Esports Betting Markets 2024

The rise of the esports scene has led to bookmakers expanding their array of esports betting markets across the board. With new titles such as VALORANT emerging, and old games such as Counter-Strike going strong, variety has never been bigger when it comes to esports betting. 

While nowadays many bookmakers offer esports as a category, only the best esports betting sites offer a wide range of betting markets, so make sure to look out for that if esports is your area of expertise. 

We have a closer look at betting markets that exist in esports betting. 

Types of Esports Betting Markets

Basic Match Bets

These bets are the bread and butter of sports and esports betting.
•    Match Winner
o    The simplest bet you can make. Who will emerge as the overall winner of a match.
•    Map Winner
o    Where matches are played in typically best-of-three or best-of-five formats, you can place bets who will win on a certain map.
•    Exact Match Score
o    Bet exactly what the final match score will be. This is usually done in map scores. For example: 2-1 or 3-2. 
•    Over/Unders 
o    Guess if an event will be over an amount or under an amount. These are usually kills, maps, rounds, or length of a match. 

Outright Bets

Outrights, also known as futures, are bets that predict the outcome of a tournament. These include the winning team or player, or the best player in a category, such as one with the most kills. 
If you believe a team has a very high chance of winning an event, consider placing a bet on them winning before the event starts. That way, you will receive the best odds.

Prop Bets

Due to the nature of video games and the various events and possibilities, prop bets are very popular in esports betting. However, these are highly dependent on the video game. Here are some examples primarily from FPS shooters like VALORANT and Counter-Strike, and MOBAs like League of Legends and Dota 2. Please note that there are a ton more prop bets that relate to other esports. 

Best Betting Markets for Beginners

There are markets we recommend more for beginners as they are more straightforward and don’t require a deeper understanding of how they work. These also will require minimal knowledge and statistical understanding. They are:

•    Match Winner
•    Map Winner
•    Over/Under 

We recommend starting with the three above. Prop bets, while can be simple, require statistical understanding of how frequently those occur so we discourage them initially.

Tips for Beginners

Make sure to follow those tips if you are new to esports betting.

Select only titles you watch or play

Never bet on any game or market you don’t understand. This is crucial for both beginners and long-time bettors. 
Your knowledge of a title or esports scene comes in handy so make sure to start out with a video game you are most familiar with. If you have 1000+ hours sunk into Counter-Strike and follow the scene, this is the perfect starting point. 

Begin with a small bankroll

Learn the ropes of how everything works before you start betting more. At first, bet minimal amounts of money. It may seem silly, but starting small will go a long way if you decide to increase your bankroll. 

Sign up only at reputable bookmakers

Never be tempted by too-good-to-be-true welcome offers at shady betting sites. Always make sure you check for licensing (usually at the bottom of the page) and the use of the latest SSL encryption provided on the site.