Online sports betting has exploded in the last several years, including a large selection of eSports betting sites and various popular titles to wager on. During the recent pandemic, many eSports streaming platforms were created due to the high demand from fans spending more time at home on lockdown. The activity is now one of the most popular sports in the world, with professional players earning millions of dollars and fans using new platforms that are available for them to make their eSports bets.
Betting on eSports isn’t something that novice bettors can jump into and have immediate success. It’s a somewhat volatile betting niche that takes a lot of research and effort to be successful.
Bettors willing to take the time to stay current with things like team roster changes, past results, and upcoming events will have a better chance to come out ahead when betting on eSports than the casual bettor looking to make a quick profit. That being said, there are several popular eSports games to bet on.
League of Legends
Choosing the best eSports titles to bet on mostly depends on which games bettors are most knowledgeable about. League of Legends is the game that was at the forefront of the eSports industry, which wouldn’t be at the level it is today without this popular title from Riot Games.
This multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game features two teams of five players who will defend their territory while trying to take down the opposing team’s base (Nexus) to win the match. There is a massive betting community for this title and lots of online sources for information that will be useful for fans of this popular title.
Dota 2
Another MOBA title developed by Valve that was released as an updated version of Warcraft III: Region of Chaos, Dota 2 also features two teams of five players that fill different roles while defending their territory. Dota 2 also features a major eSports league called the Dota Pro Circuit, which is a tournament to decide which teams will qualify to play in The International.
These teams will then play for $40 million in prizes, making the league very lucrative for players. In addition, Dota 2 wagering is offered in many online sports-books worldwide, with several other tournaments such as the OGA Dota PIT Invitational and EPIC League available for eSports betting.
FIFAe World Cup
Formerly known as the FIFA Interactive World Cup, the FIFAe World Cup is an eSports tournament sponsored by game creator and partner EA Sports. It features players showcasing their skills in the latest version of the FIFA video game series, which is now the most prominent online eSports game.
This tournament is all about betting on individual players rather than teams, with the 16 highest finishers in the FIFA Global Series tournament automatically qualifying for the FIFAe World Cup. The tournament progresses from the group stage to the semifinals, with the Grand Finals comprising two events. Many online bookmakers will provide eSports odds on markets, such as the winners of each round, final scores, and the player that scores the most goals in the competition.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CSGO was initially developed as an updated version of the Counter-Strike video game released in 2000 by Valve. The 2012 first-person shooter is another MOBA title in which terrorists attempt to bomb the counter-terrorists as they try to defend their base or diffuse the bomb.
It was one of the first games to be played in a league format in eSports gaming and now features tournaments like the CSGO Major Championship, the ESL Pro League, and the Intel Extreme Masters, to name a few. In addition, some tournaments known as S-Tier competitions have higher prize pools than the others, such as A-Tier, B-Tier, or C-Tier. CSGO currently has almost 60 million hours of streams on Twitch and is the most popular eSports title to wager.
