Esports betting is seeing a massive surge in popularity and it’s not hard to see why.
Beyond the current global health crisis keeping everyone indoors, the increased number of esports available to bet on and the growing volume, quality and variety of tournaments being played have been major factors.
A few of the most popular esports titles you can bet on or play real money fantasy contests in these days include:
On top of the esports stalwarts, there are also a growing number of “Sports Sim” esports titles building a strong following among bettors. That list includes FIFA, NBA2K20, the Formula 1 Esports Series and eNASCAR.
If you’re looking for a betting app that offers regular esports betting markets of fantasy games, then the DraftKings and FanDuel apps are likely your best bet.
New DraftKings sign-ups get $20 in free play when signing up for the Fantasy app (or $25 free for the sportsbook app), which is a great way to get some extra play to see what esports betting or esports Fantasy is all about.
The DraftKings app is available for iPhone devices; Android users can log in via a browser to access a very similar online site.
FanDuel offers new sportsbook customers a risk-free bet when they sign up which, depending on how much you wager, can be worth as much as $500. New Fantasy app sign-ups can claim $5 free + an extra $5 on deposit.
The FanDuel app is available on Android and iPhone. Making a bet or entering an esports Fantasy contest is quite easy.
Until standardized and consistent esports betting markets are offered across major sportsbooks, your most consistent entry point to esports contests for real money is via esports Fantasy contest.
Both DraftKings and FanDuel offer a growing range of fantasy esports games for its customers, including fantasy games for:
Fantasy esports games are legal in states that allow real money daily fantasy sports contests, which covers most of the continental US. Esports Fantasy game formats are comparable to Fantasy games offered for standard sports DFS and include
Prize pools and contest volumes/variety are expanding rapidly across both platforms. Fantasy contests are offered around all of the major tournaments in global esports leagues.
DraftKings, for example, has committed to a $400,000 guaranteed League of Legends Fantasy Championship in 2020. To register a new account and begin playing esports Fantasy contests for real money, claim your start-up bonuses via the links below:
While licensed and regulated online sports betting is growing by leaps and bounds in the US, the majority of states still don’t have fully legalized online betting platforms. That obviously affects the range of esports betting markets you can find from state to state.
In West Virginia, esports betting is permitted but only if the players competing are confirmed as over the age of 18. Colorado recently launched its legal sports betting industry and allows for esports betting as well.
Nevada and New Jersey have both passed legislation that allows for forms of esports betting within each state, although there is yet to be consistent esports markets offered.
There are a number of states in which esports betting is still in somewhat of a grey area. New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island don’t specifically ban esports betting, but also don’t state that it’s allowed. Indiana however does ban esports betting.
Esports DFS, or Daily Fantasy, is allowed as well in licensed states with free-to-play and real money games offered.
It’s worth remembering that the minimum gambling age in most states that allow any form of betting is 21, although there are a small number of states that do allow those 18 and older to engage in some form of betting.
Esports betting is simply placing a bet on the outcome of an esports match or tournament. It’s essentially the same as placing a sports bet — only the result of your bet will be decided by competitors playing one another on one of a number of popular esports titles.
As of right now, in states where esports betting is authorized and regulated (WV and CO), you are restricted to fairly standard bets, such as who will win the match or win the overall tournament. But as time passes and esports become more and more popular, more context-based bets that are available in other parts of the world for esports bettors are likely become available.
There is also betting available across a range of other esports throughout the year, typically when the esport in question has one of its biggest tournaments taking place. This includes betting on the following esports:
As the esports industry grows and diversifies, the number of esports you can bet on and the number of tournaments and matches covered by esports betting books will continue to grow.
Esports odds are set in the same way as sports betting odds, using a combination of:
Currently, there are some stipulations in place for the type of esports bets you can make in Nevada (with similar stipulations in place for New Jersey). This includes stating that bets can only be made on the following esports betting markets:
Additional wagers could be allowed in the future, but if a sports betting service wants to offer them, each bet type would need a separate application and approval from authorities.
In New Jersey, a bill for permanent authorization of betting on games of skill, such as esports, is still to pass through committee. Until it does, companies in the state will have to ask regulators to approve individual esports events for betting on.
Integrity is fundamental to any betting market, and the good news is that esports betting is as safe and fair as betting on any standard sports event.
