You might be surprised to learn that the newest star of the gaming industry is the esports sector. Newcomers and veterans alike should take a look at games such as Dota 2, LoL, CS:GO, and Fortnite and their associated betting. This guide will fill you in on all the details that you have missed regarding Esports betting sites, game genres, types of games and how to get started. Moreover, we will provide you with the top esports betting sites that were ranked and reviewed by our experts.
Esports or electronic sports seem far more daunting than they really are. They are quite similar to regular sports that see fans converge on teams/individuals, observe their matches and bet on the potential winner via online multiplayer video game environments. Esports is essentially just organized video gaming with a competitive twist. The associated events see professional gamers pitted against each other either individually or as teams. These events include tournaments or leagues for games such as Duty, the Counter-Strike Series, League of Legends, Fortnite, and so on.
Prior to the 2000s, video game culture was sequestered to amateurish gamers competing in casual online events. But once said events began to be streamed live and expanded upon, the crowd of esports fans exploded on a worldwide scale. The growth was astronomical, and by the 2010s, an entire industry grew up around organized events sporting extravagant tournaments and leagues that drew enormous crowds.
Nowadays, esports are as organized as ever, and there are even special game developers who focus on designing special games and funding tournaments, competitions, and other types of events.
The esports sector is ripe with thousands upon thousands of sportsbooks that have video and console betting on offer. A beginner might be shell-shocked by this enormous amount of choice, which is why we at OnlineCasinoReports decided to break things down into manageable chunks and highlight the key things that you ought to know in order to enjoy betting on online esports.
The first step, as always, is navigating to the esports department, which should be clearly marked and comprised of categories. Then you simply choose a sports genre with solid odds, pick your preferred betting type (series or match winner) and bet.
Loyal punters tend to be rewarded with superior welcome bonuses, promotions, and special rewards. An additional bonus is a fact that our recommendations have to sport our seal of approval, which can only be obtained after rigorous vetting. The checklist of criteria that a sportsbook has to adhere to in order to be recommended is stringent and based on draconian gambling laws and prerequisites for safe wagers.
Esports has grown greatly in terms of popularity and can often be found among the favourites of any given punter. However, some sportsbooks have sadly lagged behind. Have a gander at our list of recommended betting sites sporting Esports and choose among the best.
When demand in a certain market rises, there are providers that rise up to meet it. The same goes for Esports and its plentiful fields of bookmakers intent on providing superb video game betting. You no longer have to worry about finding a worthy partner. You have to worry about being able to make a choice. Your choice, in any scenario, should be limited to licensed and regulated bookies.
The reason for this seemingly odd limitation is the safety that verified Esports betting sites provide. One form of this safety are the ever-important reliability and safety of payment methods that an esports betting company provides.
The best Esportsbooks will provide you with the option of live betting on the most popular esports games. Furthermore, they will have a built-in streaming service so that you do not have to jump from YouTube or Twitch.
You might think that this covers the basics, but there is one crucial piece of the puzzle yet to be uncovered. The latter are odds pertaining to mainstream and special markets. In this regard, you should find yourself choosing from a plethora of betting options, especially when it comes to leading games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, Call of Duty or CS:GO.
There are three resounding winners when it comes to the never-ending popularity contest among gaming genres. The latter three are the leaders in terms of popularity and global reach. They consist of multiplayer online battle arenas, first-person shooters, and real-time strategy games.
Online tools have made determining a game's popularity a breeze. You can now rank an esports game's popularity based on streaming hours on sites such as YouTube and Twitch. Another avenue of approach are EsportsCharts, which update you live on the actual numbers of esports viewership.
League of Legends is, based on statistical data, the most-viewed game, with over 500 million hours dedicated to it. It is followed by Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Dota 2, Overwatch, and Arena of Valor, that rake in a respectable 70+ million watch hours.
The key to Esports’ popularity is this exact aspect, streaming. The affiliation to esports based on gender stands at 85% for males and 15% for females. The majority of these are aged between 18 and 34 years.
