Bet On Games You Know
Whilst most gamers who like first person shooters have dabbled in games such as Counter Strike, CoD, Fortnite and the like, the best way to bet on eSports is to stick to a game that the punter knows the best. The players who have spent hours playing Fortnite will have a far better advantage when looking for who to bet on in Fortnite tournaments, just the same as CoD buffs will probably be able to spot top players in CoD tournaments. Gamers who know all of the heroes in Overwatch will have a good advantage when trying to place a bet on a match in the same way players who know a complicated game such as League of Legends will be able to know which teams will have an advantage at the start of the match.
Whilst some punters can get lucky by placing fluke bets, those who want to place bets with a better chance of winning should usually stick to the game or games of which they have extensive knowledge.
Find Out Who's Playing
Some eSports are played in teams, some by individual players. This depends on which game is being played, but in most cases the eSports will be played in teams. As opposed to sports, where there are historical teams that get their names from the city or region they were founded in, eSports is a new sport that has a global reach. The teams are not based on cities or regions but have different names and thus may be unfamiliar to anyone who is new to the field. There are legendary teams such as Astralis, Cloud9, Fnatic, SK Telecom T1 and Faze Clan that have risen to prominence with their success in eSports competitions. The great thing about teams is that they offer punters a relative amount of consistency. These teams do not always consist of the same players in each tournament, as they have competition within the teams for which players make the cut to go on and play in the tournaments. This means that punters who follow teams in the specific eSports games they want to bet on can expect them to have a certain baseline performance.
Placing bets on eSports players is a bit trickier, as mentioned early, because there are new players coming through the ranks each year. The eSports tournaments or leagues can even be won by young teenagers, which raises the level of uncertainty when placing a bet on individuals. Despite this, there are players who have perfected their craft and who are expected to do well at each tournament. The career of eSports players may not last as long as the career of players in real life sports, so it is important to check which individuals performed consistently in the previous year or two years. In 2022, players such as TaySon, the Slovenian Fortnite star in 2020 and 2021, ShowMaker, the League of Legends Star, MMing, the Chinese PUBG killing machine, are all players making a mark in their respective eSports.
Try Out Different Bets
A lot of people will feel safer placing match winner bets because it is a straightforward type of bet that only requires the punter to predict which player or team will win a match. Whilst these are highly useful bets and can produce great winnings, they are by no means the only bets that are available. Each eSport has its own exclusive bets that may relate to certain rounds or periods of time in a game, certain in game statistics that do not relate to the final outcome of the game, or game props, that can relate to almost any aspect of the game. It is important to research all of the different types of bets that relate to a specific eSport as they may offer longer odds or help with developing a betting strategy.
By trying out some of the different bets, punters may find that they are better at predicting different criteria in a game. This can help bettors become more successful when placing their bets and allows them to try and vary their bets for each match so they can enjoy the games even more.
Game props for eSports are usually the more exotic types of bets, these can be bets that pay out in the first few seconds of a game, bets that come with incredibly long odds and generally bets that are thought provoking and can amplify the fun of watching a game. In first person shooters these can be bets such as first team to draw blood, most headshots, longest distance kill and so on.
Try Out Live Bets
Live betting in eSports works the same way as live betting in real life sports. These bets can be placed at any point during a game, with odds that are updated in real time. The odds will fluctuate, and depending on the speed of the eSports, whether the game is a slower, more drawn out game such as League of Legends and Dota, or a fast paced game such as Counter Strike, the odds will have the same dynamics when it changes. There are many ways to take advantage of live odds, some gamers may want to watch the first few minutes of a match to determine who they think has a better chance of winning, whilst others may pick out opportune moments in a game when the odds are longer on the player or team they want to back. The latter is a more risky strategy because the odds on teams or players will only become longer if the team or player looks like they will lose the match. That being said, some eSports are highly dynamic and players and teams can go ahead and behind in the matter of seconds.
Live betting is not only useful when it comes to placing a bet, but also when bettors want to cash out. This option can be used for bettors with losing bets to cut their losses, or bettors with winning bets to lock in a good portion of their winnings and avoid any last minute upsets.
Avoid Following the Crowd
There are teams and players who produce exceptional performances in competitions and therefore gain a lot of attention from the media and the eSports community. Whilst new contestants can be dangerous and potentially challenge those at the top, it is important not to follow the trend of betting on the most talked about players and teams. The best way for punters to know who is competing is to do their own research and when there are new contenders who hit the headlines, it can be useful to check them out, but as always, treat them with caution when betting. That being said, punters should not automatically rule out newcomers as they may become the next top players, so it is important to keep an objective opinion on them.
The best way to find out how good the new players or teams are is to watch footage of how they play and try to find out if they have any major weaknesses or not. As mentioned before, bettors should try to stick to games they know well, so they should be able to spot potential weaknesses and whether the players or teams just got lucky, or whether they are actually really good and strong contenders to win the competition or league.
One of the great things about eSports is that there is so much material online. It is possible to watch footage and learn about teams’ and players’ styles simply by watching videos of them playing. While you can never be sure that you will win a bet, video games fans have no shortage of resources to help them maximise their chances.