Which Bookmaker Is Best For Betting On eSports?
Yuriy SheremetAs time has passed, habits when it comes to betting and sport have changed. Whilst the likes of horse racing and football remain popular, the technological revolution has introduced competitive gaming, or eSports to the fold. As such, bookmakers internet-wide have started to introduce it as its own sport to bet on. Which one is best for all the eSports endeavors?
The Role of Streaming
Before going into detail, it’s important to note how bookies have arrived at this point. As time has passed, the importance of competitive gaming has grown, not least thanks to the increased prize pools and sponsorship opportunities. What’s more, the sudden increase in the number of teams, players, and also games have brought with it a whirlwind of interest. Esports used to be strictly limited to games such as DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with specific specialist teams for each. A few years ago, it was certainly hard to envisage the competitive scene extending into the mainstream. However, in part thanks to the increase in the visibility of competitive gaming due to services such as streaming on Twitch, the mere idea of eSports is starting to get noticed a fair bit more.
As a result of this increased visibility, it appears that bookmakers have started to view eSports as a valuable asset, not least thanks to its increasing monetization. As such, the act of betting on teams to win at tournaments, much in the same way as with football or rugby, is becoming more commonplace. The result of this is a market that is becoming widely populated with many different providers, even extending out to the rise of comparison sites. They are, of course, nothing new when it comes to the online side of betting or gambling - it is a testament to the popularity of these sites that separate comparison spaces are required to help consumers. Sites such as Winners offer rundowns on who the best bookmaker for eSports is, giving detailed information on each provider. For instance, they provide in-depth reviews for providers where each one is given several ratings on components such as customer service, bonuses and the number of different games and sports they cover.
Which Bookmakers Lead the Way?
Using Winners' rankings, it’s possible to determine who the best bookies are for eSports and also for specific games such as the aforementioned Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2. In third place comes William Hill, who score 10/10 on the Responsible Gaming side, with Winners stating that they’re one of the “benchmarks in the industry”. Second place goes to Stoke-on-Trent-based bet365 who score highly on Sport & Game Coverage, covering everything from futsal to golf, and for eSports, the likes of Hearthstone, PUBG and League Of Legends, among others. However, the first placed bookie according to Winners' listings is BetWay, who score 9/10 on practically every category including Customer Service and on Utility Features, which includes cash-out abilities and also the opportunity to view livestreams for the events you’ve bet on.
With such a wide range of providers out there, it seems that it’s a tough decision when picking the best bookmaker for eSports. Expect to see even more turn up in the future as the competitive side to gaming becomes more common and even more lucrative to such providers.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.