FUT, BetBoom grab first playoff berths at PGL Masters

FUT Esports and BetBoom Team won their Round 3 High matches Monday to become the first two teams to clinch their spots in the playoff stage of the PGL Masters event in Bucharest, Romania.

FUT rallied past Team Vitality 2-1 and BetBoom blanked Natus Vincere 2-0. The losing sides remain alive, still one win away from earning advancement out of the Swiss-system group stage.

The $1.25 million Counter Strike: Global Offensive event pits 16 teams in a Swiss-system format which runs through Wednesday. The eight teams that reach three wins before taking three losses will advance to a single-elimination playoff Thursday through Saturday.

All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final Saturday. The winning team will take home $400,000, with half going to the team and half to the players.

On Monday, FUT fell to Vitality 13-9 on Mirage before bouncing back with a 13-9 triumph on Dust II and a 13-10 clincher on Anubis. Yasin "xfl0ud" Koc of Turkey led FUT with 57 kills on a plus-12 kills-deaths differential.

BetBoom edged NaVi 13-10 on Dust II and 13-9 on Nuke. The all-Russian BetBoom roster received 36 kills from Aleksandr "zorte" Zagodyrenko and 35 apiece from Pavel "S1ren" Ogloblin and Kirill "Magnojez" Rodnov.

Elsewhere, the Round 3 Low matches saw the first two eliminations of the tournament. TYLOO pushed past 9z Team 2-1, and DENDELE CS knocked out G2 Esports by the same score.

TYLOO absorbed a 13-11 defeat on Inferno before winning 13-5 on Nuke and 13-7 on Mirage. Su "Zero" Jingshen of China had 54 kills on a plus-15 to pace TYLOO.

DENDELE sandwiched 13-5 victories on Nuke and Inferno around G2's 16-14 overtime win on Ancient. Danilo "doc" Barros of Brazil had 59 kills on a plus-15 to lead DENDELE.

In the four Mid matches, MOUZ swept The MongolZ 2-0, Aurora Gaming blanked Nemiga Gaming 2-0, Team Spirit defeated FURIA 2-1 and Team Liquid topped Legacy 2-0. The winners moved into the Round 4 High matches, and the losing teams dropped to the Round 4 Low matches.

There are six matches slated for Tuesday:

Round 4 High matches:

--Team Liquid vs. Aurora Gaming

--Team Spirit vs. MOUZ

--Team Vitality vs. Natus Vincere

Round 4 Low matches:

--Nemiga Gaming vs. DENDELE CS

--The MongolZ vs. Legacy

--FURIA vs. TYLOO

PGL Masters Bucharest prize pool with total prize money, player prize money and team share:

1.$400,000 ($200,000, $200,000)

2. $187,500 ($93,750, $93,750)

3. $150,000 ($75,000, $75,000)

4. $87,500 ($43,750, $43,750)

5-8. $62,500 ($31,250, $31,250)

9-11. $31,250 ($15,625, $15,625)

12-14. $18,750 ($9,375, $9,375)

15-16. $12,500 ($6,250, $6,250) -- 9z Team, G2 Esports

--Field Level Media