Counter-Strike, Dota, League, Valorant… The colourful, fast-paced world of competitive video games is way past the times when it was just some casual fun. Nowadays, gamers are esports athletes, and esports events bring in millions of viewers, with massive prizes to boot.
And, of course, you can bet on it all!
Explore our growing list of esports betting sites below, and find out more about how we review and evaluate online sportsbooks.
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Today, most betting sites include esports betting in their repertoire. With the global rise of esports popularity, it was only natural that betting on these video game tournaments would become so popular that the bookies followed through.
Such a flood of betting opportunities highlighted an obvious thing - not every sportsbook is made equally. Some may not even be worth your time, let alone your deposit. It can easily become an overload of information, bigger than a lagspike during the critical 12-12 CS2 match.
To properly evaluate them and find the absolute best esports betting sites, we’ve developed a set of criteria for reviewing sportsbooks, alongside our data-based ranking system.
In the online betting world, reputation is everything. With so many bookmakers competing nowadays, those that want to stand out and make a name for themselves should show they’re working hard. They need to build their reputation as a place where bettors want to return to.
Their licensing plays a big part in that. Good licenses like the UKGC one ensure that it’s a safe site that’s regularly audited. Of course, years of experience and previous history - especially if they had any controversies - can determine whether we end up recommending a bookie or not.
Esports betting basically requires bookies to integrate livestreams into their sportsbooks and offer in-play betting. Since esports matches tend to last longer than, say, football matches, the stability of the live betting platforms is of high importance, setting the top esports betting sites apart from the rest.
Any additional features that enhance the live betting experience are a big plus. From cash-outs and Bet Builder, to real-time odds and live markets, these are important factors for esports bettors that we also recognise in our reviews.
Good coverage matters a lot in our esports sportsbook reviews. We don’t mean just the coverage of various popular esports titles, but the variety of betting markets a bookie offers to their customers.
The bare minimum for esports is betting on individual rounds, outright markets for tournaments, as well as over/under bets, for example, on the number of bomb defusals in CS2. Ideally, the bookie should offer prop bets that highlight the particular title’s strengths and uniqueness, with solid odds that offer good value.
Bookies that offer betting on esports matches should also offer a variety of ways for their customers to quickly - and safely - deposit funds into their accounts. This is a simple one to measure, as we all prefer to have as many options available, including fiat and crypto payments if possible.
In our reviews, we also point out what are the minimum deposit and withdrawal requirements, comparing them to industry standards. Ideally, these should be on the lower end and, more importantly, the bookie should incur no transaction fees on their customers.
The final piece of the puzzle is the speed of transactions. Withdrawals are always the slowest, especially when withdrawing to a debit card or directly to a bank account. These values are very important to us, so we’ll point out if the bookie is standing out in some way - good or bad.
If you’ve ever placed an online bet, you’ll find that betting on esports is not much different.
First step is, of course, picking a licensed site. Read through our sportsbook reviews to figure out which betting site is right for you and register for an account there. Of course, don’t forget to collect your welcome bonus while you’re at it.
Then, load up some funds into your account, and head to the list of sports in the sportsbook. Find the esports section, usually in a separate section, then narrow down the list to your preferred game and competition.
Now it’s just about choosing the match and the betting market that tickles your fancy. Set your stake, confirm the bet, and off you go. Sit back, turn up the livestream, and wait for the bet to settle.
You’ve encountered some new betting sites, and they look attractive, but you’re unsure whether they’re a good destination for esports betting. How do you evaluate a betting site on your own? Should you just focus on the value of odds, bonuses, or something else?
We’ve got some pointers, which we’ll cover in this section.
The absolutely most important thing you should be worried about is how well a bookie is covering esports. Do they offer betting on your favourite titles, are they covering all important competitions, and how early do they post betting lines? The best site for esports betting should offer a healthy variety, while not missing out on any important events in the busy esports annual schedule.
