending upon the shape of the tartlet pan.
  So I would first experiment: Roll the dough, ease it into a tartlet pan, and bake (just one so as not to waste dough) for 10 minutes. Check it, and if it needs more time, continue baking. As far as freezing, I’d freeze just the baked, empty tart shells. I’d first freeze them on a cookie sheet until they were frozen, then stack them between parchment in an airtight container. To defrost, simply remove how many you need from the container and let them come to room temperature on a cooking rack, so the bottoms stay dry.
  Any idea of what temperature on a candy thermometer would be the caramelization stage? I am terrible at decifering the correct color.