The last few years have seen abundant prize pools dished out to tournament winners to the toon of several million euros. The following are the top 5 games with the current biggest prize pools, accompanied by a few interesting stats that we dug up:
|
Rank |
Game |
Prize Pool |
Players |
Tournaments |
|
#1 |
Dota 2 |
€280,803,508 |
4272 |
1619 |
|
#2 |
CS:GO |
€131,355,230 |
14748 |
6120 |
|
#3 |
Fortnite |
€111,339,316 |
4931 |
750 |
|
#4 |
League of Legends |
€90,515,461 |
8076 |
2677 |
|
#5 |
Arena of Valor |
€44,681,469 |
976 |
97 |
Betting sites usually have a special category for Esports betting, especially Esports tournaments, that is split into several categories and marked extensively to ease navigation. You will encounter everything from first-person shooters to real-time strategy games. The following are the most common video game genres that you will probably encounter whilst diving into esports:
|
Game |
Description |
|
MOBA |
This genre is the king among multiplayer games with a competitive twist. It has the most players and the highest-paying tournaments. This elite club is populated by the likes of League of Legends and Dota 2. |
|
FPS |
The array of first-person shooter games that dominate the esports betting scene is crowned by greats such as Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) and Call of Duty. These incredibly popular titles are tailed by Overwatch and Valorant, which provide unique gaming elements. |
|
RTS |
StarCraft 2 is the sandbox of South Korean professional players, but this does not take away from this real-time strategy game’s worldwide appeal. |
|
CCG |
2020 has seen a resurgence in collectable card games such as Hearthstone and Overwatch's League Series 1 Trading cards. |
|
Battle Royale |
These are near and dear to many players and include titles such as Z1 Battle Royale, Real Royale, and Fortnite Battle Royale. |
|
Autobattlers |
This is a new breed of card game that first saw the light of day in 2019 with titles such as Dota Auto Chess, Dota Underlords and Teamfight Tactics (TFT). |
|
Fighting Games |
Fighting games are their own breed, usually partaken in via Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and PCs. This genre includes greats such as Street Fighter V (Champion Edition), Emon Slayer, Mortal Kombat 11, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. |
It seems that nothing can stop the growth of Esports, and this shows a great deal in leagues, tournaments, championships, and other annual esports events:
|
Event |
Game |
|
The International |
League of Legends |
|
Fortnite World Cup |
Fortnite |
|
LoL World Tournament |
League of Legends |
|
LoL World Championship |
League of Legends |
|
Olympic Virtual Series |
Virtual Sports |
Now that you are somewhat familiar with Esports and ready to start betting, you have to consider the following tips. These are excellent for establishing a solid strategy.
Esports betting tends to attract gaming enthusiasts. If this is not the case for you, then catch up on game rules and terminology and get an overall sense of how the game is played. You can easily download a plethora of free games at our top esports betting sites and try them out for yourself.
Betting on a game that you are familiar with is one plus, but betting on teams and players whose strengths and weaknesses are apparent to you is a completely different ballgame. By knowing these factors and a particular team’s or player’s history, you can support your wager with the highest possible amount of information possible.
One fun and exciting way to understand esports better is by consuming live matches. These are great tools for learning how a game works in real-time. By observing the action, you can pick up invaluable tips and strategies that are displayed secretly by the participants and ranted about openly by the commentators. Some sites and even bookmakers, the former being Twitch and YouTube have multiple live streams and past games on offer that can come in handy when studying a particular game.
After you tick all of those boxes, you are left with a quest for your preferred sportsbook. Our list featuring the top Esports bookies is an excellent starting point, and our recommendations are sure to provide you with a superb experience.
While esports are fun and immersive, betting on them can only deepen these feelings, make sure you stick to a preset budget. Responsible gambling is a prerequisite to fun gambling. Shoot for long-term goals, and do not let short-term joy take over.
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Are you unfamiliar with Esports betting or in need of a quick refresher? Look no further! These tips will have you betting like a professional and give you a deeper understanding of what's going on.
The popularity of esports is reaching and breaching new heights yearly. This has had the adverse effect of flooding the market with untrustworthy and predatory betting sites. You should always play at a trustworthy and renowned site that adheres to our stringent criteria. The following shortlist is a peak into what it takes to make our list of recommended sites:
License and Reputation We only ever recommend licensed, certified and legitimate esports betting sites. You should always expect the highest level of security for your personal information, and you should sleep easy knowing that your chosen operator is doing everything to ensure such security.
Quality Bonuses A bonus is, along with being an incentive, a form of appreciation that an operator bestows on a player. We like to see this appreciation displayed in the form of deposit bonuses, free bets, and cashback offers applicable to all markets of an esports betting site.
In-play Offerings Those who live and breathe esports betting expect the option of betting during an event, and the top sportsbooks will accompany this option with live streams.
Competitive Odds The odds of any esports market fluctuate, especially when you compare the pre-game to the live event. We recommend sites based on the best odds that are offered during esports betting that have a positive downstream effect on your bets.
Available Esports Electronic games, as is the case with everything, can be split into several unique genres. The latter include RTS, MOBAs and FPS. These have their own unique game options, such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Starcraft 2, and Dota 2. You can discover more opportunities by observing our below long list of popular Esports games.
