Top eSports Betting Sites
Online electronic video gaming has become an interesting venue for sports, or eSports betting. Over the last two decades, online competitions have become more complex and involved larger numbers of players due to advancing technology. In the last decade, a segment of online gaming has developed with professional players in teams and as individuals playing in online events. It is estimated that nearly 250 million people watch eSports. And, as eSports advance, so do the betting options! Punters who are interested in online gaming of this sort can place wagers on outcomes much as they would on a football game. And, to find the top eSports betting sites, you can come to Betopin and check out our top list for the best betting options for you.
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Betting on eSports
The eSports contests that interest punters typically require real-time strategy and tactics by accomplished players. They range from “first-person” shooter scenarios to manual combat, battle arenas with multiple player-combatants, and the so-called “battle royale.” As interest in professional-level events has increased, game developers have answered the need with faster-paced, more interesting, and more complex games. Here are a few of the current favorites by genre.
- MOBA: Dota 2, League of Legends
Shooters: Call of Duty, Counter-Strike shooter, Rainbow Six Siege, CrossFire, Overwatch - Sports: FIFA, NBA
- Fighting Games: Street Fighter, Dungeon Fighter Online, Super Smash Bros
- Battle Royales: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale.
- RTS: StarCraft
Major tournaments are the World Championship for League of Legends, the championship series for Evolution (EVO), and live tournaments broadcast by Intel Extreme Masters.
As eSports have developed a team and player structure similar to professional sports is developing as well. As such we expect to see eSports become more prominent, interesting, and potentially profitable for punters over time.
To place wagers on eSports contests, consult Betopin for information as to upcoming events and the top list of best-betting sites. To successfully wager on this new sport one will need to learn the rules at which point punters who are already online gamers will have a distinct advantage.
Betting Platforms for eSports
The betting platforms available for eSports betting are the same ones used for betting on other sports. These include betting exchanges, sportsbooks, and sports trading sites. Which ones a punter prefers will depend on his or her proposed betting strategy and tactics. Sportsbooks (traditional, fixed-odds bookmakers but online) will be able to handle eSports bets but we suggest that you consult the Betopin toplist to see which ones actually cover these wagers, their odds, and wagering options. Likewise sports trading sites and betting exchanges are capable of dealing with eSports bets but because the sport is relatively new, some may and some may not. For punters who are interested in complex eSports contests and placing more complex wagers, sports trading sites may be the best option. To find other gamers interested in betting on eSports, a sports trading site may be the best choice.
Betting Exchanges for eSports
Betting exchanges are a more attractive option for many punters because they offer better odds than a sportsbook may offer. Because one punter wagers against another punter the odds are set by a consensus of many wagers. The exchange makes its money by taking a small fee from the winnings of each wager.
Sportsbooks for eSports
Sportsbooks are basically your traditional bookmaker. An established bookmaker will offer many betting options and those who are keeping up with the times will offer wagers on eSports as well. As odds and wagering options will vary from one sportsbook to the next, always consult our top list at Betopin for the best eSports betting sportsbooks.
You should know that there are existing sportsbooks that offer esports in addition to their regular sports offerings, like Betway or bet365. However, there are also esportsbooks that focus solely on esports. Naturally, both are great, and it all depends on the specific site and what it has, but in general, both have a few advantages over the other:
- Regular sportsbooks are more established and respected in the online gambling community, but esportsbooks cover more esports.
- Regular sportsbooks have higher limits, but esportsbooks offer a familiar experience for the esports fan.
- Regular sportsbooks serve more markets, but esportsbooks provide more content for the esports betting experience.
