How to Leverage Traditional Sports Betting Strategies for the Esports Market

Esports has experienced rapid growth in recent years, offering thrilling opportunities for betting on competitive video gaming. Bookmakers have responded by expanding their markets in this genre, which has helped to fuel the continued success of Esports. 

Thanks to live streams of organised multiplayer competitions, Esports has continued to reach bigger and bigger audiences. This has led to an even greater demand for additional betting markets.

So the two elements have come together nicely and now betting on Esports is as common as placing football and tennis wagers on the Paddy Power app Ireland. But is there a place where traditional sports betting strategies can be applied to the world of Esports betting? 

What Types of Esports Betting are Available?

There are different types of Esports wagers. You can look at Premier League football matches and generally find more than 100 bet options. That kind of variety is not in place for Esports right now. It is far more limited. 

But when Esports betting started gaining some traction, the only options were to bet on match winners and tournament winners. Now there are more varied Esports betting markets like handicaps and Map Winner options.

What are Some Popular Esports Games to Bet on?

While there are many video games, leagues and tournaments across the world, there are some prominent areas of Esports betting. The most common games that you will find for wagering opportunities are League of Legends (LoL), Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. Other features like Rocket League and sports titles like FIFA and NBA can also be found, but the market coverage generally is not as strong. 

Traditional Sports Betting Strategy

There is no inherent difference between betting on a Wimbledon tennis match or an Esports CS: GO Match. The punter makes a selection and enters the stake to place the bet. The most popular way to bet on either would be the match-winning market.

In tennis bets however, punters will have better access to statistics that will help guide their wagers. The stars of the game will be more familiar as well from media coverage, helping to know the certain characters of the game.

Esports in contrast is more niche in that regard. You would have to know teams and individual players and need to go on a deeper dive for picking out a preference in an Esports betting market.

The Need for Strategy

Any type of sports betting should be done with a strategy. There needs to be a sound reason as to why a particular selection is made. So you need an Esports betting strategy as much as you do for Premiership Rugby.

In-play Strategy 

With the rise of in-play Esports markets, punters can maximise hedging opportunities through in-play strategies. If you have placed a pre-match wager on a team to win a match, but then they look to be on the way to losing the first Map, you could potentially try and mitigate some loss by taking an in-play option on the other team winning. The odds have to line up to make this viable.

Esports Matched Betting Strategy

There should be Esports betting strategies that come up through matched betting offers. Collect a welcome bonus offer from a betting site and use the qualifying stake for it to bet on an Esports outcome.

Then with a real money stake at a different bookmaker, cover the other market option. If the first bet loses, it will likely be rewarded with a free bet bonus to the value of the lost stake, while you would collect the winning second bet.

If the first bet is won you collect the winnings which should cover the lost stake from the second bet if the books have been balanced right.

In Summary

With handicap and Over/Under options and more creeping into the world of Esports betting, the ability to formulate better strategies is going to strengthen. There are still common practices you should be doing on all types of sports wagering.

That’s managing the bankroll, looking for value in odds, balancing your bankroll and searching for any kind of statistical insights that can give you an edge. Find your own way, and look for the markets that suit your style of wagering, whether that’s picking a pre-tournament winner, or waiting for a middle point in a live game to strike a bet.