Esports Betting Sites - 2023

The electronic sports, or simply ‘esports’ industry is among the fasting growing in the world of sport. Each esports event sees the very best professional gamers pitted against one another, competing on multiplayer video games such as Overwatch, Starcraft 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Much like any other sport, fans flock to the bookies looking to put their esports knowledge to the test, spice up their viewing experience and of course, land a profit! Not sure where to start when it comes to betting on esports? Let us take you through everything you need to know before you head to the bookies!

What is Esports Betting?

Compared to traditional markets like horse racing or football, esports betting is relatively new in the history of online gambling. But what actually is it?

Essentially, any video game played competitively can be considered an ‘esport’. The world of video games is practically limitless  – it includes sports series like FIFA and NBA 2K, the gritty realism of a first-person shooter like CS:GO, and a nail-biting 1v1 clash between two alien races in StarCraft II. 

And with many unique aspects characterising each esport, there’s always something fresh to bet on. Want to keep it simple? Stick with the usual tried and tested markets — such as match winner or final score — at the best esports betting sites. But if you want to delve deeper, you’ll also find wagers on the individual minutiae of the specific esport you’re betting on. 

With most esports betting sites streaming matches as they happen, many punters like to get involved with live betting and early cash-out. The fast-paced nature of esports means there are some thrilling opportunities to get in a quick wager in response to the action. And with a jam-packed calendar covering all manner of esports genres, there’s no shortage of choice!

Quick Guide to Esports Betting

While esports has only found itself in the mainstream relatively recently, its history actually dates all the way back to the 1970s. Early tournaments were held for games like Spacewar and Snake, and the high score functionality of 1978’s Space Invaders and Asteroids the following year laid the groundwork for serious competitive gaming. The Atari-run Space Invaders Championship in 1980 marked the first major esports tournament, with over 10,000 players competing.

However, it wasn’t until the ‘90s when true player-vs-player competition took the spotlight,  brought about by the release of fighting games like Street Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom. The genre led to the founding of the Evolution Championship Series, now known as Evo, which is held annually and open to all. Come the turn of the millennium, increased internet connectivity helped competitive gaming continue to grow, with tournaments established for games like Doom, Quake, Counter-Strike, and StarCraft.

From here, the profile of esports began to rise exponentially. MOBA games like League of Legends drew new players and spectators, and the launch of Twitch allowed gamers to stream their matches live to millions around the world. By 2020, Twitch boasted 15 million daily active users. And as online esports has grown, so too have the prize pools — in under 10 years Dota 2’s top-level tournament, The International, grew from a $1.6 million prize pool to over $40 million.

Today, there’s a wealth of different games to follow in the esports scene. Battle royales like PUBG and Fortnite remain incredibly popular, as do more tactical shooters like CS:GO and Rainbow Six. There’s even a strong following for competitive mobile gaming, including titles like Honor of Kings and Clash of Clans. 

As the gaming landscape continues to evolve and new talent enters the scene, the future of esports is incredibly bright. So if you’re looking to get started with esports betting, there’s never been a better time!

Major Esports to Bet On

From fierce FPS firefights that test the reflexes to the tactical slow burn of real-time strategy, esports is one of the most diverse betting markets around. Whatever your preferred genre of video game, there’s something for everyone at the best esports betting sites — let’s take a look at some of the biggest titles in the competitive gaming sphere.  

League of Legends

Inspired by the Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients, League of Legends was released by Riot Games in 2009 and helped push the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre into the mainstream. Each match of LoL pits two teams of five against each other on a square map divided diagonally. For a team to win, it must push into the enemy’s base and destroy a large structure called the Nexus. There’s a large degree of strategy involved, with players picking a ‘champion’ with unique abilities to aid them in their objective.

League of Legends has a thriving competitive scene, with 12 regional leagues that culminate in the League of Legends World Championship. 

Dota 2

Dota 2 is a standalone sequel to the original Defense of the Ancients mod. Valve released the title for free via the Steam platform in 2013, four years after the popular Dota-inspired League of Legends. The two games have a lot in common, with each Dota 2 match staging an epic 5-vs-5 clash where one team must destroy the other’s Ancient in order to win.

The International marks the top level of competition for Dota 2. As the prize pool is crowdfunded by the game’s battle pass, there’s some serious money at stake. The International 10, held in 2021, holds the record for largest esports prize pool at over $40 million.

Rainbow Six

The Rainbow Six games series has remained popular among shooter fans, and R6 Siege has fostered a devoted following. Based on Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six novels, the game pits two teams, attackers and defenders, against each other. The competitive format of the game uses the Bomb game mode, where one team must defuse two bombs while the other team tries to prevent them from doing so. What makes this esport so thrilling is the range of unique ‘Operators’ players can choose from, supporting their team with different abilities and weaponry.