Spread Betting for eSports
Spread betting on eSports events can be an extremely flexible means of wagering on the sport. Punters can bet on an eSports team or player losing as well as on a win. In fact, the win on a successful wager may get larger with the magnitude of the victory! You can check on how to use spread betting to
Sports Trading Sites for eSports
Punters who are familiar with investing in property or stocks will feel right at home on a sports trading site. You can wager on how well a given team or eSports player will do in a tournament. Let’s say you picked someone who was not a favourite. But, they are doing well in a multi-day tournament. The odds of them winning have improved greatly. On a sports trading site, you can sell of lay off your bet for a profit and not have to wait until the end of the tournament. Anyone who has bought and sold an automobile, a home, or stocks knows that in order to profit from an investment you do not need to wait for a long time, so long as you can find a buyer. The sports trading site is where you go to make such wagers.
Skins Betting Sites
Most players stick to classic esports betting sites, but there are also things called skins betting sites. On these sites, players don’t get to bet on matches and their outcomes, nor with real money! They get to bet skins from the games they play. In essence, these sites work pretty much the same as regular esports betting sites, but they use skins instead of real-world currency. The skins usually come from two specific games, DOTA 2 and CS:GO. It’s important to note that these sites are not legal, nor are they endorsed by the developers of these games.
Matched Betting in eSports
Matched betting is not so much a platform as a strategy to take advantage of promotional offers by sportsbooks. In order to attract new punters, a sportsbook will offer an attractive promotion such as a 100% match on your deposit of £75. The promotion takes place as soon as you make a wager with your deposit. The way that matched betting works is that a punter makes the wager on the sportsbook site and then makes an opposite wager on a betting exchange or sports trading site. Thus he or she is covered against a loss as they will lose on one wager and win on the next. This leaves the promotional money free to be wagered as the punter wishes. What happens, in the end, is that the smart punter gets to wager (in this example) £75 for free!
Live Betting on Esports
Live betting is one of the most exciting ways to bet on esports. You get to follow the action and the bet you’ve placed becomes more meaningful. That’s why many esports betting sites include live betting on esports where you get to watch the live stream online and place your bets at the same time. It’s undoubtedly a form of esports betting that’s worth trying.
How to Find the Top Esports Betting Sites
Naturally, the best thing that you can do is check our list and choose a site on it, as we’ve spent a lot of time and energy compiling it. More importantly, we can now safely say that it features the best esports betting sites for UK players. So, all you need to do is pick the one that best suits your needs.
However, it’s also important for you to learn how to differentiate the great esports betting sites from the downright bad ones. That knowledge will come in handy if you want to find new esport sites for betting real money in the future. There are a few things you need to check, and we’ll cover all of them in the next few paragraphs.
Reputation
One of the main things that makes a betting site great today is its reputation. We’ve come a long way since the online gambling industry began. Nowadays, if a site is bad, it usually already has enough expert or player reviews online that effectively warn players against registering and using it. An esports betting site could offer the best free bets and many other incentives, but unless its reputation is good enough, no one will join it. That’s why it’s always crucial for you to review lists like the one we offer here before you join an esports bet site.
Legality and Safety
Another important part of making sure an esports betting site is good is to determine whether it’s legal and safe. This is defined by the licences the website has and a few other aspects like whether it has SSL encryption, the number of betting markets, and the quality and speed of withdrawals. Only when the site covers all of this can we deem it be safe and legal, and thus good for you to join.
Payment Options
The main point of esports betting sites is for you to win on your bets and then withdraw the money. That’s precisely why it’s crucial for the site to have lots of adequate payment options. Most sites on our list offer a wide variety of both deposit and withdrawal methods, including credit and debit cards, bank transfers, Neteller, Skrill, and others. Naturally, you can also use PayPal, Paysafecard, and cryptocurrency, but betting sites that offer these are a bit rare when compared to others, as they are not widely adopted by the online gambling industry.
Variety of Esports and Types of Bets
Naturally, legality and reputation won’t mean much to you unless there’s something to bet on. That’s why the next crucial thing that a great esports betting site needs to have is a wide variety of esports and plenty of bets you can place. These are the basics of esports betting, which is why we make sure to include only the sites that offer a lot of esports and that their betting platform is good. However, we also make sure that the sites have a lot of bet types players can place, not just betting on who will win the match. You should do the same when evaluating an esports betting site.
