How to bet on esports

Esports has been developing at a frantic pace for several years now. The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has further spurred the growth of its development, both in terms of the sport itself and in the volume of bets on it. Let's discuss today what, where and how to bet on eSports.

The best bookmakers for esports betting

The undisputed leader in this industry is the GGBet bookmaker. They specialize in esports and offer the best line, both in terms of the number of game disciplines and the depth of the rink painting. In addition, GGBet has the lowest margin among all Russian legal bookmakers - from 4 - 5% in TOP markets to 6 - 8% on minor events. 

Legal companies have good esports sections. "Pin-Up", "Betboom", "1XBet", "Melbet ", "Baltbet" and "888.ru ". They are inferior to GGBet in terms of line variability and margin level, but nevertheless they are head and shoulders above other domestic bookmakers offering only a weak list in a couple of eSports disciplines. From foreign bookmakers, one can traditionally distinguish Pinnacle, as well as Lootbet and EGB. 

It should be noted that esports in bookmakers is at the stage of rapid development and almost every month the situation changes. new disciplines are added, the list is expanding, and the percentage of payments in esports bets is increasing due to competition.

Types of esports bets

Almost all bookmakers offer three main esports disciplines: CS: GO, Dota 2, and League of legends. The best esports bookmakers offer over ten disciplines, including Valorant, Starcraft, King of glory, Rocket league, PUBG, Rainbow 6, Overwatch, Vainglory, Hearthstone, World of tanks, Halo, Battlegrounds, Smite. As well as esports sports FIFA, PES, NHL, NBA2K and others. 

Consider the list of three main disciplines on which players can place bets everywhere:

CS:GO

In addition to the outcome of the entire rink, which is offered by absolutely all bookmakers for every match, in Counter Strike you can bet on: 

• Total by rounds, cards and frags; 
• Handicap by frags, cards and rounds; 
• Correct card count; 
• First kill; 
• Odd / even frags, cards or rounds; 
• Race to N frags; 
• Winner pistol rounds; 
• Exact count of pistol rounds; 
• Will there be overtime. 

Also, many bookmakers give a separate list for the first map, including its outcomes, totals, handicaps and other markets. You can also place long-term bets on the winner of the tournament or the MVP of the team. Some bookmakers give a list of specific e-sportsmen, in particular, their total murders.

Dota 2

For each match, as a rule, the following markets are put up: 

• The outcome of the rink; 
• Total by cards; 
• Handicap by cards; 
• Exact score by 

In major tournaments, the list expands and there you can find additional betting options: totals and handicaps for frags, total minutes for each card, odd / even for cards, odd / even for frags, first blood for each card, the murders of the first Roshan, and others. Long-term bets on the winners of upcoming tournaments are also available.

LOL

Here, the painting is very similar to Dota, because these are games of the same MOBA genre. Must-have markets: 

• Skating rink outcome; 
• Total by cards; 
• Handicap by cards; 
• Exact score by cards. 

major tournaments, eSports bookmakers offer markets: first blood, totals for frags, totals and handicaps for destroyed towers and inhibitors, individual totals for players and teams, "a team will win at least one map", a race up to N frags, who will take Nashor or the dragon next, long-term bets, MVP skating rinks and more.

Esports betting strategy

Many people think that esports is even more unpredictable than classic sports. If so, it provides additional benefits. For example, players can often catch big odds on sensational underdog wins. 

In reality, this is not entirely true. If you closely follow the esports world, study statistics, watch tournaments and play yourself, you can easily identify certain patterns. Which, in turn, will allow you to create strategies that confidently lead to a plus at any ratios when using a flat financial strategy.

When placing bets on a CS: GO match, one should take into account: 

• Tournament level. Top teams are rarely serious about anything other than the top majors. For the teams of the second echelon - Minors is a real chance to ascend to the esports Olympus. If the team does not match the level of the tournament, then a quick drain is possible. 

• Team statistics. There are sites that have been collecting every map, frag and round won by individual teams for years. Of particular importance is the mappool - a set of maps on which a team or individual players show themselves best and most often choose for the game. 

• Composition of teams. The line-ups of eSports teams often change and this is critical for their performances - there is usually no adequate replacement. The statistics of individual players can also be found on specialized portals, for example, hltv.org. 

• Human factor. It is useful to monitor the morale of each player on the team, his fatigue, personal problems, acclimatization, illness, and so on. If this is a 5x5 competition, every such little thing can be decisive, and even in a 1x1 format, even more so.

When analyzing the Dota 2 and LOL skating rink, it is worth considering: 

• The importance of the tournament. TOP teams rarely trade on trifles and tense up only at the most important tournaments with big prize money. The prize fund of the last world championship amounted to more than five million dollars - it is unlikely that its participants will be able to motivate with a prize of several tens of thousands. The big favorite often views the smaller tournaments as practice tournaments. 

• Lineups. Whether there were any sudden changes before the start, how the main players feel, whether everyone is healthy, how was the flight to the tournament venue, acclimatization - everything matters. 

• Champion pick analysis. This factor is of great importance when betting live. It is also important to understand which heroes were blocked by the players of both teams. If one of the teams managed to take a successful counter-pick (a convenient champion against an already chosen enemy), this is a good start for a successful map completion in their favor. 

• First tower. According to statistics, the team that first destroyed the enemy tower most often wins the map. Unless, of course, she then makes critical mistakes. Minutes won by farming from neutrals are often critical. This observation can be used as the basis of your strategy.

A few general tips that apply to any discipline:

Try to bet on large offline tournaments. There, the margin is lower, and the limits are more pleasant, and there are much less risks of running into an "agreement". Matchmaking thrives on the lower tiers of esports tournaments. After all, if the big favorite loses, the players will get more money for betting against themselves than for winning places. 

To develop a good strategy, you must understand the details of the game you are going to bet on. Ideal if you are an experienced gamer and have played thousands of hours in your chosen discipline. This will allow you to instantly assess the current situation in the rink, notice which team has an economic advantage or superiority in armament and make profitable bets. 

In general, just be on top of it. Read analytics and predictions from experts on matches, watch gamers' streams on YouTube and Twitch, subscribe to esportsmen's social networks. Now there are excellent e-sports portals in Russian, where you can find a lot of useful information to help you make profitable bets.