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Looking for decent esports bookmakers? You’re in the right place. Esports betting is big business nowadays. Esports bookies give you a legal and safe way to bet on esports like CSGO, LoL and Overwatch.
These bookmakers include some of the best UK bookmakers so that you can get decent odds and a properly licensed service. What’s best is that many of these sites will serve up massive bonuses that you can use with your esports bets – the £10 risk-free bet from Puntt being a good example.
Just a few years ago, you used to have to go to some fairly weird bookmakers to try some bets on esports. Most of these were skin gambling sites that felt about as reputable as buying a used car off a bloke you just met in the pub. Thankfully things are a little different now and a variety of different ways to bet on esports have appeared from websites to mobile apps. This is because all of the biggest and best bookmakers have jumped on the esports betting bandwagon.
Chances are that you could now go to some bookmakers for horse racing and find yourself some bets for anything from Rocket League to Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. Far more interesting than watching a few nags staggering around Lingfield Racecourse.
OK, so we’ve established the fact that there are lots of esports bookmakers out there. But how do you know which site has the best esports bets, which bookmaker has the best Android betting app, best iOS app, best promotions? This is where we come in. We’ve given ourselves the task of sifting through these sites to sort out the good from the bad. You just have to sit back, read our bookmaker reviews, pick a site and then lay down your bets on esports - easy right?
We know that all old and new bookmakers will say that they have the best odds on the market. But how do you know that what they’re saying is true? This is where we come in as we’ll rank and rate how these esports bookmakers serve up odds for your favourite game. After all, there’s not much point in putting down an esports bet if you get nothing in return.
We’ve found that most bookmakers tend to give you roughly similar odds for the biggest esports events. This isn’t the bookmakers being unimaginative, it’s just that the betting world is incredibly competitive. As such, these bookmakers are constantly trying to minimise their betting margins to give you a better deal.
This means that you might be able to find marginally better odds if you shopped around for your esports bets. Such a task might not sound like too much fun, and we are pretty sure that you’ve got better things to do. So we’ve given ourselves the task of comparing the odds for bets on esports from all top bookmakers to make sure that you’re getting the best possible price.
We’ll show you some esports bookmakers that give you lots of flexibility with your bets. After all, if you’re betting on cricket, you wouldn’t expect that an online bookmaker for cricket would restrict you from putting down just match-winner bets all the time.
Each of our recommended best UK bookmakers will serve up betting markets that help you hunt down the best value with your esports bets. This might mean trying handicap bets so that you can get more for backing the favourite. Or you might be able to try things like betting on the winner of each map - kind of like betting on which tennis player will win the first set.
But we like those esports bookmakers that go the extra mile. This means giving you bets on esports that are specific to each game. So you could bet on things like which team will get the first kill in a game of CSGO. Or if you’re feeling especially nerdy, you could bet on the team to slay the first dragon in League of Legends. Plenty of ways to get more from your bets.
So far we’ve been making a pretty good case for the fact that esports is like any regular sport. While this is true to an extent, there are some obvious differences and all good esports bookmakers will take account of this fact. We should note that we’re not just talking about outrageously daft esports team names like Unicorns of Love.
Firstly, esports is a big spectator sport. You might be OK keeping up with the progress of a football match by checking the live score. But live esports betting really needs you to be able to watch the live-action. This is why some bookmakers will include an embedded Twitch stream into their sites. As a result, you’ll be able to put down a live bet in correspondence with the live-action. Oh, and it’s pretty good fun too.
But some bookmakers will go the extra mile to try and prove that they’re serious about esports. Some bookmakers have started sponsoring major esports tournaments and will give you special bonuses for the biggest matches. Plus the likes of Betway have even sponsored top teams like Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Sometimes getting the best esports odds isn’t good enough. After all, you know that there’s nothing like a decent bonus to make that win even better. So we’ll show you those esports bookmakers that have betting offers that you can use on your favourite game - such as the latest BoyleSports joining offer and Guts welcome offer promos.
