Esports betting with bitcoin at Cloudbet

What is eSports betting?

eSports betting is wagering on professional video gaming, the fastest growing area within sports betting. Massive improvements in PC technology have, over the last decade, driven an explosion in the popularity and diversity of video games, while improvements in internet connectivity enabled this new army of gamers to form vast and diverse online competitive communities.

Fans enjoy watching as much as participating, with Youtube and platforms like Twitch playing a pivotal role in satisfying a huge demand for content and discussion. It wasn’t long before these new eSports spectators found unofficial ways of speculating on outcomes of the games they were watching, initially using in-game items - also known as skins - as a currency.

This soon caught the attention of mainstream gambling which has now absorbed the genre into their regular betting offering. And so began the cultural phenomenon known as eSports betting which Cloudbet is now proud to offer on its new platform.

What are the main eSports betting formats?

eSports is an umbrella term that covers a multitude of game formats which can be as varied as rugby is from golf. eSports are however, generally grouped into the following formats:

MOBA - Multiplayer online battle arena

eSports’ roots can be traced back to gaming culture in South Korea driven by the country’s early broadband penetration. MOBA games were among the most popular with titles like DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) and LoL (League of Legends) developing huge followings. MOBA games generally see two teams battle within a virtual world, the context of which changes for each battle (maps), with each team member assuming different characters, each with specific skills using a mixture of strategy and fighting skills to defeat their opponents.

FPS - First Person Shooter

First person shooter games refer to games where each participant controls a weapon and sees the game from just their own perspective, as opposed to the MOBA format. Their aim is to work within a team to defeat an enemy, across a varying landscape (map) using a mixture of strategy and shooting skills. The most popular are CS:GO (Counter Strike Global Offensive) and Call of Duty.

Real Time Strategy

Real time strategy games share similar characteristics with MOBA except that they are often single player; the most common being StarCraft.

Console Games

Though the eSports betting phenomenon was initially driven by MOBA, FPS and Real Time Strategy, the more familiar console titles (XBox, PlayStation) such as NBA2K and FIFA have quickly become professionalised and absorbed into the general eSports betting scene.

Why eSports betting is so popular?

Esports is not just nerds playing video games. It is a cultural phenomenon. While sports like golf or snooker, with ageing audiences, struggle to stay relevant, eSports speaks directly to the interests of Gen-Z whose life revolves around technology.

eSports are fast, exciting and hugely complex, with skill-levels which match any traditional sports, and prize money far in excess. The prize pot in 2019 for DOTA 2’s yearly extravaganza - The International - was $34million.

Despite the obvious differences between mainstream sports and eSports, the competitive aspect is exactly the same in LoL as it is in the EPL, so anyone familiar with betting on traditional sports should be able to quickly make the transition.

the competitive aspect is exactly the same in LoL as it is in the EPL, so anyone familiar with betting on traditional sports should be able to quickly make the transition.

How to bet on esports

If you have never watched League of Legends or DOTA 2, you can be forgiven for being confused as to what is going on, but behind the insanely fast and complex action, there are still just two teams whose aim is to win. In that sense it is no different to regular sports and nor is the betting.

You will always see a Money Line or Match Winner market, and because eSports are professional with huge audiences dissecting all aspects of the games, there are mountains of data to review just as you would when analysing stats within baseball.

Most eSports are structured into best of three, five or seven formats, which mean that Handicaps are easy to apply and regularly offered, while you will also see markets related to the progress within games. An example being First Kill in CS:GO or First Tower in Dota.

The similarities don’t end there. Within traditional sport live betting dominates, and this is equally true of eSports where bettors can react to the changing dynamics of the game and place live bets, just as they would within a live soccer game.

Follow these guides to start betting with Cloudbet today

1. How to create an account
2. How to deposit bitcoin into your account
3. How to start betting with bitcoin

eSports betting with bitcoin

The crypto and eSports communities have a lot in common, developing around a similar time and both driven by a desire for a re-invention of existing formats - money and competitive sport. For this reason eSports was always baked into the plan for Cloudbet’s new platform. We have heard from many new and existing customers, wanting esports betting with bitcoin, and are excited to be able to now offer that.

eSports betting available right now

If you have read this far and are excited to start esports betting with bitcoin at Cloudbet, just head over to our new Beta platform where you can bet right now on the following:

• CS:GO

• Dota 2

• League of Legends

• Overwatch

• Starcraft2

Though Cloudbet is changing with the addition of our new Beta platform, our amazing new customer Welcome Bonus stays the same. Claim a 100% match on your first deposit up to 5 BTC/ETH or BCH.