Both playing video games for financial reward and eSports betting are now massive money spinners. If you want to learn more about eSports betting in the UK then it’s time to put down your gamepad and read our definitive guide to eSports betting sites in the UK.
To partake in eSports Betting in the UK you are going to need an account at an online UK betting site where eSports betting is available. Below you’ll find ten of the best eSports betting sites for UK bettors.
So, you now have brief details about the best eSports betting sites in the UK, but wouldn’t be better if you knew a little more? Well, we thought of that and we are going to delve a little deeper into the best five eSports betting sites in the UK, according to our list.
You’ve seen our top ten and learnt a little more about our top five, but you may be wondering about how an eSports betting website in the UK has made it onto either list. In addition, you may be asking how we come up with the ranking order. Well, below are details of what we find to be the most crucial aspects when ranking eSports betting sites in the UK.
Here we have picked out six of the most popular games for eSports betting and added a tick or cross depending if that eSport is available at each of our top ten sites. Hopefully this will help you to decide which of our favourite eSports betting sites is ideal for you.
Bookie
CS:GO
Dota 2
LoL
Overwatch
Starcraft 2
Rainbow 6
BetGoodwin
LiveScoreBet
BetUK
Midnite
TebWin
MrMega
Betway
There is not actually much difference between eSports betting sites when compared to traditional bookies. Most sites that offer eSports betting also offer traditional sports betting too, but sites that specialise in eSports betting as opposed to those that include sports betting because they ‘think they have to’ will be more beneficial for you to bet at if you want to bet on Dota 2, LoL eSports betting or indulge in CS:GO wagering. There are some interesting differences though, and we’ve outlines some pros and cons below:
Even people with no interest in sport will have heard of the World Cup, the Super Bowl and the Wimbledon tennis championships, but how many non-gamers know the biggest eSports events that you can bet on? Even many dedicated gamers know very little of the leading events in the eSports calendar.
Here then is a quick rundown of the seasonal events that eSports betting fans get the most excited about.
League of Legends (or LoL for short) is the gaming world’s most popular MOBA in which two teams of five battle it out in tight arena to defeat their enemies, invade their base and destroy their ‘Nexus’. The annual League of Legends World Championship is organised by Riot Games, the creators of LoL and other top titles such as Valorant.
The LoL World Championship has been running since 2011, with the latest event in 2021 taking place in Reykjavik and being won by the Chinese competitive sports team Edward Gaming. LoL eSports betting at the ‘Worlds’ is extremely popular.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the number one FPS on PCs in the world and millions of dollars change hands each year on CSGO eSports betting. One of the first eSports, the initial CSGO major championships took place in Jonkopin in Sweden in 2013 and there has been some kind of CSGO tournament each year since.
Esports legends Astralis from Denmark hold the record for the most CSGO major championship titles with four, but the 2022 title in Antwerp, Belgium was won by FaZe Clan of the US, with Astralis being eliminated in tenth place of the preliminary stage.
Dota (Defense of the Ancients) fans may have laughed at our statement above that LoL is the world’s most popular MOBA, but while there’s no denying Dota (and Dota 2) is the world’s olderst battle arena game, LoL has overtaken it in popularity. Dota 2 still has its own world championship though, which is called ‘The International’. Dota 2 was created by Valve way back in 2013, and The International has been running since 2011 (for the original Dota game).
Twenty teams will compete in the 2022 version of The International in Singapore, with 2021 winners Team Spirit from Russia being allowed to compete after declaring they now represent the Commonwealth of Independent States.
When Fortnite burst onto the scene in 2017 it took the video game world by storm, and it seemed that every 12-year-old boy on the planet thought of nothing else. The unique loot, shoot and build game has fallen a little out of favour of late (genuine FPSs such as Rainbow Six and Valorant now rule the FPS scene), but Fortnite remains extremely popular.
The Fortnite World Cup first took place in 2019 when it was won by Bugha, a US 16-year-old named Kyle Giersdorf who took home the $3 million first place prize. Both the 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to COVID-19, but organisers Epic Games announced that a 2022 event would take place in Raleigh in North Carolina, USA.
Betting on eSports is not that much different to betting on traditional betting, but there are some extra dimensions of eSports betting that you need to be aware of. Here is a quick discussion about eSports betting.
The most common way of betting on eSports is betting on the winning team – you can ignore the ‘X’ in ‘1X2’ above for most eSports as draws are not possible in the majority of eSports betting events (only perhaps with FIFA eSports betting).
The other markets available for eSports betting depends on the eSports betting site you are using, as the best sites are those with markets far beyond simply selecting the winner. Some potential markets are listed below (not all markets apply to all eSports).
Spread betting is a way of betting in which you win more the better your prediction, but you lose more the worse your prediction. We take a more detailed look at eSports spread betting below.
You won’t find this on traditional betting sites, but skin betting is available on some sites. As opposed to using real money for your betting, with skin betting you use in-game currency to bet. You can then spend your money on character skins, weapon skins and other in-game purchase items.
Fantasy betting is not betting per se, but selecting eSports competitors to form your own made-up, fantasy team. You then compete against other fantasy team members to see whose fake team performs the best. Most of the time fantasy betting is done for kudos only, but some sites now offer fantasy betting competitions where you can win genuine cash prizes.