Customer Support
Customer support is usually the one thing players tend to overlook until they need help. However, you shouldn’t wait for that, and you should always choose the sites that offer great customer support, so you can rely on them to help you when the time comes. The best esports betting sites have 24/7 customer care and agents that are always quick to respond and know how to handle any problem that might arise. Great esports betting sites also have a wide variety of contact options, including a live chat feature, email, and phone support. It’s also good when the site has a well-developed help section with plenty of information players generally need and a wide variety of FAQs.
Popular eSports Betting Markets and Bets
As the world of eSports and grown and matured, the betting market for eSports has followed along. Although not all betting platforms carry eSports as a wagering option, more and more do as time goes by. Using a site like Betopin, a punter can keep up with eSports events and use the toplist to check out the top eSports betting sites, their betting options, odds, and promotions. By comparing eSports betting platforms a punter can make a smart decision about where to place bets, which strategies to employ, and when to make changes. The first thing to consider if you are interested in betting on eSports is the games.
The Games in eSports
As we already mentioned, if you are an online gamer you have a distinct advantage of the average punter who only follows football and perhaps boxing. The betting options will vary to a degree based on if you are betting on League of Legends versus Fortnite Battle Royale or Starcraft versus Rainbow Six Siege. A gamer will realize that there are no weight classes in eSports so there are no “heavyweights” who will simply always win based on their size and strength. Intelligence and adaptability are what count in eSports and even a lower tier professional eSports player can rise the occasion and win it all in a few hectic days. Know your games and know your players and your eSports bets will be more likely to prosper!
The more games you know well, the better you’ll get at esports betting, and the more success you’ll find in this rising form of online gambling. For starters, you should familiarize yourself with the best esports out there: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Overwatch, Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Starcraft II. It’s better to have played the games to bet on them, but learning them and the matches and tournaments will be more than enough. In time you’ll get better, and you’ll be able to place better bets as well.
Bonus Offers
Sportsbooks are always looking for new clients and this applies to sites that take eSports bets as well. A great way to get started in betting on eSports is to make your deposit with a sportsbook during promotion and get a match on your deposit and first wager. This generally means that a punter gets to bet twice for the price of one wager. It also can be used like we described under Matched Betting in eSports. You can make your wager. Go to another site that takes eSports bets and make the opposite wager. Then, when your first two bets cancel each other out, you get to make the third wager “for free.”
The best esports betting sites offer a wide variety of bonuses and other incentives like VIP programs for both new and old players. That’s why it’s good for you to take advantage of such offers, but know that they differ greatly from one site to another. On top of that, each website has its own terms and conditions you need to meet if you want to get the bonuses and withdraw the winnings later on. You should thus always read the fine print for bonuses, as they often tend to seem a bit better than they really are. If not that, they might have a requirement you don’t like or appreciate.
The most common types of bonuses you’ll run into are first deposit bonuses and free bet offers. The first usually involves you placing a minimum deposit at the site and then obtaining a match up bonus (usually 100% of your initial deposit) up to a specific amount. The latter are more varied, as a lot of things constitute a free bet. For example, the esports betting site can give you a specific amount to wager for free, which you can’t withdraw, or they might give a cashback if you manage to lose on your initial wagers. Also, the terms and conditions tend to be different for each specific free bet offer, while the ones for the first deposit bonuses follow a similar pattern.
On some rare occasions, you might also find no deposit bonuses, but these are not very common as they effectively hand out free cash for almost nothing. All you need to do to receive a no deposit bonus is to register on the site! So, keep an eye out for these bonuses as they are always worth it, no matter what the bonus terms and conditions state.
Betting Markets and Odds for eSports
Although more and more betting sites are covering eSports wagers, they do not all offer the same bets or same odds. Promotions may vary from being very attractive to being non-existent! Always consult the toplist at Betopin for the top eSports betting sites and the specifics that will best match the events on which you wish to wager and the specific bets that you are interested in making.
