Best esports Betting Sites | Find The Top Esports UK Bookmakers

Updated: 17073 Betting

eSports is the fastest growing betting event with an estimated $19b to be bet on it in 2020. Now is the perfect time to get involved, researching and getting an edge. but which is the best bookmaker?

Best esports Betting Sites | Find The Top Esports UK Bookmakers
Sam Darkens Commercial Manager and Betting Industry Expert

Sam is OLBG's Commercial manager but also a keen sports betting and eSports fan, who also knows all there is to know about online casino

Best eSports betting sites list to help you to find a top online bookmaker for your esports betting.  Just looking at the overall  best betting sites is of little use if you want to bet on eSports as only a few bookmakers specialise enough and provide sufficient depth in markets and events.  

This article will cover which betting sites are best for CSGO, Dota 2, League of Legends and more.

Best Esports Betting Sites List


4.0 / 5 256 Ratings

Best for Counter Strike Betting

Betway have long been the Gold Standard betting site for betting on CS:GO and nothing has changed for us to change out minds

Betway Review

  • Best Bookmaker for eSports at OLBG
  • Best FREE BET CLUB
  • Free Jackpot Predictor



4.2 / 5 77 Ratings

Best for Overwatch

Head over to Parimatch for a complete Overwatch betting service with deep markets and more events covered.

Parimatch Review

  • eSports Betting at it's Best
  • Low Minimum Deposit
  • Great for CS:GO too!
4.4 / 5 1130 Ratings

Best Betting site for League of Legends

Not only the best Sports Betting site in the world but leading the way with League of Legends betting coverage too.

bet365 Review

  • Best Football Bookmaker
  • Rated #1 By OLBG Users
  • Rated #1 For Bet Builder

With the growing popularity of e-Sports betting, we felt we needed to go and find out, who the best bookmakers for betting on e-Sports are

What to Look for When Deciding the Best Betting Site for eSports?

With an exceptional range of eSports betting events and markets, Betway has committed to offering superb coverage of Dota2, CS:GO, WoW and more, covering daily and weekly events and the biggest eSports tournaments from around the world. With in-play eSports betting available and a blog to keep right up with the action as it happens.

  • Huge range of events covered
  • Exceptional range of markets
  • In-Play eSports Betting
  • eSports Blog
  • Great betting odds

List of Bookmakers for eSports by Game

A greater number of online bookmakers in the UK now offer betting opportunities on eSport and it is a growth area for online betting. Over $19b is expected to bet on eSports across the world in 2020.

eSports Fans only Watch and bet on one game

Whilst sports betting fans may watch and bet on horse racing, football, golf and tennis, and maybe even more, it turns out that eSports fans are loyal (in the main) to one game and will consider only watching and betting on one.

According to eSports Trends Analysis carried out by Newzoo, 71% of fans watch only one game rather than overlap by following 2 or more games.

This would suggest that betting on eSports will require a little more in-depth analysis to which betting site is best for each game

With that in mind, I thought we would hunt out the best betting site for each of League of Legends, Dota2, CS:GO and 

GameBest Betting Site
Dota2Betway
CS:GOBetway
League of LegendsBetway
OverwatchParimatch

This is a list of some bookmakers [not all] that offer eSports betting online in the UK where you could grab a free bet for registering a new account to make your first eSports bet with by game.

Number of Betting Opportunities

Depending on how much of a fan and how much you know about e-sports this may be a subjective category, but I have it at the top as I am looking at which betting site would be the best for the most enthusiastic esports betting fan.

bet365 KILL the Opposition with eSports Choice

With more than 17 x the options to nearest rival Unibet, no other betting site offers esports betting options like bet365

This update was conducted in March 2020, and the following number of events were available by bookmaker taking bets on eSports

BookmakerEvents/Markets
bet3651848
Betway105
Unibet70
Betfair30
PaddyPower13

 

If there was ever an event to get excited with spread betting it would be esports for sure. 

