The popularity of esports and esports betting has grown exponentially in recent years. As more people become interested in gaming, most AAA competition-based games get the opportunity to become esports betting games. As of writing, the esports betting market value is $10 billion, and it’s estimated to grow to over $23 billion by 2028.
While that’s the case, the concept of esports betting is still unfamiliar to many existing gamblers. Perhaps the reason is that sites like captaingambling.com do not dedicate their time to publishing content covering the esports space. There’s also the opinion that esports bettors are predominantly modern-day gamblers as most veterans are too conservative to try other gambling modes.
Contrastingly, there are not many moving parts on esports and esports betting – with enough enthusiasm, you can become a well-informed esports fan in no time. This article will be all you need to get alongside other esports followers.
What are Esports and Esports Betting?
Esports is the short acronym for ‘electronic sports’; it means competitive video gaming. The main difference between this and regular sporting activities is that it can be done virtually without the need for competitors to come together in a room.
Remember back in the days when you’d have to be in the same room with a competitor to challenge them on a game duel? Esports, as we know it today, isn’t a lot different. The origin of esports can be traced back to 1972 during the popularisation of home consoles – this was when for the competitions to hold, both gamers would have to be with the same console. The only significant difference with esports as we know it today is the improved cash prize and the ability for players to compete conveniently from a remote location.
Esports betting is merely just an act of placing bets on esports games. While this may be true, the sports competitions that eventually get featured by bookmakers often consist of professional players. Professional video gamers are much more competitive than casual gamers who primarily attend esports competitions for fun.
At any rate, we have esports tournaments predominantly contested by casual gamers – which often doesn’t get covered by bookmakers, even though the competitions may still have good cash prizes. Then we have esports tournaments that players on the professional gaming scene contest – these tournaments often attract cash prizes significantly larger than what’s obtainable in the best casual gaming tournaments. Bookmakers usually cover professional esports competitions, allowing punters to bet on a particular gamer to win specific matchups or the entire tournament.
How does Esports Betting Work?
The popularity of esports betting has grown exponentially in recent years – primarily because the level of competitiveness of the tournaments has increased to a respectable level. Thus, esports competition organisers in the UK have been opening e-gaming centres to further even the playing field for players that may be using gaming equipment below par.
Esports betting may be different from sports betting. Still, as you attempt to familiarise yourself with it, you find the differences aren’t entirely distinctive – they more or less contain similar markets by type of sport. Esports betting shouldn’t be too difficult to understand if you’ve been participating in traditional bets for a while. The significant difference between both is often the level of interaction within the communities – esports betting has a much better social media coverage and attention, which can help a newcomer learn how it works. While that’s the case, most esports bettors often engage in live betting, even though you can make your betting selections prematch.
Types of Esports betting
As Esports betting became common, bookmakers improved to accommodate gamblers’ requests. However, not all esports games/events have the same number of betting types or markets – the more dynamic markets are only available in the most popular esports games. Here are the three most common types of esports betting.
- Betting via online betting platforms – the bettor participates in fixed odds either prematch or during the live game.
- Social betting – also known as casual betting between two individuals
- Skins gambling and loot boxes – in-game events carried out by the players.
While that’s the case, top-rated games like CSGO, League of Legends, and DOTA2 often have dynamic markets like ‘first kill’ within a particular match.
