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| Current Betting On
Esports |
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Traditional sports punters may
scratch their heads when they see odds being offered on digital games but they
should be under no illusion that there is serious money changing hands on
competitions that millions of people participate in and many more millions
watch online. But betting on what are essentially games is nothing new for its
a phenomenon that has been around for thousands of years, the game of
backgammon is pointless without money wagered on the outcome and it and its
predecessors have been with us since before the Romans came.
All the
major bookmakers and exchanges offer markets on the big league events happening
multiple times every day and across all time zones. They are tapping into a
population of people that they have never targeted before, young gamers and
their friends who would never have previously thought about betting on anything
but who now have knowledge that they see they use to turn into money by
wagering on games that they love. Once signed up to a betting site they are
exposed to all types of sports betting and together they form a huge population
of punters that gambling operators see as their future income.
However
just because the demography of eSports is predominantly young it doesn't mean
they should behave differently when betting, in fact they can learn from the
experienced sports bettor and use sign up Bonus comparison sites
to find the best deals around when setting out on their eSports betting
journey.
What eSports Can
You Bet On?
Esports betting is dominated by the big three, DotA 2
(Defense of the Ancients), CS:GO (Counter Strike : Global Offensive) and LOL
(League Of Legends). They are all team based games and as such require
considerable team management to turn a group of mostly teenagers into an
effective competitive force. Many are full time professional and the best earn
6 and 7 figure sums each year.
The uninitiated will find it difficult to
work out what is going on is these multiplayer team battles but there are
countless videos available online, for example explaining League of Legends in
simple terms in just a couple of minutes.
There are many other titles
that attract big followings like Honor of Kings (also known as King Of Glory),
Fortnite and FIFA where individuals can compete on their own and the prize
pools are substantial. Betting on these only occurs during big tournaments
staged at indoor stadiums and so is not as common as the big three which
operate remotely most of the year and have ongoing league matches
everyday.
Is eSports
betting safe?
It is as safe as any
other sport that you can bet on. Its all about salary compared
to how much money is being bet on the outcome of an individual match or
tournament outcome. All the same tricks of the trade apply to eSports players
as with say, tennis. Bribes to throw a match, straight forward threats to alter
the play and even sophisticated software to cheat are things that can occur.
Some countries take this very seriously, like South Korea, where eSports is a
national endeavour and to protect their industry have put known
eSports cheats in jail.
Collusion between players and
gamblers to make money is nothing new but in eSports its more serious because
many of the players are under the age of 18 and this takes the crime into a
different league of penalties. In general though there is strong integrity in
the sport because there is so much to gain from a clean bill of health and the
main way of cheating is to hurt your own profile by losing on purpose.
How can you watch
eSports?
The oldest eSports streaming platform is Twitch, a
company set up to cash in on the global appeal of these sports and the obvious
difficulty in other people becoming spectators. It is now the property of
Amazon and is available in a Prime package. New players have entered the market
and are the biggest names around. Facebook now have a dedicated gaming site and
is gaining ground in terms of market share. Mixer is the offering from
Microsoft and has multiple languages and every eSport that has any sort of
following is available on this site to watch.
Sports channels are
getting in on the act and have been surprised by their audience figures
especially things like eNascar. Sky Sports and Fox sports show live gaming
events on their subscription channels.
Conclusion
eSports is here to stay and will get
bigger for many years to come. The ability for anyone to participate from any
part of the world means some of the big titles will rival the biggest of the
traditional sports in popularity and a new breed of sports star will be born.
Only much younger. |
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