Sports bettors have more options than ever before and for gamers, the world of esports has become a billion-dollar industry with loads of betting opportunity. For those looking to bet on this emerging market, we bring you handicapping tips and esports betting strategies so you can beat the odds instead of looking like a noob.
WHAT IS ESPORTS?
The term esports is used for all competitive, organized video game competitions. Individual players or teams face off against other competitors in tournament and league formats.
Although competitive video game competitions have been going on for decades (anyone remember the classic 80s moveie The Wizard?), they've become more popular than ever with the global esports audience expected to grow to just under 500 million people by the end of the year. There are live events for many of the top competitions while streaming services like Twitch allow viewers to watch their favorite gamers play in real time.
It used to be a rare occurence to see sportsbooks in the video game space, but now many highly-regard non-US and offshore sportsbooks offer a wide variety of esports odds. The esports betting handle exceeded $12 billion in 2019 while revenues approached $1 billion.
WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR ESPORTS?
While there are tons of esports out there, a few tend to stand out in terms of popularity. No surprise that the most popular esport games are also the most competitive, the most sponsored and the most widely bet on.
DOTA 2
The sequel to Defense of the Ancients which was a community-created mod for Warcraft III. This is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA for short), where two teams of five players compete to destroy the other team’s Ancient (a large structure located within their base) while defending their own.
Fortnite
Fortnite is a relatively new game (released in 2017) that is a survival-shooter hybrid. Players are dropped onto a map and try to knock each other off in a Battle Royale format until the final player is declared the winner. The graphics are cartoonish in Fortnite and the action is over-the-top and campy. In many ways it is more appealing to casual gamers but the esports market has made it clear there is money to be made professionally in this game as well.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)
CS:GO was released in 2012 and remains one of the most played esports on the market with a huge professional scene and major tournaments sponsored by Valve, the software designer that created the game. Unfortunately, in 2014 a match-fixing scandal rocked the CS:GO world, although the game has managed to retain its popularity on the betting market.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
Like Fortnite, PUBG is a Battle Royale game where players are dropped on to a map and compete in a death match until a final player is left standing. Unlike Fortnite, PUBG has more realistic graphics and gun fights. The game was based on mods created by a gamer named Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene.
League of Legends
This is a MOBA game that is only available for Microsoft Windows and macOS. This game is similar to DOTA 2 which isn't surprising since it's also modeled after the original Defense of the Ancients. LoL is generally considered a bit more fast-paced than DOTA 2 although not quite as strategic.
Overwatch
Overwatch is another team-based based shooter. However, it's different from the other esports where independent teams compete for prizes while being relegated and moved up through various leagues depending on form. The Overwatch League (OWL) is run in the same manner that professional sports leagues are; there are sponsored teams in major cities with one owner and individual players are rostered on those teams.
ESPORTS BETTING MARKETS
Moneyline
Moneyline or side betting is the most popular way of betting on anything in the world, esports included. In moneyline bets you simply wager on which team you think will win in a particular matchup. If both teams are evenly matched they will both have a negative (-) sign in front of their moneyline value such as -110, this would mean that a bettor would have to wager $110 to win $100. If one side has a negative (-) value and the other a positive (+) sign, then the side with the negative is the betting favorite and the side with the positive is the underdog.
Hanwah Life (+125) vs KT Rooster (-176)
In this LOL League Champions Korea matchup For example, KT Rolster is the favorite at -176. That means that a bettor has to wager $176 to win $100 by betting on them. Hanwah Life is listed at +125 which means that a bettor stands to profit $125 for every $100 wagered on them.
Outrights
Outright betting is also extremely popular and involves betting on which team will win a league or tournament.
Propostion Bets
As sportsbooks start offering more and more esports betting opportunities, prop bets (that is bets that don't directly tie into the final result) are becoming more common. They can involve practically anything that is measurable. For example in CS:GO you can find bets on which team will play more maps, which team will win more pistol rounds and which individual players will have higher HLTV ratings.
Handicap betting and totals
Handicap betting (or spread betting) and totals betting (Over/Under bets) are emerging opportunities in the world of esports. Some books are starting to include these sorts of bets but they are still in their infancy since scoring can be extremely difficult to set lines on.
