Understanding eSports betting: everything that beginners want to know

eSports are getting more and more integrated into our lives and routines and they are increasingly becoming popular ways of entertaining ourselves. Just like following traditional sports, getting passionate about their favorite teams, supporting their favorite players, and religiously watching every event concerning their loved sport, many people have now added one more genre to their list of ‘sports-must-do’. This is no other than eSports, which has been gaining widespread popularity in the past few years.

Alongside the growth of eSports participation and viewership, competitive video gaming betting has also increased tremendously lately. In fact, more and more punters are being fascinated by the world of eSports and the tremendous opportunities for wagering on different events.

If you have chosen to test your betting skills in eSports with some sportsbook Malaysia or if you have just decided to experiment with eSports betting, you need to learn some basics that will come in handy once you get ready to place your wager in any event or betting market.

First of all, it needs to be clear that eSports betting is not different from traditional sports betting in its process. Bettors perform the exact same tasks including staying up-to-date, developing their own predictions, line shopping for different odds among bookmakers and online betting sites, and eventually placing the desired bet. Of course, what changes much is how the choices are made and what factors are to be considered by punters when betting on competitive video gaming. But this is not what we are going to analyze here.

Since the process is pretty much the same, beginners need to understand the basics of eSports betting markets.

The most popular markets that you will find in betting sites and platforms include:

Moneyline: moneyline betting is simple and it is the most basic market available to punters by every sports betting platform in Malaysia, like iBet.  All you need is to pick which team will win a match. In eSports, for example, this can be picking a team that you think has a better chance to win a certain competitive video game rival and wagering on this team.

Moneyline bets are straightforward and the only thing that they require is you to make a prediction on the final outcome.

Totals: Just as in traditional sports, bettors can wager on the number of points or goals scored within a single game, in eSports punters can bet on totals. These totals are presented in the form of “over/under” and they can involve a number of things such as the total number of kills in a game, the total number of maps played, or the total number of points earned. The Totals market will vary depending on the different eSports or even on the bookmakers’ choices.

Outright: eSports has grown so much that there is a very big list of tournaments and leagues taking place all over the world within a calendar year. This means that punters have the chance to bet not only on which team is going to win a certain match but also on which team is going to win an entire tournament.

This is a long-term wager, where you are required to predict the end winner of an eSports event. It is very popular in competitive video gaming and it usually comes with very attractive odds, which imply greater profits if you manage to make an accurate guess or better yet, a sophisticated prediction!

Handicap betting: Another very popular market in eSports betting is handicap. Although many beginners feel that it is difficult and complex to understand, in their bottom line handicap bets are nothing else than moneyline bets with a positive or negative handicap.

When the line is considered to be uneven, and there is a strong favorite, then there are little incentives for bettors to choose this market. But bookmakers can level things up, and make a match more balanced by handicapping the favorite and the underdog. The underdog is given a positive handicap and the favorite a negative one. This means that a bet on the favorite requires the favorite to win by more points than the actual score.

Overall, eSports betting is fascinating and very entertaining, and for those of you who are now getting started with it, learning the basics and understanding the most important betting markets is paramount to help you succeed.