You also want to have plenty of options when betting on esports matches. The core betting markets for esports are match winner, maps, outrights, totals, and a variety of prop bets. Explore their sportsbooks and look at what’s on offer for individual matches, especially for bigger competitions where it’s expected to see plenty of options.
Shopping for odds is most likely what you’re already doing, so keep at it when browsing for the best esports betting sites. Good bookies publish their odds well in advance and update them in real-time whenever something important happens, like a player deciding to sit out a match or the pick/ban round doesn’t go in favour of one team.
The deposit methods on offer should match your preference, first and foremost. After all, if you can’t use your preferred method of payment, you can’t even make a deposit.
You can typically find the list of banking options in the footer of the betting site or in their FAQ pages. Always take note of minimum deposit requirements, whether the payments are processed instantly, and what limits they impose on their customers.
Similarly, you can check their withdrawal options and rules. We generally recommend completing the KYC process right after you’re done with setting up your account, so you can speed up the process of your first withdrawal.
An important part of the online esports betting experience is watching the matches live. Luckily, most of these events are streamed through platforms like Twitch, so they’re easily integrated into sportsbooks.
The best site for esports betting should absolutely have livestreams for all events it offers live betting on. Additionally, they should be updating their odds in real-time and offer various fast betting markets on top of cash-out and other features that a good betting site should already have.
Bookies should offer more than one method of contacting support when customers need assistance. Whether you’re trying to activate your esports betting bonus or run into a technical issue, the support team should be reachable at least through a live chat widget and email, but any additional points of contact are a plus.
Besides support, the bookie should provide a smooth betting experience. This means fast, logical navigation, options to create quick bets from your betting slip, odds update alerts, and a mobile-optimised version of the sportsbook.
The excitement of esports is only matched by the variety of ways you can bet on these events. Since a lot happens in each match, you’ll find plenty of betting opportunities here, all represented typically with decimal odds to show the probability of those events happening.
So, what kinds of betting types are there for esports? Here are the most common ones you’ll encounter at online sportsbooks.
The most common esports betting market is the good, old moneyline. It’s a particularly lucrative market as esports matches can never end in a draw, so you’re simply picking which side will win a match.
This is often expanded with per-map or per-round moneyline markets, considering it’s typical for these matches to be played as Best of 3 or even Best of 5 sets. When live betting on esports, you’ll find this can get even more granular - for example, in Counter-Strike, you can bet on the winner of each individual round within one map.
Esports events are formatted as tournaments, with several stages, including a group phase and playoffs. The earliest betting lines you’ll find at sportsbooks are always the outrights.
Even before the groups or schedule are set in stone, you can bet on the winner of the whole tournament. Similarly, bookies may offer betting on the winners of the group stage, the MVP of the tournament, and the player with the most points/eliminations.
Since we’ve established that esports matches don’t end in ties, the next logical extension to the betting markets is handicaps.
Similar to physical sports, esports are also ripe for some handicap betting opportunities. It works the same - a favourite is given a disadvantage, while the underdog gets a map/game advantage. The bookie then doesn’t consider the official result for these bets, but whether the team covered the spread or defended their advantage.
Handicaps in esports betting are almost always represented with a 2-way Asian handicap, making these bets as simple to make as the moneylines.
The top esports betting sites also offer totals betting, or Over/Under, as they’re typically called. With this market, you’re betting on whether a certain numerical outcome will be surpassed or not, hence why most bettors and bookies refer to these bets as Over/Under.
Those can be the total number of rounds won per team, total eliminations, rounds played in the whole match, or successful objectives. Typically, you’ll be offered several lines for each category, and the Over/Under numbers are set to 0.5 to eliminate tie results.
A unique thing about esports is that you can bet on plenty of various little events that happen throughout the match. These bets are typically called props or specials.
Most popular markets are “First to” and they can include betting on which team will make the first elimination in a game, first to take down Roshan in Dota 2, first to amass a certain number of eliminations, or first to eliminate one of the opponent’s structures in League of Legends.