The most prestigious Rainbow Six Siege tournament is the Six Invitational — and you’re bound to find it at the best esports betting sites. 

StarCraft 2

Released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2010, StarCraft 2 is the follow-up to the massively popular original from 1998. A real-time strategy game with a sci-fi theme, each competitive StarCraft 2 match is a tense one-on-one showdown where each player builds up an army to obliterate their opponent. 

The game is enormously popular in South Korea, where there are many regional leagues to bet on. On the global stage, Blizzard has partnered with ESL and DreamHack since 2020 to deliver the ESL Pro Tour — essentially the World Cup of StarCraft 2.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

CS:GO is one of the most popular esports to bet on, thanks to a rich competitive scene dating back over 20 years to the very first instalment of the series. In Global Offensive, the Counter-Terrorists face off against the Terrorists, who must plant a bomb at one of two sites. If the bomb detonates, the Ts win, while CTs can win by defusing it. Either team can also win by eliminating all enemy players. 

S-Tier tournaments like Intel Extreme Masters and the ESL Pro League are some of the most esteemed CS:GO contests, along with Valve-sponsored tournaments like the PGL and BLAST.tv majors. You’ll find these and more at the best esports betting sites.

Valorant

One of the newest games to be played competitively is Valorant, released by Riot Games in 2020. A shooter heavily inspired by CS:GO, Valorant also draws from Riot’s own League of Legends, allowing players to choose from a range of ‘agents’ with different roles and abilities. 

Valorant’s esports scene is less developed than other games, and so you’re less likely to find it at every esports betting site. The main event in the calendar is the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT), which is split into Challengers (regional qualifiers), Masters (international contests), and finally the Champions world championship.

FIFA

Football is the world’s favourite game, so it stands to reason this popularity extends to the realm of esports too. FIFA has long been the king of football video games, although the most recent instalment — FIFA 23 — is the last to be released under the FIFA banner as the International Federation of Association Football and developer EA Sports go their separate ways. 

The FIFA pro scene has seen many exciting tournaments take place throughout the years. Many regional qualifiers occur across the competitive season, along with headline events like the FIFAe Nations Cup and FIFAe World Cup, culminating in the most prestigious event — the FIFAe Finals. And while most of the focus is on 1v1 match-ups, the FIFAe Club World Cup determines the world champion in the 2v2 arena. 

With the FIFA banner set to be superseded by the shiny new EA Sports FC series, we’re excited to see how the football esports scene develops.

Call of Duty

Call of Duty is one of the most enduring series of games — and also one of the best-selling — of all time. A first-person shooter, the first title was released in 2003. Since then, the main series has grown to 19 instalments. The most recent is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 released in October 2022, a sequel to the Modern Warfare 2019 reboot. 

The CoD esports scene is a little complicated due to the number of games in the franchise. The highest level of competitive CoD includes Call of Duty League, a series of tournaments sponsored by Activision, the publisher of the series. The regular season is usually played on the current release — in this instance, Modern Warfare 2. But you’ll also find contests for other games in the series, including Call of Duty: Warzone, a battle royale akin to Apex and Fortnite, and Call of Duty: Mobile for phones and tablets. 

The Biggest Esports Events in 2023

With such a diverse collection of games being played competitively, the 2023 esports calendar is jam-packed with events. From smaller regional tournaments to hotly contested world championships, there’s no shortage of options to bet on. Let’s take a look at some of this year’s upcoming esports events to stick in the diary.

IEM Katowice

Kicking off the action is IEM Katowice, a CS:GO Major set to take place from 31 January to 12 February. FaZe Clan took last year’s title, but we’re likely to see the likes of G2, Vitality, NaVi, and Team Liquid also vying for the win this year.

Six Invitational 2023

Ubisoft’s annual Rainbow Six Siege tournament returns in 2023, bringing together 20 of the best teams from around the world. The contest runs from 7 February to 19 February and takes place in Montreal, where Ubisoft is based.

VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo

Bringing together 30 teams from regional leagues in an epic clash in São Paulo, LOCK//IN is set to be Valorant’s biggest tournament so far. It’ll run from 13 February to 4 March. As to potential winners, it’s hard to say. There’s been substantial roster turnover in the offseason, so we’re bound to see a few exciting twists and upsets!

RLCS Winter Major

The second global event in the 2022–23 Rocket League season will take place in San Diego, USA from 6–9 April. Gen.G are defending champions — they’re likely to make an appearance along with other North American teams such as G2, Spacestation Gaming and FaZe. From across the pond, you can expect to see Liquid, BDS, and Oxygen in the mix.

League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational

Running 2–21 May, the LoL Mid-Season Invitational returns to Europe for the first time since 2018 and will see 13 teams contend for the spot currently held by defending champions Royal Never Give Up.

