eSports betting guides
Are you interested of putting your eSports knowledge to use? Then maybe, maybe eSports betting is something for you.
Chances are that all that knowledge of yours, that you have gathered by playing and watching the games for hundreds and hundreds of hours are worth something in the betting world. With that said it is not easy to beat the bookmakers. This is especially true if we think of every eSport game that has a betting market. However, in betting you only must bet when you think you have an edge. And that could be 100 matches a month or more probable, a few matches per month.
Professional eSports betting
Betting on eSports professionally is not as easy as it sounds though. There are a lot of stuff you must learn / know to become a successful bettor. Foremost, you must understand the sports betting market and how odds & probability work. Secondly you must find odds that are attractive enough (that means odds that give a higher return than the probability of the event) to place your bet on.
Estimating this is hard. It’s not black and white as stuff is hard to estimate and settings change which means you will be wrong a lot of the times, unlucky other times, right sometimes and lucky some of the times.
But if you have patience and great game knowledge in combination with being well updated on the eSports scene, you have a chance to make it work, long-term. But without putting in a lot of effort and hours to keep updated on the current meta-game, the different players and teams’ strengths, weaknesses and day-form I would say the chances are slim.
In addition to all this technical knowledge you also must pick the right eSports betting site for you. Most of the betting companies give out bonuses to new players and they differ a lot in what odds they put out. It is important that their odds are good (that they don’t take out a large fee by putting out low odds) and that they cover the eSports and events that you feel knowledgeable about. eSportbetting.eu is a great resource for this. The site also provides tools like a odds-calculator and a tracker to help you achieve better results.
Understanding the Odds & Probability
In addition to this you must gain a deep understanding of probability. I mean, look at the following example:
Player | Odds | ||
Nerchio (Zerg) | 1,18 | ||
vs | |||
Clem (Terran) | 4,24 |
If you bet $10 on Clem to win you will get paid $42,4 (that means a $32,4 profit). This means that for this bet to have a positive value Clem must win one of each four games played. If he does, you make $2,4 (or 24% ROI, return on investment or bet) for each four bets placed.
Outcome | Profict calculation | ||
When Clem (Terran) wins | 1 * 32,4 = $32,4 profit | ||
When Nerchio (Zerg) wins | 3 * -10 = -$30 loss |
Will he win that often?
To estimate this, you have to look at how many maps are played, and especially what maps. Say the game is a BO3 with two Zerg favourable maps and we already know that Nerchio is a lot better now. Then he probably won’t, but what about if it’s the other way around? It’s a best of one and it’s a Terran favoured map? Then 4,24 is probably a very good odds to place your bet on!
Don’t limit yourself to one game
Finding good odds (or rather, misspriced ones that can lead to profit) are hard, so if you have a good understanding & knowledge of other eSports, don’t limit yourself to one game! Most eSport bookmakers have odds for several games, ranging from the old Starcraft: Brood Ward to newer games like PUBG and of course CS:GO.
If you just continue to watch what odds they put out there will be opportunities where the odds are so much off that a bet on one of the sides of the line will give you a good chance to win, and find that ROI that you are looking for!