Everything You should know About eSports Gambling

Online gambling is the single biggest opportunity in esports. It is one of the least encumbered by the video game publisher but it's also one of the least talked about. 

As one of the fastest-growing categories in online gambling, esports betting is on pace to reach up to USD 8 billion in total wagers this year, equating to $560 million in revenue at an industry average margin of 7%.

In terms of numbers, the esports online gambling industry is expected to hit $1.5 billion by 2025. Bearing in mind that the esports online gambling industry still has a limited fan base compared to that of physical sports, this is a big number indeed. It is common for people outside of the esports betting circles not to have any idea what esports gambling is.

Esports gambling – Explained

The abbreviation esports is used instead of electronic sports and denotes competitive video online gambling. Surely, people playing video games and competing with each other is not news for you, as it has been happening ever since the first gaming consoles were released. Nevertheless, it has only recently attracted the attention of gamblers.

Esports online gambling is a huge business. As you may know, video gaming is competitive in itself, but when there are professionals (and money) involved, things can get pretty serious. Nowadays, people can choose from hundreds of esports and casino betting apps and gamble on the go.

Interestingly, esports attract huge masses of live audiences. Best live casino game streams will get even more viewers in the future, and the prize monies will increase substantially as well.

The online gambling industry is aware of the booming business in the eSports sector, which explains the rising number of related offerings and best live casino bonuses in the global betting space.

Types of esports gambling

1. Betting Outrights

As you can guess by the name, these are bets gamblers place before a competition or an event has started. The most popular bet in this category is one for the outright winner of the competition or event, but there are also bets determining which players will continue to the next stage of an event. Lastly, some people place bets on which teams will be eliminated before a certain stage starts.

 2. Match Winner

A pretty clear bet, this is the type of bet gamblers place when they want to pick the winner of a given match. The odds here may be fixes, which means that they are determined by an odds complier a few days before the match starts or they could depend on how many bets are placed on the participants. For example, if most bets are placed on one of the teams, then odds might be equal to one.

3. Totals

Here, gamblers bet on how many of a given thing will be played out in the course of a game. In other words, this type of bet concerns a specific stat. Most commonly, people bet on total maps played, total kills, total rounds, or total points. Betting on totals has nothing to do with the outcome of a match or event; it is simply concerned with the total stats played in a game.

How can you bet on esports gambling

Esports online gambling has two main categories – cash betting and skin betting. Of the two, cash betting is the most prevalent, and it comes in three options – sportsbook, Fantasy eSports, and head-to-head.

Sportsbook online gambling is similar to regular sports betting where players stake cash wagers on the outcome of esports matches. There are several markets under this category, depending on the video game in question. There is also a provision for live online gambling, where the bettor predicts the outcome of a game in real-time. 

Fantasy esports betting resembles other fantasy games, where players create fantasy sports teams and compete against others in a point-based scoring system. The players with the best performing team win the prize.

Head-to-head esports online gambling refers to players betting on the outcomes of the matches they played against each other. Although esports is currently the most dominant, fantasy and head-to-head betting will soon gain traction as the market matures.

Skin betting centres on 'skins,’ which are virtual elements of a video game that change the appearance of in-game items such as weapons and avatars. Gamers ‘sell’ skins through betting sites and use them as virtual casino tokens. 

However, the popularity waned due to multiple controversies and legal issues. Some players who won skins would sell them for real cash, which prompted criticism that it was a form of unlicensed online gambling.

Future of esports gambling

Some of the significant challenges to the development of esports are legislation, access to player performance data and match integrity, lack of a standard data collection mechanism across games, vile practices such as cheating, doping, match-fixing, using cheat codes and other underhand methods, etc.

Venture capital firms are investing in the esports betting sector because of its enormous potential. 

Esports require unique environments for both players and fans. The increasing viewership of the sport is an opportunity for investors to create dedicated spaces that provide an exceptional experience to the esports community.