eSport FAQs

E-sports is the term we use to cover all forms of competitive gaming.

Games like League of Legends, Defense of the Ancients 2, Hearthstone, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive & Starcraft 2 are all examples of e-sports, and there are many more.

These games are competed between teams of gamers all around the world in tournaments that are watched by millions of spectators online and have million pound prize pots.

E-Sports covers a wide variety of different video games. In fact any video game where you compete against another player counts as an eSport.

Some of the most popular types of eSport games include:

• Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas like League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2.
• Real-Time Strategy Games like StarCraft 2.
• First Person Shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
• Fighting Games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.
• Sports Games like FIFA.

There are also other games that fit into their own smaller genres, like the card game Hearthstone and the tank game World of Tanks.

One of the great thing about e-sports is that it is so easy for anyone to take part. All you need is a games console or a PC, an internet connection and a copy of the game.

Most of the popular e-sports are completely free to play too, you don’t even need to pay to download the game.

Don’t think you’ll quickly become a pro though. The top players train full time for years to reach the top, just like any sportsman.

But anyone can get involved and have a great time. It’s also a great way to get to know the games better to improve your eSports bets.

The short answer to this is no, not really. The vast majority of e-sport games can’t even run on mobile devices, and even if they did you would never be able to input the complex actions you need to perform quick enough to be successful.

The one exception to this is Hearthstone. Being a turn-based game it isn’t reliant on speed and the actions required are simple, just drag a card onto the playing table.

In fact, you can play Hearthstone on android and ios devices, whether that is your tablet or smartphone. Unfortunately, it isn’t currently available on Windows phone devices.

E-Sports are as accessible for betting as any traditional sport that you know of.

The usual legal restrictions that apply to traditional live sports gambling will apply to eSports betting too. In the case of the UK this would mean you must be 18 in order to bet on e-sports, whereas in the USA this would mean eSports gambling is currently prohibited.

And no, you don’t need to be a gamer to bet on e-sports any more than you need to be a footballer to bet on football. E-sports offer many fantastic video coverage for free online using websites like YouTube and Twitch. You can use these to find out all about these games without ever having played eSports at all.

E-Sports is a massively growing market that has already reached huge popularity and is expected to grow even further in the coming years. It’s estimated that currently 135 million people watch e-sports globally.

Currently the number of e-sports fans is on par with the likes of ice-hockey, but it is expected that by 2017 it will be on par with American Football.

As e-sports have grown over the last few years the gambling in this industry has grown alongside it and this has opened a whole new market for betting that is attracting brand new people to the betting market with its exciting opportunities and the enhanced enjoyment of watching e-sports.

E-sports betting is growing at a fantastic rate. Some predict that by 2020 that e-sport betting could be a $250 million a year industry.

That sort of money makes it one of the largest sports betting markets in the world. It is already in the top ten for some sports bookies.

With this we’ve seen the majority of main stream bookies start offering a dedicated e-sports betting market. There are also a number of specialist bookies who specifically target the e-sports betting industry.

This means you have a wide choice of bookmakers to choose from. Some of the best, and the bookmakers we advise are Betway, Pinnacle, Betfair & …

E-sports tournaments are competitions where teams will usually meet up in an arena and compete against each other in order to become the overall tournament winner.

These tournaments last over a widely varying length of time, from a couple days to a few months, with a varying number of teams or players, from as little as four to over thirty.

They also have massively different prize pots. The largest being $18million for the Dota 2 International 2015 but the very small tournaments offer just in the low thousands.

It’s the major tournaments with hundred thousand plus prize pots that we see the majority of eSports betting.

The larger tournaments in eSports have qualifying rounds and you’ll only ever qualify for these tournaments by becoming a member of a well-established professional team. This takes years of dedication and training.

There are many smaller tournaments and even local tournaments that anyone is capable of entering, though even these amateur tournaments showcase players with tremendous talent.

An easy way to start in competitive gaming is by registering and competing in the Electronic Sports League online. You compete from home and anyone can sign up.

No you don’t, though with some caveats.

You certainly don’t need to be a top player in eSports, or even have ever played the game. Many people bet on football, rugby and many other traditional sports who don’t play the games themselves.

You also don’t need to be an avid e-sports spectator as there is a lot of information online for you to research the games, tournaments and matchups in order to allow you to place good bets.

However, having no knowledge of the games at all, having never played or even watched a match, this is obviously going to have an effect on your ability to place the best bets.

E-Sports betting is generally covered by the same legislation that covers traditional sports betting and so you’ll find the restrictions to be identical. So for example, the USA does not allow online e-sports gambling. However most of Europe is quite friendly to online eSports betting.

E-sports betting is also affected by the bookmaker you choose to place your bets with as they will need gambling licences in many countries in order for them to take bets from those countries. The bookmaker will have their own checks to ensure you can place your bets in your country.

