eSports Betting Odds
A quick guide to reading eSports betting odds – The eSports betting community has exploded in popularity over just the last few years.
Before, eSports events were seen as little more than a distraction from “real sports” – but now nothing could be further from the truth. Almost all of the major sportsbooks around the world are handicapping these games, events, and tournaments, and it’s even possible to get in on the eSports action when you’re spending time at a brick and mortar casino or living it up in Las Vegas.
And while gambling on eSports is very similar to sports betting on traditional sports, there are a couple of things you’re going to want to focus on before you start throwing any real money down on these games.
Below we break down all of the inside information you’re going to want to you to improve your odds of walking out a winner, taking full advantage of the two most popular forms of eSports wagers available – the point spread and the money line. Let’s dive right in.
What is an eSports money line?
The money line in an eSports game for a tournament is essentially the wager you make when you are taking the outright winner.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the point spread and only has to do with the final outcome of the game or tournaments, rewarding you – or causing you to lose the money you have wagered – depending entirely upon who is deemed the winner at the conclusion of that specific event.
If you have a money line at -200, for example, you would have to wager $200 to win $100 (walking away with $300 total if you were able to pull this off successfully). If you wanted to pick the consensus favorite, this would be the approach you like to take. If you see a +200 money line, it means that for every $100 you wager you would win $200 – making you money on the underdog if they are able to pull off the upset.
What is an eSports point spread?
Point spreads in the world of eSports gaming just the way they do in traditional gambling and are used to “point handicap” or give an advantage through the sportsbook you are placing your wagers with.
If, say, you are placing a wager down on an eSports competitor or team that has a point spread of -1.5, the favorite in that event or for that wager would have to win their eSports event by two points to “cover”. Even a win of fewer than two points would mean that you walk away without any money.
A point spread that is neutral is called a “push”, and this happens when a specific score is anticipated. If this score is hit, everyone gets their money back and no one walks away with any winnings whatsoever. A push is very rarely seen in the world of sports handling and is equally as rare in the eSports community as well.
As a general rule, you aren’t going to see very high point spreads in the eSports events and tournaments that you have an opportunity to place wagers on. Because of the close competition levels and the uniqueness of their scoring formats, it’s very common to see relatively low-scoring tournaments and events, so the point spread usually isn’t going to be all that high.
It certainly won’t be the point spread you might see football or basketball, for example.
Other Forms of eSports Betting
Live eSports betting
From time to time, you’ll have the opportunity to place wagers on “moving lines” in the eSports community – or lines/wagers that are going to adjust on the fly in the swing of an event.
You’ll have the opportunity to bet on these moving lines while the event is still going calmly to these kinds of wagers are usually placed by serious gamblers and gamers that want to hedge their bets as best they can. This is especially true when they have placed wagers that aren’t looking like they are going to pan out, with these moving lines giving them a chance to recoup at least some of their losses.
The trouble with these eSports betting odds is that you’re going to have to understand the eSports you are placing wagers on will have to watch every minute of the event and will have to make sure that you are placing wagers at just the right time to take advantage of any change in the action.
Parlays
A parlay is going to combine numerous different wagers together with one another, giving you the opportunity to dramatically multiply your winnings if you’re able to hit on each and every one of the eSports betting odds wagers that you placed across a variety of different lines or spreads.
Again, this can be used to hedge, but it’s also incredibly effective to boost your winnings through the roof if you’re lucky enough to cover every single wager in your parlay.
Bonuses
Different sportsbooks are going to offer different bonuses for specific kinds of wagers or wagers that are placed dependent upon specific eSports betting odds that can change from one event to another, or even one day to another.
This is something you’re going to have to dig into when it comes to the specific sportsbook you are doing business with. Some offer fantastic bonuses on your initial deposit, others offer bonuses regularly, and some will not offer any bonuses at all.
Line Shopping
As more and more people get into the world of eSports betting, “line shopping” becomes more viable.
This is where you compare the lines and eSports betting odds you are able to get in one specific book against another, bouncing from one platform to the next to always take advantage of the best possible odds for the wagers you are looking to make. Instead of accepting the odds your “standard” sportsbook makes, you might place a handful of wagers somewhere else where the odds are significantly better – usually because the odds have yet to be refreshed everywhere at the exact same time.