Blast.tv Paris Major

With a $1.25 million prize pool, this CS:GO Major will certainly be one to watch. Team Vitality are expected to perform well in front of their home crowd, but number one is anyone’s for the taking. If you’re planning to bet on this event, it’ll be easier to pick favourites once the winner of IEM Katowice is crowned.

Valorant Masters 2023

The Valorant Masters tournament brings together the top teams from the International leagues, along with an extra from whichever region wins LOCK//IN. The 2023 Masters will take place in Tokyo in June, with dates yet to be decided. The best teams qualify directly for the Champions.

RLCS Spring Major

The Rocket League Championship Series Spring Major will run from 6–9 July. The location is to be decided, but it’s likely to take place in Europe as the Winter Major will be held state-side.

IEM Cologne

Sometimes called the ‘Cathedral of CS:GO’, IEM Cologne is a highly prestigious tournament. The 2023 edition runs from 25 July to 6 August. Winners of the Paris Major and IEM Katowice automatically qualify, along with the top teams in the ESL World Rankings.

RLCS World Championship

With the 2022 World Championship held in America, many are expecting Psyonix to host the 2023 tournament in Europe. Team BDS are defending champions, but they could be dethroned come 4 August.

League of Legends World Championship

The World Championship, commonly known simply as Worlds, set record viewer levels on Twitch in 2022. While dates are yet to be decided for the 2023 instalment, it’s likely to be around October–November and will take place in South Korea. Riot Games has tweaked the tournament format this year, with a double elimination play-in stage and a Swiss-style stage preceding the knockouts.

Esports Betting Markets

As every major tournament passes, the hype train surrounding esports only picks up speed. The prize pools become more lucrative and the view counts continue to grow at an astronomical rate. It should come as no surprise then, that a huge number of esports punters speculate on the outcomes of esports games, much like fans of football and horse racing.

Of course, any esports bettors wants to see the returns of their successful predictions. In search of potential profit, punters head to the top online betting sites, looking for wagers that return great value. The betting markets on offer vary depending on the game of your choice, however, there are a number of common options that you’ll find when betting on just about any esports game. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular esports betting markets.

• Outright betting – The outright betting markets of any sport simply allow you to place wagers on the outcome of a particular event. An example of an outright esports bet would be backing the winner of the League of Legends World Championship.
• Match result – Often referred to as the ‘money line’, placing this wager simply means betting on the outcome of a match. Here, you’ll almost always be required to choose between two individuals or teams.
• Handicap – In esports matches between two teams or individual gamers, you’ll usually find that there’s a bookmakers favourite. In other words, one side is deemed as most likely to win. In these instances, you might struggle to find good betting value. To level the playing field and attract bettors, esports betting sites place a negative handicap on the favourites and a positive handicap on the underdog.
• Totals – Commonly known as the over/under, these markets allow punters to bet on the number of specific events –such as kills or map rounds– being over or under a predetermined figure set by esports bookmakers.
• Map winner – In certain esports tournaments, each round involves multiple individual matches or ‘maps’. For example, each round in the Champions stage of the CS:GO IEM Major is best of three. In this case, you can bet on a team to win a particular map — you might bet on Team A to win on Dust 2 and Inferno, and Team B to win on Nuke; 
• First blood – This is a prop bet on which team or player will draw the first kill. It’s a popular market in many esports including shooters and MOBAs;
• Objective completion – Most esports have an objective that must be completed in order for a certain team to win. Take CS:GO for example. The Terrorists can win by planting and detonating the bomb, or by eliminating all the CTs. However, an objective completion bet will only succeed if they win by bomb detonation. This market can have different names depending on the esport you’re betting on;
• Most kills – As simple as it sounds, this is a bet on a particular player to get the most kills in a particular match;
• Time – This is an over/under bet on the match duration. You won’t find it available for all esports, but League of Legends is popular for this market as matches can last anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour.

Live Esports Betting

Early esports bettors were limited to pre-match betting markets, but today you can expect to find a wide range of live markets available at the best esports betting sites.
Say you’re betting live on League of Legends at Betway, for example. The bookmaker will let you wager on which team will destroy the next tower or slay the next dragon. Once that match is done, you might then switch over to DOTA 2 and bet in-play on which team will be the first to reach 5, 10, 15, or 20 kills.

Savvy punters often turn to live betting when looking for more favourable betting opportunities, depending on how a game is unfolding. It’s a good choice for esports buffs who know the games and teams well, and can feel comfortable making quick calls as the action unfolds.

Bet on Esports Action on the Go

Betting on the likes of CS:GO, Call of Duty, and Dota 2 doesn’t mean you have to be glued to your desktop computer. These days, virtually every bookmaker has a mobile-friendly website you can access through the web browser on your phone or tablet. You don’t need to install any software — all you have to do is log in and place your bets.

