As the size of the esports market continues to grow, so is interest in placing a bet on competitive gaming. Esports betting has evolved rapidly over the last years, introducing hundreds of thousands of new people to the activity. But how do you go from being a complete rookie to making the right calls?
In this esports betting guide, we have collected 10 tips that will allow you to understand what is important, what isn’t and how you should approach this activity. We have made sure to cover every important aspect of the general esports betting experience. For more specific tips on individual games, you can visit our Dota 2, CS:GO or League of Legends pages.
Below, you will find friendly pieces of advice that will help you catch yourself up on how esports betting works, but also how to make the most out of your wagers. Let’s have a look.
- Pick a Game You Know
- Study Individual Teams/Players
- Don’t Miss the Big Events
- No Pressure to Bet
- Match Winners Are Best
- Don’t Bet Real Money All the Time
- Keep Track of Your Success Rate
- Bet Small Amounts
- Read Picks and Previews
- Make Read, Watch and Follow the Game
Esports Tip #1: Pick a Game You Know
The first of rule esports betting is to be in the know. You want to choose a game that you are familiar with. In other words, whether you end up betting on League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Valorant, or FIFA will depend entirely on how familiar you are with these games.
The general rule of thumb is to choose games that you find enjoyable as you will need to stay up to date with the community and often spend some time reading, watching streams, or even playing yourself.
Esports Tip 2: Study Individual Teams/Players
Now that you have a title in mind, it will be a good idea to take a look at who is playing. There are dozens of professional organizations in each esports, and hundreds of semi-professionals and aspiring teams. Most of them are probably not worth following.
However, there are those that you will want to familiarize yourself with. Teams and players that are performing consistently well or demonstrating a high level of success across different games are definitely worth keeping an eye out on.
By understanding a given team’s strengths and weaknesses you can obtain insights that betting sites may struggle to figure out, relying on algorithms and their own analysts who may not be always familiar with each participant.
Esports Tip 3: Don’t Miss the Big Events
The most esports betting action you will get is around the time there are major tournaments. The regional leagues in the Dota Pro Circuit, League of Legends or Counter-Strike are definitely important, as they provide you with a lot of betting opportunities throughout the year.
Don’t forget to bet on the crowning events, though, such as the Majors, The Internationals, and Worlds. These events elicit a lot of action, and they provide you with thousands of markets to bet on.
Esports Tip 4: No Pressure to Bet
You may be falsely led to believe that once you start betting on esports, you must always follow through and place a fixed number of bets each week. There is no connection between your winnings and the number of bets you place. It’s all about finding good odds and potentially strong payout. There is no need to bet early into the season or try to secure as many selections as possible. Focus on betting on good value markets instead.
Esports Tip 5: Match Winners Are Best
While there are many options to bet these days, match winners are statistically the best types of esports bets to make. That is why one of our top tips is to focus on these wagers above all others. A match-winner will provide you with the best value at the lowest risk.
You can still experiment with some similar selections, provided the odds are good. For example, you can use a handicap +1.5/-1.5 bet or bet on over/under to account for some small trend you can spot in the odds.
Esports Tip 6: Don’t Bet Real Money All the Time
Here is the thing. You don’t have to bet real money to enjoy esports betting. In fact, quite the opposite. You can just keep a personal sheet with your “mock” bets and see if you would have guessed the outcome had you placed a bet.
This is a good way to start calculating your win rate before you commit to real money. You can place “mock” bets even after you start betting with real money.
Esports Tip 7: Keep Track of Your Success Rate
Success can be elusive, but the only way to know for sure is to trust your Excel spreadsheets, or whatever software you use to track your progress in a tabular format. You want to calculate the average success rate of your wagers.
You will want to be anywhere close to 53-54% which is pretty much what professional sports bettors report.
Esports Tip 8: Bet Small Amounts
If there is one esports betting tip many people may involve, that is to start small. Some bettors feel peer pressure or think that it would reflect poorly on them if they were not to commit $10 on a single selection. Nothing like this is true. You may bet even $1 and just get a feeling about how it is to bet actual money, win or lose.
The majority of esports betting sites will all allow you to calibrate the size of your real money wagers, but you should be able to place one unit of your currency as the bare minimum. Smaller amounts are usually not allowed unless you bet with mBTC at Bitcasino.io.
Esports Tip 9: Read Picks and Previews
Another way to elevate your esports betting game is to take a harder look at the available picks and previews out there. These are usually provided by tipsters who are keen on bringing you the best insights and helping you make sense of the often torrent of information you get.
It’s best to always do your research first and only then cross-reference it with the information that is being spoon-fed to you by tipsters. If you see similarities in your reasoning, you may choose to go with a selection, though.
Esports Tip 10: Read, Watch and Follow the Game
The most important bit about esports betting is to “stay in the know.” This means to essentially make sure that you are always informed on what is new in your gaming community. Sudden changes in the gameplay can prove a pitfall for some teams or allow others to thrive.
Stay up to date with community forums such as Reddit and make sure to swing by the top streamers on Twitch and YouTube so you keep expanding your gaming knowledge and place the most accurate bets possible.
