With sports put on the backburner for the time being, it’s great to know that there are some worthy alternatives. If you want to place a bet on something, you should give online esports betting a shot, as there are dozens of great tournaments you can be betting on today. But first, what are esports?
What are esports and why bet on them now?
Esports is a fairly new discipline that centers around video games played as a sport. While esports weren’t immediately accepted by sports fans, today this activity is finding more followers among regular sports aficionados, especially with some many sports on furlough for the next few months. By one estimate, 30% of traditional sports bettors are already betting on esports, and over 50% of sports fans are actually playing video games. Our beginners guide to esports succinctly explains what esports are and what you can expect to see.
Just like sports, there are different disciplines – meaning games – you can bet on. The more knowledgeable you are about a specific game, the more successful your bets will become. This gives esports bettors – new and old – an incentive to follow the same competitions over an extended period of time, such as an entire season.
What types of esports bets are there?
There are many different types of esports bets. Just like sports betting, esports offers you opportunities to place wagers on multiple possible outcomes. Some will naturally be simpler in their nature such as match bets.
In match bets, you will simply have to pick a winning side, whether it is a player or a team. Another popular market is the future or outright winner. In this case, you try to predict the winner of an entire season, group or tournament at the beginning of the event.
This is a very popular esports betting option for many knowledgeable esports fans who often place at least one tournament winner bet early - possibly before the competition or season even starts.
One very popular market with esports bettors is proposition betting. There could be over 10, 20 or even 50 different prop markets per game owing to the nature of each video game played. For example, instead of a simple Over/Under bet, you may have variations, such as “First Team to Score 5 Kills,” “First Team to Score 10 Kills,” and many others. “Team to Draw First Blood” is another popular bet, but there are numerous others that specifically take into consideration an objective that is unique to the game.
It may seem like a lot to commit to memory right now, but as you pick a game, these proposition bets will become immediately understandable to you, helping you narrow down your selection.
Where can you bet on esports?
Naturally, most sports fans are familiar with a handful of trusted sportsbooks. What they might not have known is that the same sportsbooks might actually offer esports bets. The coronavirus global pandemic has given top sportsbooks an additional incentive to quickly expand on their offer. As a result, you will see a variety of esports competitions displayed at the very front of bookmakers.
Of course, there are some websites that have decided to be fully dedicated to esports. As a sports fan, however, you are very welcome to join, set your account and experiment with the various odds and markets yourself. Every quality esports betting operator will make sure you have sufficient options available.
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What esports events can you bet on in the next few months?
If you think esports is going anywhere anytime soon, you can rest assured that this is not the case. Every year, there are over 8,000 events to bet on. Daily, you can look up a dozen of minor events and qualifiers.
Esports Based on Sports
You will be happy to know there are many mainstream sports organizations that have chosen to endorse esports. Organizations such as the NBA and FIFA are already running serious global competitions online.
Sports fans don't necessarily have to venture into games that they don't understand at all. Instead, they can stick to the NBA 2K League - an esports competition based on the National Basketball Association.
Once again, you will have familiar franchises that you see in the NBA with perhaps slightly altered names. For FIFA 20, you will mostly see one or two players controlling teams, rather than 11 players per team, but you once again get to bet on Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus, and others. There might be a slight shift in powers in the virtual world, so study the performance of esports soccer teams before placing a bet, and specifically, the player or players controlling the teams.
Even American football has an esports league thanks to the video game Madden NFL 20. The event is busy and there are many young players participating in such video games competitions. Once again, this competition strikes as a more familiar event for traditional sports fans, so the transition from a sports bettor to an esports bettor is easy to make.
Other Possible Esports to Explore
Almost every week, there is a major and significant event. Some games, such as Overwatch, Call of Duty and League of Legends have what is known as franchised leagues. Put another way you can bet on events daily. May will bring some interesting events as well, such as the ESL One Rio on May 21-24th and the DreamHack Dallas from May 22-24th. In June, esports fans will be able to bet on the Blast Premier Spring Series Showdown and the ONE Esports Singapore Major.
Naturally, in between, there are many other viable betting picks you can make. All are worth your while and so long as you enjoy video gaming, you will enjoy betting on esports, even if you are a sports fan, to begin with.
Who are the best esports teams and players to bet on?
Each esports will have its own set of teams and players who excel. It's important to understand that those are real persons who are actually as popular as LeBron James or Lionel Messi and they can sway a game's outcome on a whim. Therefore, it's important to focus entirely on a game that you want to understand and bet on. For FIFA 20, for example, the following players stand out: Niklas "NRASECK 7" Raseck, Donovan "FNATIC TEKKZ" Hunt, and Diogo "SCP DIOGO" Mendes.
Another thing to consider when choosing a player to bet on is to know that players are known by their nicknames, not their actual names. Speaking of teams to bet on, there are many established organizations.
For the NBA 2K League, you should be focusing on specific teams. Here are the five top-seeded esports teams in the NBA 2K League, which are owned by a real NBA franchise:
- Blazers Gaming (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Mavs Gaming (Dallas Mavericks)
- 76ERS GC (Philadelphia 76ers)
- T-Wolves Gaming (Minnesota Timberwolves)
- Kings Guard Gaming (Sacramento Kings)
Evidently, the NBA 2K League season will be slightly different in the sense that the dominant teams could be slightly different than what you have grown accustomed to in the regular competition.
What esports betting strategies are there?
Just like with traditional betting, you can use a variety of strategies to make sure your bets are a little more successful. Esports strategies will, in fact, overlap with what you know about sports already. Placing match bets tends to be the most rewarding market in esports as it is in sports. This way you have better control over the outcome, even though it still depends mostly on chance, and taking into consideration each team’s individual skill level.
Outside of the markets that you bet on, there is also the art of managing your bankroll well. Some bettors might be tempted to bet a significant part of their funds right away, because “it’s fun,” but experienced sports and esports bettors would advise you against it.
Not last, finding an adequate bonus is also very helpful. In esports, you can find many small bonuses for individual events, which is always very helpful.
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