Moving on, you can bet on the exact score of the match, whether both teams will perform a specific objective, and how long a map will last. Oftentimes, you’ll find combo bets with these props, for example, Team 1 to draw first blood, take down a tower, and win the map.
The popularity of each esport in online sportsbooks is proportional to its popularity among the fans. And, just like the patches can change these games from the ground up, so does their popularity among punters sway.
Currently, these are the top esports to bet on based on the competition frequency, betting market variety, and interest from the betting community.
A long-running MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) where two teams of five vie for domination of the Summoner’s Rift. Like in other similar games, the goal is to take over the opposing structures, all the while scoring eliminations on the opponent team members and neutral “creeps” dotted around the map.
League of Legends is run by Riot Games, who organise the yearly LoL Championship, a series of tournaments across the globe, all culminating in the month-long Worlds tournament. Other big competitions include the Esports World Cup, the Mid-Season Invitational, and the First Stand Tournament.
The legendary team FPS game, born from a Half-Life mod. Counter-Strike 2 has a massive following and is one of the easiest esports titles to get into, as both a spectator and a bettor. Matches are typically played as the Best of 3 maps, with the first team to 13 points to win a map.
Premier Tournaments are the highest level of CS2 competitions. CS2 has a very busy schedule, with a short break from mid-December to late January. The biggest tournaments are called Majors and include Intel Extreme Masters (IEM), BLAST, PLG, and ESL Pro League.
Another global phenomenon, a game that came from a mod, and another major esports title owned by Valve. Dota 2 is the most complex MOBA played competitively right now
Dota International, or just The International, is the most prestigious tournament for this game. Other important tournaments include DreamLeague, FISSURE Universe, BLAST Slam, PGL Walachia, and Esports World Cup.
Riot Games’ answer to Counter-Strike, Valorant shares a lot of similarities with it, including certain mechanics, the match format, and even some weapons. The major difference is that Valorant is a hero shooter, meaning that each player controls a character with a different skillset and abilities that impact the game in various ways.
VALORANT Champions is the highest tournament level for this esports title, followed by Valorant Masters and the Esports World Cup. Betting markets are similar to those for Counter-Strike, so it’s very easy to switch between the two games.
PUBG, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and similar games still dominate online landscapes. Even though their esports side isn’t as big as previously mentioned games, there are still plenty of tournaments organised for each of them.
These games work on the “last man/team standing wins,” so you’ll be able to bet on markets like who’ll make the first elimination, match length, and location of the final encounter. Of course, the over/under market for the number of eliminations is a popular one, too.
Football and basketball have always been popular in their digital forms, too. And if you’re familiar with these two sports, you won’t have any trouble at esports betting sites, betting on NBA 2K and EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) matches.
Most esports squads have players in both of these games, so it’s easy to follow who the favourites are. Matches are quicker than in the real-life counterparts of these sports, but the betting markets are pretty much the same.
Most betting strategies and tips can be applied to esports betting sites, too. That, first and foremost, includes odds shopping and comparing the availability of betting lines across several sportsbooks at once. If you’re frugal, you can easily get the best value for your money like that.
Staying up to date with the specific games and teams you follow will help you make better decisions. Esports titles are video games, so they frequently get patches that can introduce new stuff, change balance, cause problems, or even create interesting strategies the players can employ during the matches.
Like with sports, tracking the trades between the teams, analysing performance at different levels of competitions, and their history of rivals is also important. Maybe a team has trouble keeping control of the jungle in League, or they excel against snipers in CS2, or they even use some crazy strategies and synergies in Valorant. Knowing what to expect is a part of the esports betting experience.
Finally, we need to highlight the importance of maintaining your bankroll. That is, avoid chasing your losses, bet only the amounts you’re ready to lose, and keep any impulses in check, especially with live betting.
And, most importantly - GLHF!
