We have already discussed in a previous article of our blog series on the new rapidly climbing trend of Esports. A trend specifically appealing to all those who can appreciate real-time strategy games and first-person shoot them up’s. However, it is not the modality the reason that attracts so many people all over the world.
First of all, it gets the attention of all the teenagers who are no longer interested in traditional sports. Secondly, it attracts sponsors and money and therefore it offers higher prizes to the winners (and sometimes even greater recognition). Most of all, Esports can be a really global event. A football match might be watched by billions but it can only be played by 32 people on a specific location. At the same time, you can have 10,000 players from any place anywhere playing World of Warcraft. This is not possible with any traditional sport.
It stood to reason that bookmakers would become interested. Slowly at first, in full blow now. All the major Asian and European ones have begun processing markets to cover the needs. Just browse through the list of those bookies via agent that we offer to see what the situation is. The sport is still new so the list of available markets is relatively small but ever-growing.
At this time, we can have:
- Totals
That’s the most usual market now. Team or personal total numbers and statistics. How many deaths, how many rounds, how many levels, time constraints, etc… This is actually the category that determines the best players in each game and the best ones overall.
- Handicaps
The situation here is the same as in any other sports. There are teams that are much better than others. It would make no sense to bet on events where such teams compete without offering some sort of handicaps. And rather generous ones at that.
- Maps
And here comes the market that is unique for Esports. All those who have ever played games containing different map scenarios can relate to what this is about. It could very well be that a team may be better on one map, however, when a different scenario comes up, the same team does not do as well. This is another part of betting in this kind of event that can result in great profits.
- Proposition Bets
This is the equivalent of the special bets offered in traditional betting style. You can break down any event into sections and bet on the result of a single section. Or you can bet on the stats of one player from a team disregarding what the rest of them do. Actually, at this time the esports version of Over/Under is included in this category, with bets that can cover results over or below a certain limit on a predefined section of an event.
Game Types
Our run-down would be incomplete without referencing the different types of games that are up for this industry. Here is a list:
- MMORPG
The acronym stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Actually, this is the hardest type as it cannot involve preset teams. The same fact also makes it the most interesting one, as there is no way to tell which of the teams, formed just a few days before an event, is better than another. This is as close as can be to what bettors call a “total crapshoot”. Some of the most well-known games are included: World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy.
- FPS (First Person Shooters)
CS:GO, Rainbow Six: Siege, Crossfire, Overwatch, Valorant. All very popular games. Still new in the industry compared to the legends that started the trend.
- MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena)
Here come 2 of the grandfathers of esports. Games have actually been the reason that interest grew so rapidly. We are, of course, referring to the League of Legends and DOTA 2. Heroes of the Storm and Smite have recently been added.
- RTS (Real Time Strategy)
Who doesn’t know of the other 2 grandparents of online gaming? Well… If you have been spending time on another planet for the past 20 years or so, here we have Warcraft III and Starcraft II.
- Fighting Games
OK! Here comes the juicy part. It is actually the category that produced the idea of people playing against each other instead of against the computer. Or, to be more precise, against the good old electronic game consoles where you had to deposit coins to play and could only find them in amusement centers. The great grandparents no longer exist but their successors are quite popular: Street Fighter, Tekken, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Super Smash Bros
- Racing
If the fighting games are the great grandparents, racing games are the seed that planted the roots. Formula One official games, Forza Horizon 4, Gran Turismo Sport are just some of the titles involved here.
- Virtual Sports
Everything evolves. It was to be expected here as well. The next level of esports involves a digital version of traditional sports. It is the level that allows people that are actually not good in let’s say basketball, to become their own version of MJ. At this time, we have FIFA series, Madden, Pro Evolution Soccer, NBA 2K in the titles.
The level of acceptance
All of the games mentioned above, when it comes to organized events, can have regional, national, or international levels. That’s the first indication of how wide the acceptance has become. An even greater indication is the fact that the greater tournaments are streamed live online, while they can also be televised by local and satellite channels or even ESPN.
Perhaps the greater indication of it all is the numbers: 463 million in prizes of events that were watched by 220 million people. And those are the numbers for 2016. The top 10 of 2019 alone, gave out 211 million in prizes in over 4000 tournaments for an audience exceeding 450 million.
Esports for the bettors
The user interface of every bookmaker that offers odds on the industry has not changed anything. The process is exactly the same as in regular sports. Just pick the odd you want and place your bets. This is, of course, after you have taken the steps to open an account at the best betting software.