Banking and Payouts You should always have a plethora of banking methods at your disposal. This will ensure that you can choose your preferred variant freely and simplify your betting experience. A quality venue will service cards (Visa and MasterCard), e-wallets, bank transfers and cryptocurrencies that focus on simple and speedy deposits and withdrawals.
Customer Service We all hope that we never have to make use of this lifeline, but if we do, it best be up-to-par. Punters should expect 24/7 assistance, especially when it comes to Esports betting. We have taken the liberty of testing our recommended sites and making sure that their customer support is reliable and fast.
You will be faced with hundreds, if not thousands, of options when exploring Esports. It is, therefore, advisable to be familiar with the most popular ones. The following listing will familiarize you with the world's most popular and first-class esports betting options:
League of Legends This is by far the most popular Esports game when it comes to betting. It sports a multiplayer online battle arena that was developed by Riot Games back in 2009. It is affectionately known as LoL or League.
CS:GO Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a first-person multiplayer shooter and the fourth release in the Counter-Strike series. It was released in 2012 after being developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment. Its popularity has not diminished over the last decade.
Call of Duty This first-person shooter video game is the flagship product of Activision, with a history going back to 2003. CoD ranks among the most popular Esports betting games in the world.
Fortnite Fortnite is a renowned online video game that was released by Epic Games back in 2017. A punter can bet on three unique game versions.
Dota 2 This is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients, which is a multiplayer online battle arena game developed and released by Valve.
Overwatch This video game series is dotted with vibrant team-based shooters set on a futuristic Earth. The games are breath-taking matches between groups of unique heroes, each sporting his or her strengths and weaknesses.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds You can partake on your own or with a group of up to 3 other players. PUBG has a staggering 392 tournaments associated with it.
StarCraft 2 This game, released in 2010, has 6403 tournaments and hundreds of betting markets. It is a real-time strategy game with a sci-fi theme that was created by Blizzard Entertainment.
Hearthstone It was originally named Heroes of Warcraft but then decided to rebrand whilst keeping its online digital collectable card game theme. Hearthstone is akin to Warcraft and based on its elements, characters, and relics.
Rainbow 6 Siege Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and stands as one of the most popular online tactical shooter games currently in existence.
Rocket League This vehicle soccer-themed game was developed by Psyonix and released in 2014.
VALORANT Valorant is the latest game from Riot Games designed specifically for esports events and themed with first-person shooter action. Its initial release name was Project A, and it hit the scene in October 2019. This was then followed by a closed beta that came into being on the 7th of April 2020, with an official release on the 2nd of June 2020.
Call of Duty Warzone This free-to-play battle royale game was initially released in 2020, with Mobile, Xbox and PlayStation 5 versions coming out later this year.
Apex Legends Another battle royale-hero shooter game with a mobile variant, known as Apex Legends Mobile. It was developed by Respawn Entertainment and released by Electronic Arts in 2019.
Smite This multiplayer third-person online game is based on the concept of an arena battle. It was developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios.
This depends entirely on the venue that you are choosing. A licensed, regulated, and audited bookmaker with esports betting options is a safe and wise choice. Note that you can easily outsource the necessary research and due diligence in this department by reading through our reviews and being tentative to online complaints.
The most popular ones include League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike Global Offensive, with games such as Call of Duty, Starcraft 2 and Overwatch being highly recommended for amateur and experienced esports punters.
The first step is being tentative about the separating qualities of esports books that make them stand out. The latter includes a solid selection of games and related betting markets, competitive odds, generous bonuses, and other welcoming features.
This depends entirely on your level of familiarity and experience. The casual punter should stick to mainstream betting markets, while a veteran with loads of experience can confidently dip his or her toes into special in-game esports markets and even excel at them.
Esports books take a page out of the books of classic bookmakers when it comes to incentives. There are those that focus solely on newcomers, while some take care of existing players. Both tend to be on a leash made up of terms and conditions and the occasional playthrough requirements.
These competitive video game events are quite similar to traditional sporting events. The latter similarities include a fanbase loyal to a particular team, streamed matches, and bets on a possible winner. Players face off against each other either on an individual basis or within teams. The games that they play tend to be Overwatch, Call of Duty, and the Counter-Strike series. All of these are close to the casual gamer and a true joy to watch.
You will often find live streams readily available at your sportsbook’s site. Other avenues of approach include sites such as YouTube, Facebook Gaming, and Twitch, that all feature Esports tournaments.
Our recommended sites feature a hefty list of LoL markets. Please feel free to have a gander at our listings, their markets, competitive odds and 24/7 customer support.
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