Things to Know About Esports Betting

Esports, also known as electronic sports, were initiated in the US (Stanford).

But they quickly became integrated and recognized as a sport in Asia, specifically Korea and China, where the first Esport professionals were recognized.

I believe that multiplayer video gaming was one of the prime drivers that helped promote widespread internet distribution and pushed the need for faster service to support Esports and the large audiences that came with the games

Initial multiplayer games were racing games like AstroRace (73) using a Plato system. These have come a long way leading into today’s most popular multiplayer game Fortnite.

When I think of Esport, I think of a multiplayer video game, played competitively by professionals, designed to have an audience for the recognition of excellence and revenue generation from both the event and the attraction from the event to promote the product to consumers.

Esports Events Are Huge

Today, Esports events such as League of Legends attracts more than 40 million viewers and prize winnings are close to $30 million. Numbers like these make me wonder if I made the right choice, until I give one of them a shot and get smoked at the amateur levels.

Esports betting is one of, if not, the fastest growing avenues of gambling in the last five years and predicted to grow over the next decade. It’s estimated that gambling revenue from consumers will exceed $13 billion by the end of 2020. What makes this number even more impressive is that it was less than $5 billion in 2017

The Top Esports Games for Betting On

What are the expected top Esports games from both a professional and revenue standpoint for 2020 (game and genre)?

• League of Legends (MOBA)
• Dota 2 (MOBA)
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (First Person Shooter)
• Overwatch (Combined – MOBA and First Person Shooter)
• Valorant (First Person Shooter)
• Fortnite (Battle Royale)

Esports Genres and How to Bet on Them

• MOBA – is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena where the object of the game is to destroy the opponents base and/or defeat the other players throughout the game’s battlefields. When playing, the game I must collect powers and valued prizes as these increase my survival chances and victories.
• First Person Shooter (FPS) – is taken from the point of view of the character where the movements are similar to an actual person and the character’s resources are displayed at the perimeter of the screen.

The two general modes for FPS are mission mode and multiplayer mode where the main goal in FPS is killing your opponent.

Battle Royale is a nice mix of individualism and team play where the object is to kill the other teams’ players. This is not designed for single players as quick strategies must be developed with the other players to avoid being the “one cut off from the herd” unless my character meant to be the sacrificial lamb for the benefit of my team.

How to Bet on Esports

Betting on Esports is simple. Keeping it simple is what I suggest for anyone just starting, too.

The most basic way to bet is a match win where my bet is placed on a winner after reviewing the odds. The odds generally indicate risks. The longer the odds, the higher the risk. It’s just like any kind of betting.

It’s important that I know the structure of the odds format (decimal, fractional, or American) as they may be different based on which part of the world I am betting.

If it’s is decimal, I will multiply my bet by the number: for example, if it is 1.5 and I place a $100 bet I get a return of $150, pretty simple.

When betting, it’s important to research the team’s recent success, see if they are operating with the same members, and even look at members current country environment.

I certainly would not want to be too confident if a team had a team member change and then looked at their country’s environment seeing recent stressful circumstances that may affect their concentration capabilities.

You should also remember that you can watch a couple of rounds before you place your winner bets and, even though the odds shorten, you have a better understanding of the teams.

Optional Bets in Esports

Most betting is specifically structured around winners and losers, but as the betting progresses, more optional betting strategies are developing prioritizing specific team conquests as part of the competition.

Other betting options are an over/under bet geared around kills, draws, regional winners, and on the number of rounds that a team progresses.

There are an also increasing number of betting options like first knife or first pistol kill, overall first kill, and who wins a specific map.

Many of these are special bets that allow one to see action throughout all stages of the Esports tournament — which is the major draw to these types of bets not to mention the higher odds associated with these bets.

Knowing the Game Is Important

DO NOT bet on games you have zero knowledge of, especially, when it is so easy for me to do research and take some time to investigate the games nuances. Be smart about what you are doing just as you would with any financial investment.

Research the game and view it being played to get a good understanding of the object, challenges, and the Esports betting strategies needed to win.

As new games take the scene, new teams will emerge as favorites and the favorite teams are less consistent than established traditional sports teams. This can even be said for longer established esport teams primarily due to rapid growth of new teams that competitively try to make a name for themselves.

What About Esports Integrity?

Cheating is a painful word in all sports, one I rarely use, but it happens occasionally.

I must recently admit to hanging my head low in regards to my favorite home team, the Houston Astros, when they decided to use the “electric eye” to catch signs.

As Esports betting is relatively new, let us look at the integrity of the sport and ensure that you are comfortable betting money with the knowledge the industry is doing all they can to ensure fairness.

So, how do I know someone has not integrated the game with some secret code that gives a player special ability like super strength, increased speed, or prioritized recognition on strikes??

The Esports Integrity Commission was formed in 2016 to further enhance the games integrity and eliminate threats of fraud. They have developed a set of principles to guide esport events.

The Integrity Commission seeks input from bookmakers to help eliminate possibilities of esport cheating. These bookmakers are not stakeholders as that could be considered a violation of interests, but they are allowed as non-voting members.

Europe now has the European Esports Federation which operates in much the same capacity as the Integrity Commission.

With the creation of this commission and federation, esporting events are now seriously being considered for the 2024 Olympic games which shows their commitment to ensure the integrity of the games.

One can also be assured that persons on this committee are not persons who know little about the actual games, in fact many on the commission are experts in the Esports gaming industry and are dedicated to growing the games popularity. Overall, Esports is conducted in a fair atmosphere and thus far there have been no issues.

Conclusion

When reviewing Esports, I see that it is the fastest growing gambling industry across the world. It’s expected to generate gambling revenues in excess of $13 billion and purses breaking the $1 billion mark for 2020.

Betting is straightforward, but one needs to ensure which betting format is used. After all, games are played all over the globe. Additional special option betting is available based on specifics aspects of the games such as over/under on kills and first kills.

When betting on Esports games online, not only should I know the game and its genre, but I also need to research the players and teams’ recent successes/failures. Some of this information can easily be found on public information databases.

As the sport grows, so has its organizational capabilities to prevent fraud and ensure a healthy growth for the industry. Thus far there have been no major fraud disclosures or discoveries as the integrity of the coding within the games is closely monitored and secured.

After reading this, you should have much of the background and established much of the language needed to know what to expect from esport betting. Maybe it’s time you took it to another level and test the waters by looking into upcoming events.

Many of these events can be found on ESPN. Most bookkeepers will have available betting for these events at your disposal. For me, I started treating them like the ponies with some safer bets to see they paid off based on my research and then, after becoming more comfortable with my knowledge, added a little more risk/reward.

My best advice, as with all gambling, is to make sure you are having fun and enjoy the action. If I do not find enjoyment in the game, then what is the point.