E-sports betting - how to find the best bets?

E-sports - what is it?

Computer gaming sports, or e-sports, are commonly referred to as tournaments with large prize pools that play specific video games. The most commonly played games are Counter-Strike, Dota 2, StarCraft, League of Legends and many others. These tournaments often attract hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions, of viewers, which is why some companies have started to offer betting opportunities. According to statistics, e-sports betting could become more popular than traditional sports betting in just a few years.

TOP companies for e-sports betting

Of course, only those who are familiar with e-sports should take part in e-sports betting. Computer games tend to have much more complex rule sets and the information is less publicly available, so betting without understanding or strategy will simply be a waste of money.

E-sports betting - how does it differ from traditional sports?

As mentioned above, computer games are distinguished primarily by their variety and complexity. Many traditional sports are centred on scoring systems, which are always scored in the same way. In e-sports, by contrast, not all games have points, and even in those that do (e.g. resources in StarCraft) it will be much more difficult to predict superiority based on the differences in "points" between players. Of course, this can often be a significant advantage over the bookmaker if bets are placed with a good knowledge of the game and its strategies.

Another big difference is the lack of seasonal competitions. Most traditional sports can be divided into two annual parts - the main season and the off-season. In e-sports, although the concept of season is used in almost all games, there are no clear boundaries. Many computer games have their main annual tournaments for which teams or players prepare throughout the year, but, at the same time, there are a number of smaller competitions that take place regularly. In contrast to traditional sports, in e-sports, betting can take place every day due to the almost always-on tournaments.

For those wishing to place e-sports bets, the most important difference from traditional sports is the youth of the field. Sports such as basketball, football and many others have been around for a hundred years or more, so betting companies and odds makers have had plenty of time to develop their own strategies and calculations. E-sports betting has only been around for a few years at the major bookmakers, so game information and odds are not yet as sophisticated as they are in traditional sports. This means that the potential advantage of the bettor over the company can be much greater.

E-sports betting - strategy

The profitability of e-sports bets depends on the type and the odds, just like everywhere else. Many types of traditional sports betting also exist in e-sports, so time-tested options should generally be used. All games will, of course, have bets on the winner of the match or the tournament as a whole, but it is not uncommon to find other profitable bets (totals or edge). These bets are almost always the most profitable and valuable as they provide an excellent balance between prediction and bet justification information. Many of these types of bets also often give the same the best range of coefficients - 1,85-1,95. This range of odds is in most cases the most valuable, as winning is predictable and probable. Betting with odds greater than 3 should be avoided in all betting, as these are only given to events with a very low probability. Although theoretically it is possible to make a lot of money with just one bet, such odds are a trap for newcomers. Extremely high odds bets are simply calculated with extreme care, making it very difficult to win with such bets.

E-sports betting - live odds

There is one additional, and very important, method of betting in e-sports - the use of live odds. Some betting companies offer constantly changing odds which are calculated during the game based on statistics available to them. Live odds are much more important in e-sports than in traditional sports, where the advantage during the game is linear. For example, in basketball, except in very specific cases, a 20-point advantage in the hands of either team is worth exactly the same as the other. The other team needs to score at least 21 points to overtake the current favourite in any case. In many computer games, the advantage is not linear. For example, in strategy games, some players may choose the tactic of ending the game very early (sometimes called "zerging"). Failure to gain a sufficient advantage over an opponent in the early phases of the game will obviously result in that player beginning to fall far behind his opponent in terms of advantage over time. This advantage is abstract, and can be observed not from game statistics but from a general understanding of strategy and its implementation.

In the case of live odds, most bookmakers base them on statistics. Of course, most of the time the objective edge and the strategic edge in the games will coincide and the odds will be accurate. However, with careful observation of the competition and a good knowledge of the game, it is often possible to use live odds to your advantage when the calculations based on the statistics of the game deviate from reality. In such cases, it is possible to find much more valuable bets than usual and to gain a greater advantage over the bookmaker.

E-sports streaming

Obviously, you will rarely see televised computer game tournaments, especially on Lithuanian TV channels. Almost all e-sports broadcasts are online. You can see many of the games Twitch.tv page, where you will usually need to find the tournament organisers' channel. Often you will be able to find the stream or a link to it on the bookmaker's website, which can be followed for fun as well as live odds.

Many e-sports tournaments nowadays take place over at least a few days, with only one other starting and finishing on the same day as it started. Although there are plenty of betting opportunities, we recommend that you stick to betting on a single match or a series of matches to start with. Predicting the winner of an entire tournament, even for experienced spectators and fans, will often be very difficult. The sport of computer gaming is not yet as advanced as traditional gaming, so it is much more common for unexpected victories or losses to occur to favourites.

E-sports bets and tips for newcomers

Computer game sports are still a less popular form of betting, but their short lifetime can make them extremely profitable. For those who would like to get involved in e-sports betting, but have no interest in or experience with popular games, we recommend spending the first few weeks or even months watching the competitions. E-sports games are often a bit more technically demanding (however, computer games do not require specific physical training), so it may take more time to get a good understanding. Of course, it is always best to try the game for yourself, as experience can give a better understanding than just watching.

Most of the broadcasts take place on pages with active chat. Occasionally, especially in smaller tournaments, you may find discussions about betting taking place. For both newcomers and experienced bettors, chat can be a place for useful information. Often people who have placed bets will be willing to share not only their specific bets but also their reasoning. Of course, it is always worth remembering that people in chat rooms are just other people betting, so the information they provide should be viewed critically.

Tournaments and the importance of picking one game

The third important factor is small tournaments. The biggest tournaments in e-sports (as in regular sports) bring together the best teams in the world, so it will be very difficult to clearly predict who will win a tournament or at least a series. In smaller tournaments, most of the good teams (especially in games like Dota 2) will be tempted to skip. The latter are attended by one or two top-level teams or players, so the chances of guessing the winners increase significantly. Smaller tournaments will often be much easier to find +EV bets that can potentially bring more profit.

Finally, we always recommend that you choose just one game. In sports (basketball, football or other games), you can usually choose one branch, as you will only need to familiarise yourself with very minimal changes to the rules, or only with other teams. In e-sports, even games of the same genre can vary widely. Confusion can also be increased by having the same teams - often the same team brand will have several groups of players in different games. It is not uncommon for a team to be very good in one game and not so good in others, so in e-sports it is always best to keep track of one game at a time.

The future of e-sports

At the moment, e-sports is still not a very popular activity or form of betting, but looking at the statistics of computer games and their tournaments shows a strongly changing picture. Computer games are already overtaking giants such as the film and some sports industries in terms of profits. Of course, e-sports still has a long way to go before it catches up with traditional sports in terms of popularity, but the progress is very rapid. Just 10 years ago, there was only one other tournament (World Cyber Games or Evolution) offering prize money in excess of 100,000, and now there are at least a few multi-million or multi-million game series every year. Game developers, of course, are increasingly advertising and promoting the viewership of such large tournaments, so that the biggest e-sports tournaments are often watched by over a million (or more) people.

E-sports has not yet succeeded in gaining popularity in society, but its progress is enormous. For those looking for a new source of betting and stakes, e-sports can offer a secure new space. It is likely that this area will continue to exist, more or less vigorously, for a long time to come, so betting companies will also want to increase and improve their offerings in computer game sports. Now is probably one of the best times to start looking into this area, as it is still a new area for betting companies. In this case, bettors can extract the most potential value from their bets.

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