How to bet on eSports: Understanding odds and markets
Esports is among the most competitive entertainment segments, with action-packed leagues and real-money tournaments.
The rise of the esports market globally has contributed to the growth of esports betting sites with matches and betting markets from games like Dota 2 and Overwatch. Here’s how you can start betting on esports, helping you understand the odds and betting markets.
How to wager on esports
Betting on esports is like wagering on any other traditional sport like football, rugby, or tennis. Like in traditional sports, the match winner is the most common type of bet that a punter can place with online bookmakers like Betway. This wager is also known as the money line bet, but its premise is quite simple. You simply bet on the team or player that you think will win the match.
To start wagering you create an online betting account with a trustworthy site like Betway sports betting Zambia, login, and choose the outcome you want. However, you need to understand the odds as they represent the probability of every given outcome.
Some of the best esports markets you can bet on include:
– Draw: You’re betting on whether the match results will be a draw.
– Group Winner: That’s betting on whether a certain group will win a specific tournament.
– Handicap bet: This bet involves a bookie setting a margin known as the line. The line gives a team a small unfavourable advantage, slightly impacting the odds.
– Over/under: You’ll be predicting whether the number of goals or points in a game with exceed a certain number or stay below it.
– Total rounds: You predict the overall number of rounds in a match before the winner is decided.
Special esports bets
These are more exotic types of esports bets available in different mobile and video game sportsbooks online. They include:
- First Blood: You’re betting on which team will be the first to record a point or the first kill in the match, especially in games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
- Pistol round/ Knife round: You’re betting on which team will score the first kill in the knife or pistol round.
- Map winner: You’re betting on which team will win a specific map in games like Dota 2, CS: GO, and League of Legends.
Key esports betting strategies
A good esports betting strategy must incorporate elements of proper money management, evaluating odds, playing at the right bookmakers, and other features. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Bankroll management
Bankroll is simply the amount of cash you’ve set aside for betting. The idea is to keep winning to consistently grow your bankroll and reduce your losses to ensure you remain profitable in the long run. That involves knowing the amount to wager on every bet, the tournaments to bet on, and when to stop wagering.
Know your games
There’s no point in using your hard-earned cash to bet on a player or a team that you aren’t familiar with their gameplay. Whether you want to bet on CS: GO, Startcraft II, or League of Legends, ensure you understand the gameplay and how top-tier athletes perform in different conditions.