eSports Betting : Details & Guide for Bettors

Electronic Sports which is also known as eSports is a form of competitive video gaming which has surged in popularity in the last few years.

 The term eSports comprises a wide range of games and genres. The most common genres are first-person shooter (FPS), multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), fighting and real-time strategy, with Dota 2, LoL (League of Legends) and CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) the three most popular games in terms of global audience.

Players and teams can compete online or within a local area network (LAN). Major tournaments such as The International (Dota 2) and the LoL World Championship take place in arenas, attracting online audiences of over 5,000,000 people and can have total prize pools of over $20,000,000.

eSports have grown over the years and people all over the world now wager on it. eSports Betting offers a variety of options for potential bettors to stake and profit which will be explained under this article.

Money Line

Money Line betting is perhaps the most traditional type of sports betting. In terms of eSports betting, it just means picking which side will win the match.

Handicap

The premise of handicap betting in eSports is similar to traditional sports betting. The bookmaker will try to balance the chances of each side by giving the lower ranked side an advantage (positive handicap) and the higher ranked side a disadvantage (negative handicap).

In order for a bet on the team with a positive handicap to win, they must win the match, draw or lose by less than the handicap figure. A bet placed on the team with the negative handicap will only win if that team wins by more than the handicap figure set.

Totals

Totals betting in eSports is when a bet is placed on the number of specified events in a game being over or under a figure set by a bookmaker. What the total refers to will vary depending on the game – in Dota 2 and LoL it is called ‘kill’ and in CS:GO it is called ’round’.

First kill and first blood

Some eSports betting sites even give you the chance to make bets on who will get the first kill or first blood in each particular match.

These bets can take a little more expertise than other kinds of bets, so be sure to follow the esports live streams to get a good idea of when an entry fragger in a CSGO game could give you a winning result on your first kill in-play bet. 

Odd/evens bets

Some online bookmakers even allow you to make a bet that requires you to guess whether there will be an odd or even number of games won, players killed, or rounds played. While it might sound tricky to do, it’s a fun alternative to the traditional match winner kind of bet.

So even if you have no idea about whether SK Gaming or Astralis will win their next CSGO showdown, you can still take a chance with an odds/evens bet to potentially boost your profits.

First Map

Betting on who will win the first map is a great betting option for fans of first-person shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Rather than taking a bet on the overall match winner, you can just take an in-play bet on which team you think will win the first map. So if you know any top CSGO team with a history of getting the first map, you have an advantage.

Outright eSports betting

Outright betting in eSports simply refers to betting on the overall outcome of a particular event. One example of an outright bet in eSports betting would be the overall winner of Dota 2 – The International.

If you are into FPS games or  CS:GO, this betting option  should be the perfect fit for you.

These kinds of markets could potentially offer more value as the team you pick has to win multiple games over a longer period of time. It is also worth noting that there is slightly more room for error than in other markets as the team you bet on could make up for a mistake or loss and still win a competition