If you’ve never bet placed an eSports bet in your life you may be wondering just how you go about it. Don’t worry, as we are going to outline the process for you using one of our top picks – BetGoodwin in the UK.
Live betting on eSports is extremely popular as it’s more entertaining than betting on an eSports pre-event. Because most eSports events are streamed for free, it is very easy to follow an eSports match so that you can see the current state of play in a game. You can even stream eSports at a large number of the eSports betting sites on our list.
Once the event is running the odds will fluctuate all the time. Our tip here is to choose an eSports live betting site that has a large number of markets, so you get the best chance of finding something that you can easily bet on for the most chance of a profit. There are a lot of live eSports markets at the best sites, including handicap betting, map betting, correct score betting and over/under betting for several calculable elements.
Betting at an eSports betting exchange is different to betting at a fixed odds eSports betting site, but the principle remains the same. You back a side to win, or you back some element within a match. To outline the differences though, we are going to look at an example at the UK’s top eSports betting exchange, Betfair:
Here you can see all the odds offered by Betfair for forthcoming CSGO betting matches. You can see the odds offered for each side winning, but there are different numbers and in different colours (there are no odds for a tie as there commonly are no ties in CSGO), so what is eSports betting at an exchange what does it all mean?
First up, the odds are the most popular offered by other exchange users (odds are set by the users, not Betfair). The figure in blue are the odds of your winnings if you choose to back the bet. The figure in red is your liability if you choose to lay (i.e. bet against) the bet.
Therefore if we were to back MOUZ against Heroic for £1, we’d either win £2.36 or lose £1. However, if we were to lay MOUZ against Heroic for £1, we’d either win £2.52 or be liable for (i.e. lose) £1.52.
You often get better eSports betting odds at betting exchanges with the caveat that a small commission is charged on all your winnings, which is how a betting exchange makes money.
As we have already mentioned, you now rarely find specific eSports betting offers. We do regularly champion UK eSports betting offers at FairBettingSites, so keep checking back with us! Meanwhile, here are some general betting offers available at our favourite online betting sites in the UK.
50% of First Day Losses Back As a Free Bet Up To £25. New customer offer only. Must have a minimum of 3 bets of £10 at ods of evens (2.0) or bigger on first day. First day losses equals all settled stakes less all returns. Free bet deals must be used in their entirety and stakes are deducted from returns. If this promotion is withdrawn it will not impact any qualifying bet you have placed during promotional period. T&Cs apply.
Bet £10 and get £20 in Free Bets. New members only. £10 min deposit & bet on sportsbook, placed & settled at 1.5 min odds within 14 days of sign-up. Win part of E/W bets. 2 non-withdrawable £10 Free Bet Tokens: accept in 7 days, valid for 7 days from crediting (ex. E/Ws & Multiples), stakes not returned. T&Cs apply.
Bet £10, Get £30. Make your first deposit today. New players only – min. £10 qualifying bets. Min odds 1.50 Stake returned in free bets worth £30. Wager from real balance first. Wager calculated on bonus bets only. Valid for 7 days from issue. Withdrawal requests voids all active/pending bonuses. Full terms apply.5 Ultimate eSports Betting Tips
Want to get the most out of your eSports sports betting? Then here are five ultimate eSports betting tips, just for you!
You’ll better understand eSports betting by playing some of the leading games yourself, if you do not already. There are MOBAs such as Dota2, LoL or Kings of Glory, and dozens of FPSs such as CS:GO, Rainbow Six, Valorant, Fortnite, Overwatch and Apex Legends. The most popular sports games are FIFA (football) and NBA2k (basketball). The golden rule of UK eSports betting (as it is with any kind of betting) is to bet within your means. Never bet with money that you cannot afford to lose, or money that would be better spent elsewhere. If you struggle to stick to this rule, then seek help. To keep yourself perfectly safe only bet at the safest and fairest online eSports betting sites. Stick to the ones on our list, or make sure any eSports betting site you use has a UKGC licence if you are in the UK. Always bet with your head, and never with your heart. Before you place a bet, make sure you’ve looked at the latest news about the competitors, including any surprise roster changes. Even the smallest change can tip an event into one competitors’ favour. If you are new to eSports betting, then make sure you start with realistic ambitions, and stick to smaller stakes. That way, if you discover that you are the world’s least efficient eSports bettor you won’t have lost a huge amount of money finding this out!Get Game
Keep Within Your Means
Choose the Safest Sites
Perform Your Due Diligence
Start Small
Best eSports Betting Odds
Don’t forget that to get the most back from your UK eSports betting, you need to stick to sites that offer the best odds. Below are details of three sites that we think will give you consistently competitive odds when you are placing your eSports wagers:
Many people are predicting that eSports will eventually overtake non-eSports in terms of popularity, and while we can’t see that actually happening, we recognise that eSports and eSports betting have both now established a firm place in the world wide wagering world. CSGO betting and FIFA betting are now both big business, and that’s something that cannot be denied. We hope this guide has helped cement your knowledge about eSports betting in the UK.
Get your game head on and get setting those eSports bets at our recommended top eSports betting sites.
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