What is E-Sports?
To put it succinctly, e-sports is competitive video gaming. It takes place on a professional level when getting to the very highest levels. While there are very few professional e-sports players when compared to traditional sports, it’s also important to realize that it’s a very new sport. The competitions that are run tend to have large prize money available for the winners. Pro players can also make additional revenue through streaming and sponsorships.
Gambling on e-sports is quite a new phenomenon. This is because it has taken time for legislation to be put in place. The legislation is there to both protect the integrity of the sport and to protect players from potential black market gambling.
Best e-Sports Betting Bonuses
Cloudbet
When you register a new account at Cloudbet, you can get a 100% bonus of up to 5 BTC to use on e-Sports wagers. You will need to accumulate bonus points, and the casino will release your bonus in increments based on the number of points you have. Bonus increments are released for every 150 points you collect. You will have 60 days to collect as many bonus points as possible. The bonus is available in a number of popular cryptocurrencies, including DOGE, DASH, and BCH.
Winz Casino
You can find two sports welcome bonuses at Winz Casino, including a free bet! You’ll need to use Bonus Code: SPORTS, and you’ll receive a $20 risk-free wager and a deposit bonus valued at 100% up to $500. You’ll need to make a deposit of at least $100 USD to receive your risk-free eSports bet.
Stake.com
Use Bonus Code: GMB5rakeback at Stake.com, and you’ll receive an exclusive bonus of 5% rakeback on all eSports wagers made. This bonus is usually reserved for high-roller players, but by using our exclusive link, you’ll be an instant VIP. Rakeback bonuses ensure that you get a set percentage of every wager returned back to you.
JustBit
You’ll get 45% cashback when you register to place bets at JustBit. That makes a total of 15% cashback over your first three deposits. Your bonus funds will be valid for three days after activation and come with no wagering requirements. The balance of your casino account must be lower than $10 to receive your cashback bonus.
Trust Dice
In addition to a no deposit bonus of 100 Satoshis, you can also enjoy a free crypto faucet and a 100% risk-free wager on your first e-Sports bet at Trust Dice. Your free bet is not withdrawable, and the maximum amount is set at 0.05 ETH / 0.0015 BTC / 30 EUR / 3,000 JPY / 30,000 KRW / 30 USDT / 30 USDC. Your free bet will expire after 48 hours of issuance.
FortuneJack
Now, you can get a daily $100 Free Bet at FortuneJack! You’ll claim 250 FreeSport coins every day. 1000 Coins = $ 1 Freebet. The minimal exchange amount is 5000 coins ($5 Freebet). eSports lovers can also enjoy a 20% cashback bonus upon sign-up that can be used on eSports wagers at FortuneJack. General terms and conditions apply to both casino offers.
Sportsbet.io
Get in on the betting action with Free-to-Play contests at Sportsbet.io. The site hosts a 4-3-Free competition. Here’s how it works. You’ll be given four questions to answer about an upcoming match. If you get three answers correct, you’ll receive a 10 USDT Free Bet. If you manage to get all four responses to the questions right, you’ll receive a 50 USDT Free Bet to use. The site also hosts a Bet Free-6-6 contest, where you’ll need to predict the end scores of six different matches. Guess correctly on all six, and you’ll receive a $100,000 USDT main prize!
E-sports Betting: Tournaments
The main area where bets can be placed on e-sports is through tournaments. There are a lot of different tournaments that run throughout the year across lots of different video games. The general market that is offered for e-sports betting is covered by the overall winners of the tournament. While there are other more intricate markets available, they’re not as popular as the outright market.
The tournaments have incredible prize pots in place, which is what draws in players. For example, the 2019 international DOTA 2 tournament had a total prize pool of almost $35 million! This is obviously appealing to high-level gamers. DOTA 2 is probably the most lucrative, but it’s not alone in terms of huge prize pots.
Popular Games for E-Sports Betting
There are a huge number of games that are used for e-sports betting. It’s a list that is constantly growing. However, there are five main games leading the revolution at the moment. We’re going to cover the main games out there, but bear in mind there are plenty more.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
At the moment, Counter Strike: GO is at the top of the list in the world of e-Sports. It’s a game that has a rich history with online gaming. When the internet was first grabbing popularity, CS was a big deal. Originally a mod for Half Life, the fast-paced gameplay was an instant hit.
