Esports betting has only really been around on a significant scale since 2013, but it is now estimated to be worth billions of dollars every year. Serious bets first began to be placed on the game ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’ (CSGO) by means of skin betting. A similar market grew up for Dota 2, which also uses skins.

Over the last few years, the seriousness with which esports competitions are treated has increased substantially, and the range of bets offered has increased in line with this. The esports betting market now features odds for competition winners, individual matches, and, at the big events, game-related milestones such as ‘team to slay the first dragon’! Around 60% of the betting market is estimated to be accounted for by CSGO, Dota 2, and League of Legends (LOL). Some of the world’s largest bookmakers are now involved in esports, and customers can rest assured that the market is closely regulated, although this applies less to skin betting. Due to the substantial competition prizes that are on offer, collusion or match-fixing are unlikely.

If you like the sound of betting on esports, one crucial piece of advice is to only bet in markets that you understand. It will be very helpful if you are an experienced player of the game you are betting on.

The Best Way to Pay for Bets

A particularly important question is how you should fund your online bets. Most betting sites will accept a range of debit and credit cards, and some will accept PayPal (more about PayPal e-betting here). Considering each of these in turn:

Debit cards allow you to take money directly from your bank account to deposit funds with your chosen bookmaker. This process is reasonably straightforward, but there will be a significant amount of information that needs to be entered accurately, and you will need to add personal details which would place you at risk of identity theft if the site is hacked.

Credit cards allow you to borrow money on a short term basis. Aside from the source of the funds, credit cards require the same information to be entered as when a debit card is being used, so the same considerations apply. A particular disadvantage of funding betting by means of a credit card is that card companies regard money for gambling as a cash advance, so they will charge a significant fee every time you make a deposit.

PayPal has several advantages over using a debit or credit card directly. Once you have set up your PayPal account, there is no need to re-enter your personal details on the betting site. This means that PayPal esports betting is quick and convinient (sic). Another benefit of PayPal betting is that deposits and withdrawals are credited without delay. PayPal payments are typically made from one of three sources: a cash balance on your PayPal account, a debit card, or a credit card. You are able to choose which is used when making the payment. One point to bear in mind: if you choose to make a payment to your bookmaker with PayPal using a credit card, you will be subject to the same cash advance fees as if the card was being used directly, so it is normally best to use your PayPal balance or your debit card. It is clear that using PayPal is safe and straightforward, so it will be the best option for many people.

Tags: esports betting

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2018 at 4:10 am and is filed under Online Gambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.