Mobile Apps for Esports Betting

While mobile-compatible esports betting sites certainly get the job done, we recommend choosing a bookmaker with a downloadable native app if you’re looking for the very best handheld experience. These apps can be downloaded from the App Store on iOS devices or the Google Play store on Android handsets. What benefits do these mobile esports betting apps bring, and are there any drawbacks? We’ve rounded up the pros and cons below.

Settle Your Bets Early

Most bookies will offer cashout on some esports markets, much like traditional sports betting. Cash out allows you to settle your bet early, claiming a portion of your winnings before the end of the event. The size of this payout will vary depending on the time elapsed and score at the time of cashing out.

In our February 2021 interview with leading iGaming software supplier EveryMatrix, Malte Hegeler, Head of Product Development OddsMatrix, shared some insight into why cash out isn’t as popular in esports as it is in traditional sports betting.

“Cashout is considerably less used in esports, where the esports ratio between cashout bets and overall stakes is half of the same ratio in traditional sports betting. That happens because cashout is much more frequent for pre-live bets, while in esports live betting has a 93% share, and things happen much faster.”

Compare Welcome Bonuses

When choosing between the best bookies that offer esports betting, the odds and betting options on offer may not vary enough to let you filter your shortlist down to just one. While you might find the best odds for an esports tournament at one bookie, there’s no guarantee they’ll offer the best esports odds for the next event, as bookies price competitively.

One deciding factor might be the welcome bonus. As its name suggests, this kind of bonus offer is reserved for new customers only and is used by just about every gambling operator to attract bettors. These bonuses come in various forms, so let’s take a quick look at the most popular.

Matched Deposit Bonus

This is where the betting site matches your first deposit to a certain percentage, up to a maximum amount. For example, an esports bookmaker may offer “100% up to £100” for new players, which means an initial deposit of £50 will give you an extra £50 to bet with.

No Deposit Bonus

Like the thought of having bonus funds waiting for you in your account, as soon as you sign up? That’s what you’ll get with a no deposit bonus, which — as you might have guessed — doesn’t require any deposit at all.

Free Bets

Many top betting sites will give you free bets when you sign up and deposit a minimum amount. You may also be offered “risk-free bets”, where a losing bet will see your stake refunded to you in the form of free bet credits.

Remember to always read the t&cs with any welcome bonuses. You’ll want to check if:

• Certain payment platforms, like Skrill or Neteller, are ineligible for welcome bonuses
• The bonus amount needs to be wagered a minimum number of times before you can withdraw winnings (the “wagering requirement”)
• There’s a deadline by which you have to bet the bonus or meet the wagering requirement

How to bet on esports for real money

Claim an Existing Player Promotion

Welcome bonuses are one thing, but how about ongoing promotions for existing members? The good news is that the top UK sportsbooks do have a regularly updated menu of promos on offer, including incentives that are specific to esports like Fortnite, Fifa and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.

Betway is a great example. It lets you opt into its “Esports Club”, which will award you a £10 free bet every week that you put at least £25 down on esports doubles, trebles or accumulators. Betway also regularly offers tournament-specific promos such as its ESL Pro League: Ace Special, where you’ll bag a free bet if an ace is scored on a match you’ve wagered on.

Meanwhile, over at dedicated esports bookmaker Midnite, you can join the Midnite Bet Club, where you’ll get a weekly £5 free bet if you place £25 acca bets with at least two legs.

Try Out a New Esports Betting Site

Some bookies, like Ladbrokes, Bet365 and 888, have been around so long they’re household names. But it’s always worth keeping an eye out for latest betting sites in the UK, as these plucky upstarts can offer exciting new experiences. New sites may push the envelope in terms of design, and also offer generous welcome bonuses to catch the interest of bettors.

Serious esports fans may also enjoy knowing they’re part of a site that’s completely dedicated to this specific industry. Midnite and Unikrn are prominent examples of betting sites run by people who live and breathe esports. This means these bookies can provide expert tips, insights and commentary on games and tournaments, alongside a huge spread of in-depth betting markets.

Payment Options at Esports Betting Sites

Once you’ve signed up to one of our recommended esports betting sites, you’ll want to top up your account with some betting funds. There are several services available for this very purpose, which we’ll run through next. Just click through the tabs to discover the benefits and drawbacks of some popular choices. 

Place Your Bets

Now that we’ve taken you through the ins and outs of betting on esports titles and the various bonuses on offer, you’ll know exactly what to expect when you place bets on esports matches. Whether you’re an avid Call of Duty fan or a complete newcomer to the scene, our carefully curated list of top esports betting sites is sure to provide you with a new favourite. Once you’ve picked out an option that ticks all your boxes, all you need to do is sign up, claim your exclusive bonus and bet on esports today!

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1. gambling commission.gov.uk – Why ID verification is important 
2. Gamcare
3. begambleaware.org