As a matter of course, I checked both Sporting Index and Spreadex, two spread betting firms operating in the UK and found to my dismay, they didn't offer esports betting. I would image spreads could be a good approach to esports betting

Be Careful

As with normal sports betting, following favourites blindly is not a good path. Learn about the games, teams and events and find the value.

e-Sports Game Coverage

Bet365 smashed this category with the following 6 games covered.

bet365 eSports Games Covered
League of LegendsCS:GO
StarCraftOverwatch
King of GloryRainbow Six


I checked out each bookmaker and the main games from the list and found that each offered coverage of all, which is a good sign. When this data was originally collected they didn't, so it would seem that every bookie is trying to provide as much event coverage as possible. This is an improvement from when this article was first written


BookmakerCS:GOLoLDota2StarCraft
bet365


Betfair



Unibet



Betway



PaddyPower




Range of Betting Markets

Taking the Vici Gaming v LNG Sports LoL Match I was looking for how many different markets were available to bet on.

Bet365 blew everyone out of the water with an incredible 34 different markets for this single match

The others were all around the same with a more limited range but the most popular betting market types all covered, which is important.

BookmakerMarkets
bet36534
Unibet8
Betway8
Betfair8
PaddyPower6


These were both standouts as the remainder offered just the single outright winner market.

UNIBET

  1. Match Odds
  2. Map handicap
  3. Map 1
  4. Total Maps Over/Under
  5. Map 1 First Blood
  6. Map 1 Champion kills Handicap
  7. Map 1 First to 10 Champion Kills
  8. Map 1 Total Champion Kills Over/Under


4.1 / 5 263 Ratings

An impressive array of betting markets, despite offering worse odds. Betfair esports betting is a trade-off.

Betfair Review

  • Map Winners
  • Total Maps
  • Yes/No Handicaps

Betfair

  1. Map 1 Winner
  2. Map 2 Winner
  3. Home to win a Map
  4. Total Maps over/Under
  5. Correct Score
  6. Away to win a Map
  7. Vici Gaming +1.5
  8. LNG Sports +1.5

As you can see, both Unibet and Betfair offered an impressive number of different betting markets to consider.

Betting Odds

With the growing interest in eSports and with the amount of money on offer for the tournament’s most of the major bookmakers jumped on board and started putting up competitive odds.

Betway have always been towards the top of the list for best odds, especially when it comes to the underdog, but also are very competitive for favourites.

Other firms who have been getting more competitive are the likes of bet365, Unibet and 888sport, but as for daily best odds, Betway is top of the pile.

eSports betting odds Example

Taking a single CS:GO game to compare prices across each bookmaker, I found there to be very little between the prices offered.

Betfair and PaddyPower were unable to offer the best price on either side. Unibet and bet365 shared the honours for best price available on The underdogs, and in fact, as expected had the same price for the favourites which was bettered by Betway, offering 1.85 for each side. 

Juggernauts v Unique CS:GO Betting Odds

BookmakerHomeAway
Unibet1.722
bet3651.722
betway1.851.85
betfair1.81.9
PaddyPower1.81.9

Betfair odds in the table is from sportsbook


Growth in esports

It is the fastest-growing betting sport in the world right now, and the total worldwide amount of money bet on it by 2020 is expected to be… Wait for it…. $19billion

$19Billion AUD expected to be bet on eSports by 2020

The fastest-growing sports betting sector in the world right now

And it is still in its infancy.

In February 2022, the average number of players for the popular football simulation game, Football manager was 71,686, which is remarkably close to the figure in February 2020 which was 71,186, highlighting the return to ‘normal’.  

Other games like Dota 2, which has remained incredibly popular despite being released back in 2012, actually had a fairly significant increase in average players when comparing the same months, boasting over 450,000 players in February 2022 compared to just under 406,000 in 2020. 

This was not the case for all games we analysed though, with PUBG: Battlegrounds suffering the biggest drop in average players, going from 417,812 prior to the pandemic, then experiencing a huge spike in players over the next year, peaking at 1,584,886 in April 2021 when restrictions were still in place. Since then, it has declined dramatically to a lowly figure of just 17,551 in February this year.  

The peak number of monthly players also told a very similar story for all five franchises we examined, with Football Manager again being an example of this. It went from 122,479 in February 2020 to 119,863 in the same month this year. 

Again Dota 2’s popularity has continued to stay strong, boasting consistent peak monthly playing figures throughout the last two years. A month before the first lockdown, it was at 663,812, rising as high as 801,121 in April that year. February this year saw a peak of 725,851, showing that its peaks from the pandemic have continued to remain long after restrictions have been fully lifted. 

PUBG: Battlegrounds, however, was the opposite of Dota 2 showing huge declines in the last two years. Figures from two years ago (before the pandemic) were just above 93,000 peak monthly players and that continued to rise, eventually reaching a high of 3,236,027 in April 2021. This year again saw a dramatic drop-off, with just 67,846 players in February 2022.