Many of these deals are regular welcome bonuses that can be used on anything from LoL and CSGO to traditional sports like football and rugby. To get these deals, you’ll probably have to put your own money down in the form of a deposit or qualifying bet. What you’ll get in return are some betting tokens that you can use instead of your own real money stakes. Don’t worry, as you’ll get to keep whatever winnings you make with these deals.
However, some bookmakers will put on special offers that can only be used with esports bets. These promotions tend to be tied into major esports tournaments like ESL, LoL Worlds, DreamHack and so on. Once again, you’ll probably have to put down a qualifying bet to get these deals. But they can work out to be decent value for money.
We don’t want to be boring, but we’d recommend that you read through the small print of these deals before you sign up to them. Most of us have made the mistake of signing up to some bonuses without checking the small print and we’re still trying to fulfil the wagering conditions many years later.
Nobody wants to be ripped off when they put down their esports bets. But more than a few punters have got burned when they’ve used some shady bookmakers. Thankfully, it can be pretty easy to avoid this happening to you. Here are some simple things to check for before you put down your bets on esports.
Always check that the bookmaker has got a license from the UK Gambling Commission. If it doesn’t, then it’s not legal to offer you bets in the UK. Of course, you might be able to use bookmakers without such a license. But doing so would be like giving your debit card details to a random bloke that you just met on the street.
We’re fairly sure that you won’t want to be the victim of identity theft. So this is why all of the bookmakers we recommend have been checked to make sure that they have robust encryption technologies in place to safeguard your data.
Thankfully, you won’t have to do anything weird like trade-in skins to enjoy esports betting. This is because all decent bookmakers will let you deposit with debit cards, ewallets, prepaid cards and so on.
There are dozens of different esports that you can bet on. But most esports bookmakers will focus on the biggest games. Here’s a quick look at the most popular esports.
The king of them all. League of Legends or LoL is arguably the biggest esport in the world. There’s a fairly silly lore to the LoL universe. But you’ll basically be betting on one team to decimate the other team and blow up their base.
Like violent video games? Then you’ll love CSGO. This first-person shooter features two teams of army guys who are armed to the teeth and have to blast each other to oblivion. Slightly more fun than watching the England cricket team having another batting collapse. Check out the best betting odds in CS:GO to find the best bet for you.
Another hugely popular multiplayer battle arena game with a fairly daft back story. Again, you’ll just be betting on teams of players laying waste to their opponents.
A relatively new addition to the esports world. It’s kind of like a cross between a regular battle arena game and first person shooter. By now you’ll have probably guessed the core concept of Overwatch. That’s right. Kill your opponents.
One of the first battle royale games to hit the esports world. You might think that watching gamers stumbling around for hours trying to find equipment and loot might be boring. Millions of PUGB fans would disagree.
Think football, but with cars. It might sound ridiculous, but it’s actually pretty good fun.
Most of us will have wasted our lives playing FIFA. But a few gamers have taken it to the next level by becoming esports stars who play FIFA for actual football teams like Manchester City, PSG and so on.
Most esports bookmakers will give you a broad coverage of all of the major and minor competitive gaming tournaments taking place all over the world. But there are certain tournaments that tend to get top billing at these bookmaker sites.
This Dota 2 competition regularly hits the headlines for having the biggest prize pool of all of the esports tournaments. As such, all bookmakers will come flocking to cover this contest like bees to honey.
The highlight of the League of Legends calendar. A bookmaker not covering the LoL Worlds Finals would be like the best online bookmaker for football not giving you odds for the World Cup final.
This is Blizzard Entertainment’s official league for - yes, you guessed it - Overwatch. It’s set up in a similar way to the NFL in that it features franchised teams from major cities with no relegation.
This massive travelling esports tournament regularly features the biggest contests for games like Dota 2 and CSGO. It recently came to Birmingham and was a massive hit. So if you’re into esports betting UK-style, keep your eye out for the next big ESL event.
There are plenty more top tournaments that include everything from the Intel Extreme Masters to the DreamHack contests. All of which gives you a great chance to put down your esports, and we’ll be here to help you find the best bookmakers for this task.
On the search for more traditional sporting guides? Make your way over to our cricket bet app and best greyhound bookmakers guides.
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