The esports industry has been on the rise for the past few years, which naturally means that the esports betting scene is also receiving vast amounts of growth. Esports betting is relatively new compared to traditional sports betting, but esports betting is definitely on the right track to compete with sports betting in the near future.
What is esports Betting?
Similar to traditional sports, almost every esport game has a competitive scene where the best players play in professional teams and compete with each other in large-scale tournaments. Since these tournaments involve established organizations and teams, there are very low occurrences of match-fixing, so esports fans around the world can bet on these matches on the best site to bet on esports to see which team will be victorious in a particular matchup. The exciting part is that different esports titles will have diverse betting markets. With that being said, let’s check out the top five esports games to bet on!
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
It would be absurd for any gamer not to have heard of the Counter-Strike title. CS:GO, a first-person shooter, has remained one of the most popular esports titles in the gaming world for the past decade. The massive fanbase of the game has made it possible for fantastic tournaments to occur, which makes CS:GO one of the more popular esports games to bet on.
CS:GO’s popularity comes from multiple reasons. It’s fast-paced, intense, has a high skill ceiling, and is easy to watch. Unlike a few other esports games, players who do not play Counter-Strike can still understand what is happening in a CS:GO match because of the game’s simplicity.
Major events such as PGL Antwerp 2022 and IEM Rio 2022 have occurred, which are tournaments that have million-dollar prize pools. These Major tournaments are the perfect esports events for people to bet on. Due to CS:GO being one of the most watched esports, bettors won’t have a hard time finding esports betting sites that open CS:GO betting markets.
League of Legends
League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game with over 150 million registered players, mainly from the Asian region. Despite being slower-paced compared to Counter-Strike, League of Legends is still a fan-favorite esports title to bet on.
A unique thing about MOBA games is that a drafting phase is held before every game starts, where teams will pick and ban Champions from the pool of 100+ Champions. Champions in League of Legends have different abilities and capabilities, so bettors can analyze the draft results before placing their bets on sites for esports betting.
League of Legends provides a more technical approach to esports betting, as a player with an understanding of the game can place a bet on the team with the better lineup after the drafting phase.
Valorant
The newest esport title on this entire list is Valorant. Valorant is a first-person shooter developed by Riot Games and was released in 2020. However, Valorant has chosen to compete with CS:GO by using Agents with unique abilities. The introduction of Agents in an FPS game has given Valorant increasing popularity as it’s a fresh and fun concept.
Though the game is new compared to every other title on this list, we must keep in mind that Riot Games runs the game. Riot Games has had experience running an amazing competitive scene for League of Legends, and they are looking to replicate LoL’s esports success with Valorant.
Valorant has recently concluded its first competitive season, where four major tournaments were held. In all four tournaments, no team or player managed to repeat their victories, which is an amazing sign that we’ll have a highly competitive Valorant esports scene to bet on in 2023.
Dota 2
Defense of the Ancient 2, or Dota 2 for short, is another MOBA game that is highly popular. Though Dota 2’s player base doesn’t rival League of Legends, the game still has a functional esports scene. Dota 2 is known to be the highest-paying esports, mainly thanks to their annual tournament, “The International,” which is an ideal tournament for esports betting.
There have been 11 iterations of The International, meaning that the Dota 2 esports scene has been standing strong for over a decade. The remarkable thing about these esports events is that the prize pools are absurdly high, with The International 10 boasting a prize pool of over $40,000,000! It’s crazy to think that professional Dota players can be set for life from winning a single tournament.
Similarly to League of Legends, Dota 2 also requires a drafting phase before every game. The difference with LoL is that both teams cannot pick the same hero. This creates a more complex drafting phase, which can help with esports betting.
FIFA
FIFA as an esport isn’t as popular as the other four titles on this list but is still one of the most viable options for esports betting. FIFA is highly popular as a video game, but it’s not quite there yet as an esport and is still developing at a decent pace.
The main reason why FIFA is a good choice for esports betting is that FIFA is the most effortless transition if you’re a sports bettor looking to get into esports betting. Betting on FIFA is incredibly similar to betting on a regular football match, as FIFA is just a simulation of a typical game of football. The matches also do not last a full 90 minutes like regular football matches so that people can get the results of their bets faster.
FIFA has incredible potential to reel traditional sports bettors into the esports betting scene, similar to games such as NBA 2K.
Conclusion
In conclusion, betting on esports matches may require you to have extended knowledge about the game itself and the players playing. As a result, it’s essential that esports have healthy competitive scenes so viewers can see the performance of these players often. That is why these five esports titles stand on top of the rest regarding esports betting, as large-scale tournaments happen frequently.