Different esports betting sites cover different betting markets, and it always depends on the site itself. The noticeable difference is there mostly because esports betting is a relatively new phenomenon, and not every sportsbook or esprotsbook has completely jumped on the bandwagon and managed to cover all sports and esports matches and tournaments in existence. However, in time, all major sportsbooks will start covering all major esports out there.
Mobile Betting and eSports
The internet, mobile devices, and eSports have all “grown up” together. Thus eSports gamers will be just as interested in betting on eSports using their mobile device as they are in playing the games on their smartphone. Thus one of the options to look for in the top eSports betting sites is the ability to connect with and make bets via your mobile device. These days, connecting to the mobile world is a necessity for any business. If your sportsbook, betting exchange, or sports trading platform does not offer this option, there will certainly be someone who does. Check with the toplist at Betopin for the top eSports betting sites.
Established Betting Sites That Offer eSports Betting
As eSports and eSports betting have grown by leaps and bounds, not all betting platforms have moved quickly enough to fulfill the need. Unfortunately, some betting sites have appeared that cover eSports bets but are not established sportsbooks, sports trading sites, or betting exchanges. The risk here is that a punter needs to be dealing with a reputable bookmaker or other betting platform. Established companies have high levels of encryption in their online businesses to protect the data privacy and the money of their clients. This may not always be the case with “upstarts” moving into the eSports betting market. Always check with the Betopin toplist before choosing an eSports betting site!
One of the most renowned sites in the world of betting is William Hill, the world’s largest sports betting site and one of the best for UK players specifically. William Hill also allows you to bet on esports, and it does that by offering markets for all major games, including games like DOTA 2, Starcraft II, League of Legends, Hearthstone, CS:GO, and many others.
William Hill is not the only one, there are plenty of other well-established sites that offer esport bets, and the only thing you need to do to find them is to consult with our list. The good thing is that there are plenty of options to choose from if you’re from the United Kingdom!
Regulation, Licensing, and Language
Because eSports are popular across the world, there are many betting sites that cover eSports bets but do not have anyone who speaks English! Also, laws and regulations vary from country to country. It is better to be dealing with a known betting platform in the UK rather than a foreign site with loose or non-existent regulation! By in large, an English speaker in an English speaking country will want to deal with a “home-grown” betting site for all of their eSports bets.
The United Kingdom is, thankfully, a highly-regulated market no matter the type of gambling. The only thing a UK punter needs to confirm is that the esports betting site is regulated and has a licence from the UKGC or the United Kingdom Gambling Commission that deals with all forms of online gambling in the country. Naturally, all the best esports betting sites we recommend have licences from the UKGC.
Security
In the past, esport betting sites had some noticeable problems. Those who know esports well know that it’s quite possible to cheat in these bets, at least cheat if you are the one facilitating esports betting. Many esports betting sites have tried fixing matches to their advantage, all to the detriment of players. Thankfully, this practice is all but eliminated today as proper licensing is crucial today. With the licences that the esports betting operators need to have now, fixing matches is practically impossible.
On the other hand, the industry is still having problems with illegitimate betting sites. However, shady gambling sites show up in all parts of the online gambling industry, and the only way to escape the problem is to avoid these websites. Thankfully, this is quite easy today as low-quality esports betting sites are easy to spot. All you need to do is look for what licences they hold and the reputation they have on the web. At Betopin, we make sure to test esports betting sites thoroughly, so you can always rely on our lists offering you the best esports betting sites for UK players.
Conclusion
As eSports have taken the online world by storm, they have come to offer interesting and profitable betting opportunities. As with all sports betting, the knowledgeable and prepared punter is more likely to make money. As you consider the options of eSports betting, find the top eSports betting sites by consulting the Betopin toplist.
Our list consists only of the best esports betting sites for UK players as we’ve made sure these sites were the best in the business. On top of that, you now have the necessary knowledge of what makes an esports betting site great, so all you need to do is choose one from our list and start placing your wagers!
