Best Esports Betting Odds, Guides, Tips & More!

What is Esports Betting?

Esports betting is similar to sports betting, and it follows the exact same rules. The reason why it’s developed so much over the last ten years has to do with the evolution of the esports industry. From relative obscurity, this industry now reaches over 450 million people worldwide and has surpassed the $1 billion mark in terms of yearly revenues.

With more than a dozen important esports titles and hundreds of big tournaments and leagues each year, it’s only natural that esports betting has grown to be what it is today. And with scale comes competition and quality of service. The bookmakers are constantly trying to improve their offers and give you the best deals, not just in terms of odds but also in terms of platform features, welcome bonuses, payment options, and betting markets. In other words, it’s never been easier to bet on esports and to make money online, by putting your esports knowledge to use.

Esports Betting Odds Explained

Esports betting odds come in three varieties: decimal, fractional and American.

Decimal Odds

These esports betting odds are called decimal because they’re written in decimal form. For example, 2.40 or 1.60. When you see such odds, the only thing you need to know is that your total returns in case of a win are obtained by multiplying your wager with them. So if you’ve wagered $10 on a result whose odds were 2.40, you will get back a total amount of $24. Your profit here is $14.

Fractional Odds

Fractional odds, as you might have guessed, come in fractional form: 4/1, 6/1 etc. The general form of these types of odds, which is x/y, means that you make a profit of x dollars for every y dollars you bet. If you bet $10 on a result whose odds are 4/1, you will make a total of $40 (profit) + $10 (your wager) = $50.

American Odds

For many people, these are the most unusual types of odds in use. And that’s because it’s hard to see what they mean without an explanation. When you see the minus sign (-), that’s the symbol for the favourite team. And the figure followed by it constitutes the amount of money you need to bet to make a profit of $100. When you see the plus sign (+), that’s the symbol for the underdog. And the number that comes after it constitutes the profit you can make for a bet of $100.

For example:

Team A: -770

Team B: +590

If you were to bet on team A, you’d have to wager $770 to make a profit of $100 or $870 in total. If you were to bet on team B, your profit for a $100 wager would be $590. So you’d get back a total of $690.

Esports Betting Martkets

When you start to engage in esports betting, the first thing you want to know is what the esports betting markets are. And there are many of them. These vary from game to game, and therefore the esports betting odds would be set on different variables. Here’s a short list below of the different types of betting markets and esports jargon.

Moneyline / ML Esports Odds

The industry jargon Moneyline refers to who would win a series of matches, either it being a 1-game series or a 5-game series. The different types of esports odds explained above are usually applied on the Moneyline. An example would be Astralis (@1.5 odds) Vs. Na’Vi (@2.3 Odds). If you put your Moneyline on Astralis, it means that Astralis will win the series, and based on the esports odds of 1.5, you will win 5 bucks if you played 10.

Match Handicap / Over-Under (O/U)

The Over-Under betting market allows players to make bets on multi-game series. Usually, you would see these sort of bets such as -1.5, -2.5, +2.5 or +1.5 (there are more of these). To give an easy example of this, imagine applying the handicap on the team you’re placing your esports bets on.

For this example, we’ll use Astralis (-1.5 @1.8 odds) Vs. Na’Vi in a Best Of 3 series. Since we’re betting on Astralis, we have a handicap on Astralis, so the match starts at -1.5 for Astralis to 0 for Na’Vi. If in the end, Astralis wins 2 maps and Na’Vi wins only 1, the final score would be 0.5 Astralis to 1 Na’Vi. This means you would lose the bet, even though Astralis won the series.

Match handicaps might seem a bit daunting in the beginning, and they are harder to predict, but they also usually have better esports odds attached to them.

Betting on Exact Map Score

When dealing with game series, you will see that there are exact map score betting options. These are very hard to predict, however with the esports betting odds offered on them; one can make a good buck.

If you’re the type of person that take stats and previous games into consideration, these types of bets might be very profitable for you.

Map Win Bets

Map win bets are also made on series of a game. If you know stats like which side the team play best (in case of League Of Legends) or how a team performs in a particular map (in case of CS:GO or COD), you can make educated esports bets while also benefitting from high esports betting odds.

Variety Esports Bets

Most of the best esports betting sites these days also offer a variety of bets based on different games. Theses bets usually take the form of ‘Most Kills’ in a specific match or series, ‘First Team To Kill Baron’, ‘Most Deaths’ and so on. These kinds of bets do offer great esports odds; however, they are not always available. A small wager on one of these bets can undoubtedly make your day.

How can a Betting Sign Up Bonuses Boost Your Esports Odds?

When signing up on the website of one of the best esports betting providers, you will be asked to make your first deposit. This deposit is a great opportunity to get a lot of free money that you can bet with. Bookmakers usually double everything you put in up to a few hundred dollars, but with some strings attached. Otherwise, people would abuse the system. So practically, you will be asked to bet on esports odds with your bonus money to be able to withdraw it to your bank account.

Sign up bonuses can include other perks too. In essence, applying one of these bonuses will give you more money to bet on esports odds, thus potentially increasing your profits. It all depends on the bookmaker, so have a look around and find the right one for you!

Is Esports Betting Legal?

Esports betting is 100% legal. The question is: does your country have laws against it? Because this is an activity that takes place almost exclusively online, you need to check whether or not the operator is licensed in your country and has the right to operate there. A simple google search will solve the issue. Some countries are completely against gambling in any form, and this goes from sport to sport, as some countries might allow betting on esports odds but not on horse racing for example, while others are less strict about it.