How to Bet on ESports

In recent years, the popularity of E-Sports has increased astronomically.

People now flock to tournaments in their hundreds, just to get a glimpse of their favourite team in action, and the number of people actually taking part has also risen.

As with anything where competitors are competing to win something. If it becomes popular enough, bookmakers will provide a betting market for it. The rise in popularity of ESports has seen more bookmakers taking bets, more markets available, and more ESports covered.

ESports – The Basics

Electronic Sports are usually video games played over electronic devices, with teams of people competing against each other in multi-player leagues or tournaments.

Most ESports games involve real time strategy, Online Battle Arena (Multi-Player), and First Person Shooter.

ESports which we have found betting markets for recently include:

• Counter Strike: Global Offensive
• League of Legends
• DOTA
• Overwatch
• Starcraft
• Fortnite

ESports tournaments are streamed live online and there are even TV channels available via some subscription services which show live or repeated ESports action, with commentary and analysis from experts in the games being played.

ESports Betting Markets

As Esports are an event usually contested between two teams, the main betting market is the standard match winner market.

This market is where the bookmaker gives set odds on each team to win, and the bettor wagers on which team they think will come out on top.

For example, a match may have Team A priced as 8/13 favourites up against Team B who are priced at 6/5. This means that a £100 bet on Team A would return a total of £161.54 (profit of £61.54), if successful. A winning bet of £100 on Team B would return a total of £220, which is a profit of £120.

There are also outright tournament winner markets available, as well as special markets related to each game.

For example, a League of Legends contest may have markets available such as:

• Team with most kills
• Team to draw first blood
• Team to destroy the next tower
• Both teams to slay a baron – yes/no
• Both teams to slay a dragon – yes/no

To some people, none of that will make sense. But it will to those who understand Esports and, more specifically, League of Legends.

How to Bet on ESports

Obviously, betting on ESports isn’t for everyone. It is a niche market where you would need to have some sort of understanding and knowledge in order to want to bet on it.

Here are a few tips to those of you who want to have a punt on ESports.

Understand the Game(s)

Most people, at least the more sensible of people, would not bet their hard-earned money on a sport they know nothing about. So, why would you bet on ESports if you have no knowledge or interest of it.

You must fully research the games that are being played, in order to have a full understanding of what is happening. In fact, the best course of action would be to play the games you are looking to bet on. That way, you will fully immerse yourself into it and completely understand what is going on.

You must also fully understand how a tournament or league format works, and how a winner is found, so you don’t get hit with any nasty surprises further down the road.

Everyone knows that they must only ever bet on what they have knowledge of and ESports are no exception to that rule.

Research the Teams and Players

The truth is, most bettors will back an ESports team due to their popularity, a friend or family connection, or simply because they like the sound of the teams name. They do not carry out full research.

What this can do is increase the popularity of a team, mean more people are betting on them, and in turn the bookmakers are offering shorter odds. This is all without actually knowing if they are indeed the best team or not.

In order to take advantage of this, and find when the outsider will have a better chance of winning, you must carry out detailed research into the teams and each player within that team. ESports statistics are available on a number of platforms and will provide you with all the information you need to make better and more informed betting decisions.

Find the Best Odds

In order for you to make the most out of betting on ESports, it’s vital that you always bet at the best odds available. There may only be a slight difference between the odds at two different bookmakers, but constantly betting at the shorter odds will make a difference in the long run.

For this reason, it is recommended that you have accounts with several online bookmakers and compare prices ahead of placing an informed bet. It is something we would recommend with any sport. And, it becomes even more important to ESports bettors if they do not know how to identify value or if they’re always backing the short priced favourites.