With play scrutinized by expert callers and millions of fans online, it is extremely difficult for players to play anything less than fairly. Furthermore, drug testing and player welfare systems are being put in place to ensure that all players adhere to the strict codes of conduct teams expect from their esports professionals.
Given the rigorous nature of esports and how tournaments are organized and run, you can be assured that an esports bet is as safe and fair as any sporting bet you would place.
League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game in which teams of five players select from a stable of “champions.” Each champion has a specific set of skills that the individual players can use in the game to help their team to victory.
As the teams battle in the game, players can earn gold for performing certain tasks, which they can use to purchase enhancements, items and abilities to help their team’s chances of success.
Read our full breakdown of League of Legends betting and DFS here:
CS:GO is a first-person perspective shooter where teams of five players compete against each other to either:
Top CS:GO tournaments:
Top CS:GO teams: Astralis, Natus Vincere, mousesports, Fnatic, G2 Esports, Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, 100 Thieves, MAD Lions.
Dota 2 is very similar to League of Legends in that it is a MOBA game that features teams of five players. As in League of Legends, the aim of the team is to outwit and defeat its opponent on the map.
Players get to pick from a collection of 119 “heroes” available to each team at the start of the game, all of which have their own skills and abilities that they can use to help their team or hinder their opponents.
Overwatch is a multiplayer first-person shooter game by Blizzard that pits two teams of six against each other. Similar in design to CS:GO, although based on a more futuristic theme, each player in the team can select from a roster of 32 characters, each of which has its own specific skill-set to help the team to victory.
Victory can be achieved by completing an objective or thwarting your opponent from doing so.
As in soccer, the teams (which consist of up to four players) defeat their opponents by scoring more goals.
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter series of games where players compete as teams against other opponents in battle. Similar to CS:GO and Overwatch, teams can achieve victory by killing all the opponents on another team, or by completing a task that is defined as the goal of a particular game.
Rather than pick characters, players can outfit their soldier with different weapon types to help bring specific abilities and perks to their team.
The top esports tournaments around the globe attract millions of viewers on live stream and (in normal times) thousands of fans in attendance at these events.
One of the most appealing aspects of esports is that most tournaments are incredibly easy to access, as you can catch the live streams of the games on specialist platforms such as Twitch, Mixer, YouTube and Facebook Gaming.
The first thing to note here is that esports are very different from virtual sports or betting on sport simulations. Whereas esports are competitive games by players and teams, virtual sports and sports simulations are both entirely controlled by software, which uses a defined set of parameters and a random number generator to decide the result.
Thanks to DraftKings’ lucrative partnership with Inspired Entertainment, it is able to offer a range of up to 14 virtual sports on its service, including virtual basketball and the forthcoming virtual NFL Alumni Legends football game.
In addition, we have already mentioned that esports services can grow over time, and it is highly likely that sites like DraftKings will offer betting on a number of sports simulations, such as NBA2K, Madden and FIFA.
DraftKings also runs its own contests using Madden Simulations from the Madden 2020 game, which simulates a game between two real NFL teams using the software and which allows its customers to pick a fantasy team whose points will be collected from the simulation. More on virtual sports here:
The first step to make a deposit is to sign up with your choice of esports betting app. DraftKings and FanDuel are two great options, and you can use either an app or browser to register with the site.
Once you register, simply make a deposit via any of the common methods (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, e-wallet, etc.) into your account (remembering to activate your bonus) in order to have some funds available.
The great thing about esports betting is that it is as quick and easy to bet on esports as it is on regular sports.
At the moment matched betting isn’t available at FanDuel and DraftKings. However, other providers in other parts of the world are starting to offer this option to punters.
Each state regulates esports betting within its borders.
In most states you have to be 21 to bet on esports.
Yes, you can use PayPal for betting on esports with FanDuel and DraftKings.
In 2019, $8 billion was believed to have been wagered on esports, and predictions reckon that in future years $16 billion in annual wagers is likely. In 2019, 205 million people played esports, which explains why betting on these events is so popular and still growing annually.
There are stringent observations, rules and regulations in place to ensure all top-level esports games are fairly contested. In addition, the punishments for not playing fairly are so severe that no player would likely consider this option anyway. Another thing to note is that within esports gaming there is the esports integrity commission ESIC that deals with issues of match-fixing and anti-corruption. Furthermore, players can now be routinely drug tested when competing in many top esports.