Different books offer totals on various aspects of gameplay, for example in Dota 2 and LoL it is kills and in CS:GO it’s rounds. If you bet Under the total you want the final count to be below that number, and if you bet Over you need the number to be higher to win your wager.
HOW TO HANDICAP ESPORTS
Round up resources
A staple of any handicapping process: familiarize yourself with databases and websites which keep track of detailed stats.
Since esports betting is a reasonably new market, it is sometimes tough to know what the best and most reliable resources are. That said, some of the top esports handicapping resource sites include Liquipedia, HLTV, and GosuGamers.
When esports tournament time rolls around, these will be your best friend since it's convenient to have key information all accessible in one place. You'll get to see detailed round-by-round analysis, stat breakdowns and information regarding particular players or teams.
Head-to-head matchups and history
Recent form is a huge thing to consider. If a team has been struggling or there has been a roster change, it may take some time to get used to. Chemistry isn't always inherently going to be there, and often a well-practiced team of average players - pegged as betting underdogs - could enter a tournament and yield better results than a five-man roster of the best statistical players.
Teams that historically play close matches will often be true to form, and you will find some head-to-head matchup where one team continues to dominate the other - regardless of their overall resume or current success.
Travel, home and health
Just like playing at home in other sports, there's an inherent advantage to esports gamers in not having to travel long distances to events. Jetlag, fatigue, and travel visa issues may all impact performance, and esports bettors will want to keep those travel troubles in mind when sizing up the odds.
There is also a noticeable home-court edge in esports and having a stadium full of friends, family and fans wearing your team's jersey and rooting you on may be that extra motivating factor needed to win.
There have been circumstances when players were unable to travel due to sickness leading up to a tournament, forcing some last-minute plans. Unfortunately, with contracts in place, not every team is able to just pick up a substitute and teach them the strategies the team has been preparing and practicing to use all year.
Finding out information about last minute changes before the sportsbooks are able to adjust the betting odds can make all the difference. Database websites like the ones listed above should be fairly quick to post any news, and social media player pages or team websites will be quicker to report. Take advantage of these tidbits of information early before news spreads.
Learn to live bet
Bettors can wagering on the live in-game odds, which rapidly adjust throughout a game or tournament and allow you to get action down at just about any point. The value differs depending on the specific game and its rules, but sharp esports handicappers understand how to use those formats to their advantage when betting the live lines.
For example, in the game Counterstrike, each match has a team play as both the Terrorists (T) and the Counter-terrorists (CT). Certain maps can trend more favorably towards either one of those sides, and teams may often get out to a big lead purely based on a map being "CT sided".
The sides will switch at halftime and often if a team falls behind 7-0 (in a race to 16 rounds), the in-game odds will drastic shift toward the team leading early and offer esports bettors added value to bet on the underdog, knowing that the game results should balance out when the sides are swapped. That's where figuring out particular team strengths come into play. Eventually, you'll learn not to panic and view it as pure value when your team falls behind early.
Another option for esports bettors looking to bet in-game odds is that many online sportsbooks now offer incentives to place particular bets: automatic payouts on moneyline wagers if your team goes ahead 14 points or options to edit/change your bet or withdraw a portion of your original wager.
Motivation means money
Tournaments which earn you qualification points are always important and become increasingly valuable later on in the season and when leading up to a major event.
Bettors can often find some of the best strategies and most well-prepared sides during these tournaments. Think of major tournaments like the postseason: the best teams don't always make it in, so when top teams haven't already qualified you can really see them executing to their full potential and making last-minute bids.
Cashing in on Connectivity
Bettors should always consider whether an event is taking place online or live (on LAN).
Not every team is local and many consist of players from around the world. Connectivity issues sometimes come into play and it may put certain players or teams at a disadvantage during online competition. Their connection to the online servers may not be as strong and it may cause disruptions, spikes in connectivity, or flat out lag which makes playing difficult.
Conversely, with live tournaments, everyone is on the same server and connectivity issues should not be an issue as computers and the equipment the teams play on are all universal. Players and teams from regions forced to play with internet issues tend to see a noticeable uptick in performance when playing at LAN events.
