Bruce Dias 
The eSports industry has grown exponentially over the years, with millions of fans coming together to cheer their favorite teams. You can feel the excitement from each match as you would in a game of football. This thrill and fame of eSports has also carried itself over to the sport betting industry.
To give you a better idea about the eSports betting landscape, we’ll look at some of the most popular video games in the world that are played competitively. We’ll go over different genres to make sure we’re not missing out on anything.
League of Legends
League of Legends (LoL) is one of the biggest eSports games in the world right now. It’s a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Riot Games. The game features a huge player and fan base. In this game, teams of five go head to head against the other team in an effort to attack the enemy base and destroy their Nexus.
LoL has a thriving eSports ecosystem with events like the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and the League of Legends European Championship (LEC). The best-performing team from these leagues ultimately goes on to compete in the “Worlds,” which is the biggest tournament of the year.
Some of the best teams in the game include T1, Fnatic, and G2 Esports. These teams have given birth to some amazing talents like Faker, Uzi, and Caps. The skill and achievements of these players have cemented them in the pages of history.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO)
In the gaming world, one of the most legendary games is the Counter-Strike series. Beginning with CS Source and CS 1.6, CS: GO was made to be the upgraded version of Valve’s popular tactical shooter. And over the years, it has grown massively.
The game’s competitive scene revolves around tournaments such as the ESL Pro League, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM), and the Major Championships. These events have also put the spotlight on some of the best teams in the world, like Astralis, Natus Vincere (Na’Vi), and Team Liquid.
Some star players have also come out of the scene and are now regarded as legends. We’re referring to players like s1mple, ZywOo, and dev1ce. You can compare each of their plays to works of art.
Dota 2
Here we have another game from Valve Corporation that’s a contender with LoL. Just like League of Legends, Dota 2 is also a MOBA game. With the main objective being the same, this game features slightly different mechanics and gameplay. It’s also regarded as one of the best games for eSports betting.
Dota’s competitive scene has several events like the Dota 2 Majors and DPC. Professional teams play all year round to score points and try to secure a spot in the grandest tournament in the world, the International. It’s the eSports event that featured the highest prize pool for a single event at $40 million dollars.
The legendary achievements and plays from teams like OG, Team Secret, and Evil Geniuses draw punters from all around the world for sports betting on this game. OG made history when they became the only team ever to win two back-to-back TI championships. This monumental achievement made the game even more popular among bettors for placing bets.
Popular Sports Betting Markets
Now that we know about eSports let’s move on to talking about the betting markets that see the most engagement.
Match Winner
Just as the name suggests, you choose the winning team in this betting market. This is a common market that you can find in every eSports out there.
Map Winner
This is a market that’s exclusive to tactical shooters like CS: GO or Rainbox Six Siege. As the games are played in BO format, the plays are on different maps. The map winner market deals with you having to predict which teams secured the victory on the map.
Player Statistics
We’ve all heard of prop bets in sports betting. But eSports takes this to a whole new level. A player’s in-game stats is also a popular betting market in several games.
For example, in games like Dota 2 and LoL, the player’s Creep Score is a common betting market that you can find on most sports betting sites.
Wrapping Up
The eSports scene saw a surge in popularity only a few years back, and it’s steadily growing even today. If things keep progressing like they are now, it won’t take long for eSports to become a part of the same conversation as traditional sports like football and basketball.
