Fun Fact:
Pro gamer and esports player Ninja is from Detroit!
Esports popular facts
The term esports is short for electronic sports, and it refers to competitive video gaming.
The first esports tournament took place on October 19, 1972, when Stanford University held the Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics for the game, Spacewar, on the PDP-1 computer. The tournament had three categories: Free for all, Team Competition, and Single Competition. With Stanford students as participants, Bruce Baumgart went home with the Free For All championship title, and the top prize, a year’s subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.
Currently, more than 1.2 billion people are playing games worldwide, according to a state of the industry report by Spil Games.
Esports is so popular, Comcast is constructing a $50 million arena so fans can watch live!
Fusion Arena, first of its kind in the US, promises to be a game-changer in esports. Based in Philadelphia, the Fusion Arena will have space for 3,500 spectators of competitive gaming and other events. Construction is scheduled to complete by 2021.
Daigo “The Beast” Umehara owns two Guinness World Records, has five published books, and is the star of his own manga. Many people consider Daigo Umehara the G.O.A.T. of fighting games. His 25-year career includes six Evo titles and two Guinness World Records, one which he shares with Justin Wong for the “Most Viewed Fighting Videogame” for their Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike at Evo 2004 a.k.a Evo moment 37, and another for the “Most Consecutive Tournament Wins” which currently stands at 15.
E-Sports Betting
https://www.e-sportsbetting.org/
How to Bet on Esports
https://esportbet.com/how-to-bet/
10 Colleges with Esports Degree Programs
https://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/10-colleges-esports-degree-programs
Top 100 highest earning Esports players
https://www.esportsearnings.com/players
Almost any game where players compete can be an eSports game
Unlike the NFL or MLB where athletes play a single sport with set rules, eSports athletes compete in a variety of game types. MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games like League of Legends and Dota 2, and FPS (first-person shooter) games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Call of Duty, and Halo are some of the most popular games to play professionally.
Yet almost any game where players compete can become an eSports game. Strategy games like StarCraft II and Hearthstone are also gamer favorites.
Top 10 Esports Games of 2020 by Total Winnings
Major Esports Tournaments & Leagues
- The International Dota2 Championships
- ELEAGUE
- Capcom Pro Tour
- Call of Duty Championship
- eGames
- Evolution Championship Series
- Major League Gaming
- Intel Extreme Masters
- Battle.net World Championship Series
- Halo World Championships
- League of Legends World Championships
- World Electronic Sports Games
BASIC TYPES OF ESPORTS BETS
These are the main betting markets available in the majority of eSports video games at Internet and mobile sportsbooks.
- Draw: You are placing a bet on whether the outcome of the match results in a draw.
- Group of Winner: You are placing a bet on the group which contains the overall final winner of the entire tournament.
- Group Winner: You are placing a bet on the winning group of the specified tournament (if teams are organised in groups).
- Handicap bet: When a sportsbook places a set margin (called the line) which gives an unfavourable team a small advantage (usually in the form of rounds) and effectively places the game on equal footing. It is only available when there are only two possible outcomes (two teams). You are placing a bet on whether the team with the handicap advantage or disadvantage wins. Example: You place a bet on Team A, which has a 3 round advantage against Team B. The final score is 8 – 10, but with the 3 round handicap, Team A wins with the revised score of 11 – 10, which means your wager is paid out.
- Outright Winner: You are placing a futures bet on the which team you think will be the overall winner of the tournament in question.
- Over/Under: You are placing a bet on the number a sportsbook predicts for a particular statistic in a given game (most often combined score of the two teams, also factors such as total kills and first to markets); whether the actual number in the game is either higher or lower than the bookmaker/sportbook’s odds.
- Region Winner: You are placing a bet on the specific region the winner is from, if the tournament separates them by region.
- Total Rounds: You are placing a bet on whether the overall match will go over or under a certain number of rounds.
SPECIAL TYPES OF ESPORTS BETS
These are more exotic types of betting markets available in multiple eSports video games at online and mobile sportsbooks.
- First Blood: You are placing a bet on the team who scores the first kill of the match (Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends).
- Knife Round: You are placing a bet on the team who scores the first kill of the Pistol round (Counter Strike: Global Offensive).
- Knife Round/Pistol Round: You are placing a bet on the team who scores the first kill of the Knife Round, when available (Counter Strike: Global Offensive).
- Map Winner: You are placing a bet on the team who wins the specified map (Counter Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, League of Legends).
Esports Betting for Beginners
There are several different ways to bet on esports. Here’s a list of the most popular options.
- Real money betting
- Skin betting
- Social betting
- Fantasy betting
- Challenge betting
Now here’s a brief overview of each of these options.
Real money betting
This is the form of esports betting that’s closest to traditional sports betting, which works in largely the same way as betting on football games, boxing matches or golf tournaments. We place real money wagers at agreed odds, and get paid out if our selections are correct. We can bet on all kinds of different outcomes, including the winners of individual matches and the overall winners of tournaments.
Here’s a screenshot showing some of the betting markets available for an upcoming match in a League of Legends tournament.
Skin betting
Skin betting, also known as item betting, is VERY popular among esports fans. A lot of modern video games feature virtual currencies and other items that can be transferred between players, and this property is often highly sought after among committed gamers. As a result, there are many auction and trade websites where players can buy, sell and swap items and currencies for several of the most popular video games.
There are also betting sites where players can use items and currencies to gamble with. They can use them to bet on the outcome of esports contests as a replacement for real money, and they can use them for other forms of gambling, too. For example, there are sites where items can be used to play games of chance such as roulette, or even a simple coin flip.
Social betting
Social betting is quite common in the esports community where friends or online contacts place informal wagers on the outcome of events between themselves. These wagers CAN be for real money, but they’re usually for skins or other items. The terms are agreed on between the two parties, and then settled accordingly.
This is not a form of betting we recommend getting involved with, since betting with “real world” friends is rarely a good idea, as it can lead to petty arguments and falling out. And betting with people that you only know online is risky, as you can’t be sure you’ll get your winnings.
Fantasy betting
This is not technically betting at all, since it’s just like daily fantasy sports for traditional sports, but we build our rosters using esports players instead.
Not familiar with daily fantasy sports? Don’t worry, you don’t need to be. Just read the following article and everything will become clear.
Challenge betting
Also known as head-to-head betting, this is where gamers compete against each other for real money or items and skins. A lot of gamers simply organize wagers among themselves, and then settle up once their contest is over. There are also websites that organize things a little more formally where the players and/or teams pay entry fees to enter a contest, and the winner(s) are rewarded from the proceeds of those fees.
These different options are all worth exploring, although some might be more suitable for you than others. There’s not much point getting involved with challenge betting, for example, if you’re not much of a gamer yourself.
For most people, it’s real money esports betting that represents the best chance of making regular and consistent profits. We’ve made it the main focus of this guide for that exact reason. The tips and strategy advice we offer in the next section all apply primarily to this form of esports betting.