Over the years, it has developed into a standalone game. The current iteration is one of the most popular e-sports games around. There are plenty of e-sports betting options when a tournament rolls around. This all makes it a highly important game to learn about.
Fortnite
What is there to say about Fortnite? When it was released, it quickly became a global phenomenon. It has fast-paced gameplay, building elements, and great-looking visuals. It’s arguably the most popular game in the world at the moment. All of this made it perfect for the e-sports world.
There have been a number of different Fortnite e-sports tournaments. Obviously, each tournament has had massive prize money associated with it. On top of this, there have been a lot of e-sports betting options. Fortnite could be the e-sports mainstream breakout game in the future.
League of Legends
Every single day almost 10 million people play League of Legends. This is, without a doubt, an impressive amount. It means that it was a game that was ripe for e-sports to take off. This happened in a very big way.
There is a huge amount of different League of Legends tournaments out there. In fact, there’s everything from regular leagues to numerous tournaments throughout the year. This has helped to make it a big player on the e-sports circuit.
Not only does it have a world championship that takes place each year, but there are no less than 12 different professional LoL leagues! This makes it one of the most prolific e-sports there is and the one you should look out for if you want a game to place a wager on.
DOTA 2
Alongside League of Legends, DOTA 2 is the biggest e-sport in the world. It includes lots of different events over the course of the year. This gives bettors the opportunity to place wagers on a wide range of different events.
What makes DOTA 2 the most impressive is the massive prize pool that’s in place. Hitting almost $35 million, it’s the biggest in e-sports by a long way. Part of the reasoning behind this is that it has the potential to compete with traditional sports for viewing figures.
The future of e-sports going into the mainstream could hinge on DOTA 2 being a success.
Call of Duty
You can now place wagers on tournaments and events featuring the best-selling video game of all time, Call of Duty. The video game franchise has been extremely popular in the eSports arena, with events regularly hosted around the world.
There is even an entire Call of Duty League where twelve teams compete in five double-elimination Majors across the regular season in a hybrid LAN/online format. The teams seeded into the Majors are determined by head-to-head group play matches. The teams will continue to compete in a bracket competition until the finale, where the two best teams will compete for the grand prize of $200,000.
Warcraft III
Another popular video game in the world of eSports is World of Warcraft. The current incarnation is Warcraft III, a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Players can choose to play as one of four factions. The factions are The Human Alliance – humans, elves, and dwarves; the Orcish Horde – orcs, trolls, and tauren; the Undead Scourge; and the Night Elves.
Warcraft has proven especially popular in China, seeing massive growth in recent years among young players. 2023 will mark the 16th annual Arena World Championship, where players from around the world will compete for $800,000 in prizes.
Valorant
Created by Riot Games in 2020, Valorant is a first-person shooter game where players are on one of two teams: the defenders or the attackers. In most events, there are a standard 25 rounds. The first team that wins 13 rounds is the winner of the event.
The Valorant circuit is massive, and they host events every week. Teams host players from around the world, including Japan, Brazil, and Korea. There are currently ten competitive teams in the North American circuit. 2023 saw a new Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) launched with even more events planned than ever before.
Rainbow 6
Similarly to Valorant, Rainbow 6 is also a shooter game where players play on teams. In this game, players work together to complete various campaigns, such as saving hostages. In 2022, the fifth annual Rainbow Six Siege tournament was held with 13 events throughout the world, including Europe, the USA, Latin America, and Asia.
In 2023, the world of eSports will see the Rainbow 6 tournament expand even further, with 16 teams from nine regions. There will be two major event tournaments, one in May and the other in November. The prize pool of both tournaments is $750,000 USD each.
King of Glory
Previously known as Honor of Kings, King of Glory is a mobile game that now boasts over 80 million players around the world. The game is especially popular in China. In 2020, the King Pro League, or KPL, was launched and has seen continued expansion in success in subsequent years. Events can be played in Player vs. Player mode or Player vs. Environment mode.
Every year, teams compete against each other in the World Champion Cup for the chance to become the King of Glory World Champions. There is a total of $4.67 million was on the line in every World Champion Cup event. In Western circuits, the game is known as Arena of Valor.
Virtual Sports
You’ll find no shortage of virtual sports in the world of eSports. These games include virtual baseball, virtual basketball, event virtual cricket. There are even e-Fighting tournaments where players play games such as Mortal Kombat and Injustice 2. Many sports betting sites, such as Stake.com, allow you to wager and watch virtual sporting events in real-time.
You can find numerous major virtual sporting events, including the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix and the FIFAe Nations Cup. What really makes eSports stand out from live sporting events is that virtual events can take place any time of year, regardless of the weather. Virtual sporting events are happening every day worldwide.
E-Sports Betting Markets
E-Sports betting has a number of different markets available to players. The first is the most obvious. The outright market. Here players will place a wager on who they think will win the event that is taking place. This doesn’t differ in any way from the outright market in regular sports.
This means that wagers can be placed on individual matches or as a tournament outright. Just like with traditional sports, e-sports can be played out with a team or with individuals. So depending on the event that is being played, depends on if you will bet on an individual or a team.
Other E-sports Betting Markets
Players can also place wagers on other markets within the event. These markets aren’t as popular as the outright market at the moment, but just like real sports, they are likely to grow in popularity.
Players can place a bet on aspects of the game that is taking place. This can be things like the number of kills, first kill, length of the match, or even who will finish last. All of these different markets will offer different values to players, so this is where to look if you want to find good value.
Where to Bet on E-Sports
While e-sports is growing at a fast rate, it’s not available everywhere just yet. That’s why it’s important to check out our list of online casinos to see where you can find the best place to place a wager. A good place to look over is Sportsbet.io. You can see from our review that it’s a high-quality place to bet. It also offers players the opportunity to place a bet on e-sports.
Once you’ve found a number of high-quality sites, it’s time to compare odds. This will help you when it comes to finding value for your wagers. Betting on e-sports is very similar to betting on regular sports in this respect.
Improving your E-Sports Betting Chances
There are a lot of different ways you can improve your chances of winning with e-sports. As it’s a relatively new betting option, a lot of value can be found. Just like any kind of betting, this will require research. While we can’t guarantee that we will help you to win, we can steer you in the direction of what you need to research. Follow our top tips to improve your e-sports betting skills.
Pick a Game for E-Sports Betting
Choose a game and then stick to it. It’s best to be an expert on one particular game than know a little bit about a lot. This will help you to focus on areas that the bookmakers might have missed. You might know which Fortnite players start off slow and which ones start fast. This will allow you to spot if the odds for first to a certain number of kills are high or low. It will also allow you to take advantage of in-play betting. If you know someone is going to come on strong, you could get better odds on them in the middle of the match.
Research Player Stats
The stats for players is vitally important. This will allow you to know how likely they are to get a win or how they relate to specific markets. It also gives the chance to cross-reference different players. This is a great way to find added value with your bets.
Pick a Team to Support
Just like a regular sport, you can support a team. While this doesn’t guarantee anything, it does have a distinct advantage. Supporting a team means that you have a reason to follow games. It helps you to get a connection. It makes it more fun to follow the sport. Additionally, it also means that you are more likely to look into the intricacies of the games when you have a vested interest. To put it simply, supporting a team makes researching fun.
Take Advantage of In-Play E-Sports Betting
In-Play betting is often where the value can be found. This is no different in e-sports. When you’re armed with the stats, you’re more likely to know when things will happen. This will allow you to take advantage of the increased odds of in-play betting. From here, you can find much better value for your bets.
Is E-Sports Betting the Future of Betting?
While there are no guarantees, it is possible. In recent years e-sports has become much more popular. Viewing figures have increased, as have prize pools. It has shown the potential to compete with and possibly surpass regular sports at some point in the future. This might not happen for a few years, but there is definitely a possibility that one day e-sports will be the biggest available market.