The evolution of sports betting over thousands of years has led us to a point now where bettors are able to place bets on people playing video games. In other words, eSports betting.
This new type of sports betting may seem worlds away from the wagers that the ancient Greeks would place on the Ancient Olympic Games, but in a lot of ways, the premise is still the same.
The idea of betting on eSports may seem like risky business, and while there is always an element of risk at play with any form of sports betting, eSports betting does offer bettors plenty of advantages.
Below, Kate Richardson, an expert in eSports betting, exclusively reveals the top five advantages of betting on eSports
Advantages of betting on eSports: The top five
It is constant
While sports betting can be profitable, it can also be incredibly frustrating.
This isn’t in relation to the disappointment of backing a favourite, only for them to lose. But instead, the frustration of often having to wait days, weeks and sometimes even months to be able to bet on the sports that you have the most knowledge on.
Take American Football, for example. The regular season only lasts for 18 weeks each year, and even then, there are often only games played on Sundays and Mondays, with the exception of the odd Thursday night match.
With eSports, the situation couldn’t be any different. There are eSports matches taking place almost constantly, meaning there is no waiting around. This isn’t likely to change any time soon, either, as the industry will be worth $5.9b by 2025 according to Statista.
It is evolving
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change,” said Leon C. Megginson.
In terms of ‘surviving’ in the world of betting, targeting new markets could be the way forward.
Esports betting isn’t something that has been around for a long time. Major sportsbooks have only started to dabble in this area over the past decade or so, which is nothing compared to how long they have been covering more popular sports such as football and basketball.
The reason why this is an advantage is that it is only going to grow and evolve further in the coming years. Getting into it now presents an opportunity to become an expert in eSports before it truly takes off.
When this happens, sportsbooks will naturally start accepting larger stakes, and by this point, you should have enough knowledge in the bank to notice key betting patterns that could help you bring in big profits.
Unique markets
For causal bettors, eSports betting could be looked at as more ‘fun’ than regular sports betting. Being able to place bets on your favourite video games, such as League of Legends and Call of Duty, adds a whole new dimension to online betting.
What’s more, the markets involved in eSports are entirely unique and completely different to betting on regular sports. Where else are you going to be able to bet on which team gets the first kill on a first-person shooter or which team slays Baron on League of Legends?
There’s a good chance you know more than the bookmaker
“Knowledge is power”, so said Sir Francis Bacon, and that feels very apt here.
If you are a keen gamer and/or someone who follows eSports closely, then there is a good chance you are already one-up on bookmakers.
While the majority of sportsbooks across the world are good at pricing normal markets accordingly to ensure they have an edge, it’s not quite the same with eSports, purely because they don’t have enough historical data to work with yet.
This means that if you have an in-depth knowledge of certain eSports games, then there is a good chance you will be able to scope out markets that have been priced horribly.
Easy access
Finally, eSports is far more accessible than the majority of sports across the world. Although some online sports betting sites offer free streams of certain events to anyone who has placed a bet on said event, a lot are behind a paywall.
Placing a bet on something you can’t even watch isn’t much fun and takes away a lot of the enjoyment of betting.
With eSports, you can almost guarantee that every event you bet on is being live-streamed for free on external platforms, such as Twitch. Especially in countries with an emerging eSports audience, such as Poland, the popularity of streaming and analytics is growing along with the interest in betting.
Not only are eSports events almost always available for free, but there are now a lot of free reviews online, where users can familiarise themselves with the analytics and terms of the platforms before placing bets.
For this, it is convenient to use review resources, such as MightyTips, which contains objective information about betting sites and their capabilities. This helps to avoid mistakes and place bets more consciously.
Advantages of betting on eSports: Summary
- It is available all year round
- It is evolving
- Esports markets are unique
- You may be more knowledgeable than the bookmaker
- It’s accessible
To summarise, eSports is only going to grow in the years to come, and a knock-on effect of that is going to be expanded eSports markets. How the government tackles this with gambling licensing will also be interesting to see, but the opportunities for bettors could be endless.
The article was provided by Kate Richardson
