League of Legends Pro League

League of Legends Pro League (or LPL) is the top-level professional Chinese League of Legends league, which was formed in 2013. It features the region’s top LoL squads, who compete for the prestigious trophy and the right to represent China at international esports events.

Hosted annually between January and September, LPL is widely considered one of the world’s strongest LoL esports leagues and a huge hit among viewers and punters, who can place bets on their favourite teams on numerous crypto betting sites.

On the top crypto bookmakers, you can find extensive coverage of LPL matches, with plenty of betting markets to explore, as LPL is one of the best-covered esports leagues in the industry.

Likewise, live streams of LPL games and leagues are easily accessible through most streaming platforms, including online bookmakers offering streaming services.

League of Legends Pro League, also known as LPL, is the top-flight LoL esports league based out of China and organised by Tencent Games – rather than Riot Games. However, despite having a different organiser, LPL is equal to LEC, LTA, and LCK, with teams competing for Championship Points and being eligible for First Stand, Mid-Season Invitational, and the LoL World Championship.

LPL features 16 LoL esports teams and is divided into three stages (or splits) – LPL Split 1, Split 2, and Split 3. Each split is further divided into stages: group stage and playoffs.

The format of the splits changes depending on the split.

LPL Split 1 group stage features four groups of four teams each. The teams are seeded into groups based on their placement in the previous split to form balanced groups – each with one team from Pool 1-4.

The top two teams from each group advance to Split 1 playoffs, where a double elimination bracket is in place, and all games are played as best-of-five (BO5). The winners secure an invite to First Stand.

LPL Split 2 starts with the Placement stage – dividing 16 teams into four groups of four. The placement stage determines the seeding for the LPL Split 2 group stage – dividing the teams into Group Ascend (10 teams) and Group Nirvana (6 teams).

In the group stage, the Group Ascend uses a double round-robin, while the Group Nirvana uses a single round-robin format.

The top four teams from GFroup Ascend qualify directly for the LPL Split 2 Playoff Bracket Stage. The bottom six teams from Group Ascend and top two teams from Group Nirvana qualify for the Playoffs Play-In.

The Split 2 Playoffs start with the play-in stage, featuring the bottom six teams from Ascend and the top two from Nirvana, with the winners proceeding to the bracket stage. All games are best-of-five (BO5).

The bracket stage uses a double-elimination bracket with all matches played as best-of-five (BO5), with the top two teams qualifying for the Mid-Season Invitational and the Esports World Cup.

Split 3 continues with the same format, featuring Group Nirvana and Group Ascend, which feed into the playoffs (Grand Finals), where Chinese squads compete for one LoL Worlds ticket.

The remaining two get awarded to the teams with the most Championship points accumulated throughout the season.

The prize pool for each LPL split varies depending on the split. The first split of the season has the lowest prize pool of ¥800,000 CNY, while the second offers over three times that at ¥2,500,000 CNY.

The total prize pool gets announced by the organisers ahead of the stages.

LoL Pro League was created in 2013 and has hosted competitions annually ever since. Over the years, the format of the league has changed, namely in 2015 when the LPL adopted a best-of-two series. Between 2017 and 2018, the LPL used the same format as the EU LCS before creating its own format in 2019.

As of 2025, the LPL uses different formats depending on the split, with the most recent and notable change being the introduction of the Fearless Draft – a rule that prevents a champion from being picked by either team twice within one series.

LPL betting markets are available on all of the top crypto betting sites, while the availability of betting options will vary depending on the platform chosen.

One of the best options for esports punters is Stake, which comes with excellent coverage of LoL markets, competitive betting odds, and various bonuses and promotions – including a welcome bonus with Stake promo code NEWBONUS.

On Stake, you can find all of the more popular LoL bet types, including: