One of the key reasons why betting services and sites have enjoyed such longevity within
society has been their ability to adapt to new trends. For sportsbooks, this meant opening up exciting new markets over time and then developing technology to allow such enhancements as Virtual Sports, In Play betting or Live Streaming.
However, recently one part of the industry has been booming, becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry in its own right, esports. And 2020 was perhaps the biggest year for esports betting so far.
Little wonder with interest in esports betting so high, that so many big sportsbook services, that made their name in traditional sports betting, have clamoured to offer some form of esports betting service to its customers.
If you would like to try your hand at a bit of esports betting, then the good news is that most top online betting sites now offer at least some form of esports betting service to customers. Some are better than others however and if you are going to sign up to try esports betting out, bet365 Sports Welcome Bonus is a great place to start.
Not only does the offer see you given an opportunity to earn up to £100 in bet credits, but as esports betting goes, bet365 is an excellent choice from mainstream bookmakers given the breadth of markets and different esports they cover.
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You can also bet on esports with a growing number of sportsbook services in the United States, although it is by no means widespread across the nation yet. For more information on this, check out the articles and information on the exciting new site bestbetusa.com.
Let’s now start with the very basics by getting a grasp of what esports actually are, what the top games are that you can bet on most often, the top tournaments that are most popular with bettors and we’ll also answer some of the more difficult questions people want to know the answer to regarding this fledgling industry.
What Is Esports Betting?
Esports betting is simply the chance to wager on the outcome, or another market, on a
computer or console game match between two or more human players, or two teams or more of human players.
Instead of a football or rugby ball, esports gamers use consoles and controllers to control the action and try to land victory over their opponent. The markets that you can bet on for these events will all relate to the action that happens during the game as well as the outcome of the contest.
What Are The Top Esports Punters Bet On?
It is fair to say that the esports industry is growing rapidly but there are a number of games that are the most popular ones when it comes to the esports betting industry. All these games have hundreds of thousands, sometimes many millions of teams and individual players and as such, they have huge followings all over the world.
Top esports games to bet on include:
- League of Legends (LoL)
- Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2)
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)
- Overwatch
- Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG)
- Fortnite
- StarCraft II (SCII)
- FIFA Football
- Call of Duty
- Rocket League
- VALORANT
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Hearthstone
There are many, many more games that could be classed as esports, but they are not as popular as the games listed and you will find that betting markets for those games are much more limited than for the most popular esports on this list.
What Are The Top Esports Tournaments That Take Place Each Year?
Throughout the calendar year, each esport listed above will have a number of tournaments
available which teams or individuals can compete in, if they qualify or are invited.
The more popular esports not only have more tournaments each year, but the amount of money that can be won in these tournaments can often exceed £1 million in prize money. For the biggest tournaments, the prize money can be far in excess of that amount.
Of course, it is these huge events that really attract the most bets in the esports betting industry, so we have brought you a list of some of the top esports tournaments each year which we have outlined below.
- League of Legends World Championships
- League of Legends Spring/Summer Splits
- League of Legends Mid Season Invitational
- The International (Dota 2)
- Dota Pro Circuit
- CS:GO BLAST Premier Global Finals
- CS:GO Intel Extreme Masters (& Other CS:GO Major Championships)
- CS:GO ESL Pro League
- FIFA eWorld Cup
- FIFA Global Series
- Overwatch League
- Call of Duty World League
Alongside these events, there are thousands of other esports tournament running each year, many of which the top esports betting sites will offer extensive betting on.
Are Esports And Esports Betting Legit?
This is probably one of the most common and pressing questions that sports bettors have
about the esports industry. Most people are not to keen to have a bet on a market that does not offer them at least a fair chance of winning.
The good news is that the esports industry has massive penalties in place for teams and players that do not play fairly and there are bodies (such as ESIC) which oversee fair play within the industry, and which can (and have) sanctioned teams and individuals that have fallen below these standards.
With players now routinely being drug tested too, you can be sure that the esports industry is just as fair and legitimate to bet on as any sports betting market you would care to name.
Can I Tune In To Watch An Esports Match I Have Bet On?
Yes, bet365 will often carry live streams of many of the top esports betting fixtures on the site. You can view live streams at bet365 free of charge if you have made a bet inside the last 24 hours, or you have a credit balance in your account.
There are also a number of other free-to-use services, such as Twitch, which stream live esports gaming action 24/7 from all over the world and getting yourself an account on these services is a great way to keep tabs on the action.
You can even find some esports events are now being shown on television they are so popular. In the UK, for example, Sky Sports have regularly shown coverage of a number of top FIFA esports events over the last couple of years and I would expect more companies to start showing esports tournaments in years to come.
Is Betting On Esports Any Different To Standard Sports Betting?
No. You bet on esports with your choice of bookmaker as you would standard sports betting. At bet365 Sport for example, once you have found your esports bet you want to back, simply click on the odds to add it to your bet slip.
From there you can then decide on the size of your stake and place your bet in the same way you would a standard sports bet.
The esports betting industry has enjoyed a massive spurt in growth over the last 12-18 months but it was always an industry that was going to grow in size. With the next generation of bettors likely to be as interested in gaming as they are sports, it is heartening to see so many traditionally sports betting sites diversifying into this new industry so successfully.
Esports and esports betting is definitely no passing phase. It is here to stay, so it is a market that any serious punter should at least start to learn a little about. Hopefully, what you have learned in this article today, has gone some way towards that.