Esports Earnings

But don’t dismiss this as simply kids playing computer games for fun, these are bonafide professional gamers earning a living and a good one at competing internationally in these games. Thousands of people around the world are making a living by playing video games competitively.

Many people may have heard of Fortnite.  At the end of July 2019, a sixteen-year-old became the World Champion, winning the Fortnite World Cup and pocketed a cool £2.25 in the process.

eSports and eSports betting is here to stay and it will continue growing at an incredible rate in years to come.

Up to £2.25m prize money for winners

Players take it seriously, that's why esports betting is a serious business.

Our research showed that the highest earning esports player in the World had earned over $7million back in November 2021 and there were over 100 players who had recorded in excess of $1million in prize money. Data 2 was the top game for earnings with the top 21 earners all playing that game. Fortnite had earned one player over $3million though, with Counter Strike Global Offensive the other game played by esports players in the top 75 earners. 

Back in 1008 there only a handful of recognised esports tournaments with 34 players sharing total prize money of $131,700. By 2020 the number of professional players had increased to 4,782 with prize money growing to $122m. The highest earning countries were USA and China with South Korea, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, France, Canada, Germany and Finland making up the top 10. 

There is though some disparity between the top earning male and female esports players with the highest earning female player taking home $415,691 compared to the top male at $7,183,918.

Absolutely!

And most sports betting site will now offer events and odds on the outcome of local and international esports matches.

You'll find esports listed in the sports betting menus. A little while ago they used to be found in the Specials betting sections, but as things are evolving quickly, betting sites are seeing the potential in the sector and it is os offered as a standalone sport now

Which bookmakers offer eSports in play betting?

All dependant on the matches, some of the lesser tournaments will not be covered in play, but the major tournaments, especially those covered live on Twitch will be available to bet on in play, you can usually get these bets on with betway and bet365.

Which bookmakers offer live esports streaming?

Because of the abundance of streaming events elsewhere on the internet and TV + streaming deals it seems bookmaker streaming has taken a backseat.

If you looking to place your bet and keep an eye on the match then platforms like Twitch, YouTube and Smashcast all offer you the chance to watch the matches live whilst keeping an eye on your bet.

Which bookmakers offer esports stats for betting research on their websites?

From what we have found there are not any bookmakers who offer statistics on their site

This is most probably due to the number of games played, teams compete across multiple platforms and games and keeping track would be a big task.

The Betway blog is a good read and brings us regular news on eSports, they are also one of the few who offer daily boosts on the eSport odds.

Betway certainly seems to be leading the way in eSports betting.

FAQ

eSports Betting Related Questions

  • Where can I bet on eSports?

    You can bet on eSports online using most of the online bookmakers. We would suggest using a legally operating booking maker, operating legally under the UK gambling commission. You'll find the most popular eSports events covering, DOTA2, CS:GO League of Legends, Rainbow 6 and more, ready to take bets on your eSports match predictions.

  • Can you bet on League of Legends?

    League of Legends is one of the more popular betting events for eSports betting. You can find a range of different types of betting markets, from winners, Map winners or tournaments winners on this particular game. Head to one of the recommended eSports betting sites, find the eSports section, the game and you will find all the types of bets on League of Legends that are available.

  • Are betting odds on eSports the same as normal sports?

    The odds you are able to bet on are the same as you would find in normal sports betting. They represent the bookmakers take on the probability of the outcome of an eSports match or tournament the same way as they would be presented for a football match or tournament. There is no difference in the way odds are used on sports to eSports.

  • Do normal bookmakers accept eSports bets?

    Almost all 'normal' bookmakers traditionally linked to sports betting will offer odds and bets on various eSports games and events. There are some specialised eSports betting companies available, but you will often find the better odds are offered by the more established betting sites, despite perhaps a smaller range of type of eSports bets to play on.

Keep Reading

Top 10 Political Betting Websites in the UK

Updated: 730 Betting

Top 10 Political Betting Websites in the UK

Explore our comprehensive guide to Political Betting in the UK. We rigorously analyse 64 bookmakers, comparing their offerings in politics wagering, before presenting an insightful Top 10 list with the leaders in this field. Find your perfect match for your political betting needs

Continue Reading

By using this site you confirm you are 18+ and consent to our use of cookies and processing of personal data as set out in our Privacy Policy
Got it!