The very best place to watch live eSports games is on Twitch.tv. This is a dedicated platform from gamers to broadcast themselves playing games. These are not always competitive e-sports, and are often not in major tournaments. However most major live tournaments will stream live on Twitch.tv.

Another great place to watch e-sports games live, and a newcomer to the market, is YouTube Gaming. This is an expansion of the classic YouTube platform we know and love that allows gamers to live stream their matches.

You most certainly can. Most online bookmakers are now mobile friendly, though the experience can vary from bookmaker to bookmaker.

A great place for you to start is by checking out our bookmaker reviews which will help you find out more information on the experience you will receive for different bookmakers.

The best odds is a relative term and it’s really all about value. If you’re offered even odds on a bet for one team to win a match, but they are dead certs for winning it, then that is good value.

However if you are offered longer odds of 4/1 to bet on the other team, who are certain to lose, well that is not good value, you are just throwing your money away.

If you would like to know more about odds and how to bet well then you should check out our article on what are e-sports betting odds, or you can look at our bookmakers guides to see who offers the best odds on the whole.

Odds are a reflection of the probability of a bet winning. They are also used to calculate how much your returns will be if your bet does win.

Odds are normally written in one of two ways, fractional and decimal. Fractional is the more traditional method, where odds are written like 4/1, or 10/3. These same odds represented as decimal odds would be 5.00 and 1.33 respectively.

For more on odds and how they work you should check out our article on what are e-sports betting odds.

How long is a piece of string?

This all depends on how much you have in your staking bankroll, how well you understand odds and the value or odds, and how well you understand the matches and the likelihood of the results.

Many people say that you cannot beat the bookmaker but that isn’t true if you are a sensible and informed gambler. To help get you started on your way to better betting you should check out our article on how to become a successful bettor.

The rules for winning an eSport match are different depending on the competitive game in question. Here are some of the major ones:

• League of Legends and Dota 2 – destroy the opponents main building (the Nexis in LoL, the Ancient in Dota 2)
• Starcraft 2 – destroy all of the opponents buildings.
• Hearthstone – reduce the opponents Champion to 0 health points.
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – win 16 rounds by either planting and successful detonating a bomb, or preventing the opponent from planting & detonating a bomb.

These are the major e-sports games and their win conditions. If you’d like to know more about how these games are played and won then check out our game guides.

When betting on an eSport team there are a number of things you might want to look at.

You should look at whether the team has changed any players in their roster. You should also look at their recent form and their form against the team they are playing in the match you are betting on. The match/tournament odds are the final thing to check. Based on your research are the odds being offered good value?

For more information on eSports betting you should check out our guide on e-sports betting and our individual game guides.

E-sports tournaments occur all year round, for example, in League of Legends, you have the regular seasons for each region that is broken up into the Spring and Summer Splits & Playoffs that start in January and run through until August. You then have the World Championship that takes place across October.

In between this you have several other major tournaments that provide opportunities to spectate and bet on, such as the IEM season. This means you will always have something to interest you.

To find out more about the upcoming tournaments for each game you should check out our game guides.

Across an extended period of time you can bet as much or as little as you like on eSports.

Some bookmakers may have limits on how much you can place on a single bet, or how much you can withdraw in one go, but other than that it is really about what are comfortable with spending.

Check out our bookmaker guides to find out more about who you can place your e-sports bets with.

There are lots of factors that might affect your choice over which eSports betting site you will use in order to place your e-sports bets.

You might be looking for the best bonuses on offer, the best odds available, or even for interesting betting opportunities, like betting on who gets the first kill.

The best way for you to choose the right e-sports online bookmaker for you is to check out our eSports betting guides.

These can vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, however there are some things that are quite consistent.

These bonuses are for new customers. By following the special bonus links in our site, you will be able to register for the online bookmaker and deposit funds into your account.

Once you have deposited funds into your account it is usually at this point your bonus offer will be activated.

To ensure you get the latest and best deals, check back with esportsbettingpro.com and we’ll make sure you receive the best bonuses for the best bookmakers are available to you.

E-sports in-play betting is a fun way of making a match you are watching even more exciting. This is where you place a bet after a match has started, but before it has ended.

This lets you assess what is happening in the match before you place your bet on the match winner.

This is great for the knowledgeable e-sports bettor who is able to read the games quickly and effectively.

To place an e-sports bet you first need to register with a bookmaker online and deposit funds into your account.
Once you have funds in your bookmaker account you can then browse the betting opportunities and odds to select what you would like to bet on. This might be a match winner or tournament winner for example.

Select your bet and this will be added to your betting slip. You then just need to add your stake (how much you want to bet) and click the submit button to place your bet.

Check out our article on how to place an eSports bet in order to get a more detailed and fool-proof guide to placing your first e-sports bet.