How to Bet on Esports? Understanding Odds and Markets

Betting on esports isn’t something extraordinary in 2023. Millions of people worldwide challenge their luck by betting on their favorite video games and making a solid profit. Do you consider trying yourself in this sphere? Do you want to participate in CounterStrike tournaments and make a profit? Then, you may require some guidelines.

When you start betting on esports, you should be equipped with a lot of information in this regard. Let’s get deeper into detail.

Process of Betting on Esports

Betting on esports is similar to betting on traditional sports events. The most basic market includes match winner or match win, also known as a Moneyline bet, Head-to-Head, and Straight. The concept is quite simple regardless of the used bookmaker. Betting odds reveal the probability of each possible result.

As esports is present to international audiences, bookmakers try to keep their services as diverse as possible. There are several odds formats used by betting sites to express betting odds: decimal, American (for example, moneyline) and fractional. Depending on your current location, you will need to learn how they work before actual betting activities.

Standard Match Winner Betting in Esports

Starting your betting adventure with a basic match winner bet is a good idea. For example, you place a bet on Team A vs Team B in a game of CS:GO, with Team B winning. You need to consider the three basic aspects before placing the bet.

  • Format (decimal, fractional or American);
  • Odds (the actual amount the bookmaker has to pay out on a winning bet, along with the necessary stake);
  • Bankroll (the amount of cash you consider betting with);

If the selected bookmaker uses decimal odds format, then Team A has 1.60 odds and Team B – 2.50. The amount of real money you want to bet with is a $100 stake. Thus, you decide to wager on Team B by putting $100 at stake.

The bookmaker estimates the potential return by multiplying the stake of $100 by the available odds. To calculate it yourself, the formula looks as follows: stake x odds = expected return. If Team B becomes a winner, our return makes up $250. This includes our original $100 bet, known as a stake, while your total profit is going to be $150.

The betting odds provided by bookmakers reflect the potential probability of a team winning a match. The lower the odds, the higher the probability that the team wins in the bookmaker’s view. In other words, you could win more with Team B at 2.50 if you had the same bet on Team A at $1.50.

Like every traditional sport, esports tournaments rely on a variety of factors such as your knowledge, skill level, personal strengths and weaknesses and even favouritism. While many other esports guides and websites recommend betting on the value, you can take your time to do the research and make the proper decision before going any further.

Funding Esports Betting Activities

All licensed esports betting sites have a wide range of internationally acclaimed banking methods to deposit money for further betting activities. Credit and debit cards like MasterCard, Maestro and Visa are the most popular option due to their high level of security, along with other payment services like Bitcoin, Neteller, PayPal, PaysafeCard, POLi, Skrill, and others. Make sure to stick with the payment limits. You won’t be able to transfer more or less than what has been set by the selected bookmaker.

Make Sure to Learn as Much as Possible about Esports Betting

When it comes to esports betting, it doesn’t make sense to put personal cash down on a team or player if you don’t have sufficient knowledge of the competitive gameplay of leading esports games like CS: GO, Dota 2, and StarCraft II. It may sound ridiculous, but an alarming rate of casual esports fans is moving straight into betting activities unprepared. Even if they have a few successful bets based on luck, they can’t expect positive results in the long run. Don’t let yourself be taken away by excitement and frustration when betting on the favorite team or player. It’s common sense. And it refers to every person who likes betting on esports events. Make sure to take the betting process seriously by devoting a solid amount of time to it.