2020 has been a turbulent sort of year, with almost every event in the worlds of sport and entertainment seeing either delays or outright cancellations. And with still no end on the horizon, plenty of companies and organizations are bracing themselves for more losses and disruptions heading into the opening months of 2021.

However, one community that has gone almost the complete opposite way is in the video game industry, and more specifically the competitive spheres of gaming (known as ‘Esports’ professionally).

The world of Esports has blurred the lines between entertainment and elite-level sports, and the numbers behind its growth are absolutely staggering. The video game industry is now worth more than the music and film scenes combined, and the Esports sector is set to hit the $1 billion mark by the opening of 2021.

With so much money running around the scene, here’s a brief overview of understanding wagering on Esports, and how you can get ahead of the curve and win big.

A Blossoming Scene 

This explosion in popularity has led to plenty of gamers fulfilling their dreams of turning their passions into cash and making money from playing their favourite titles. Lucrative salaries and huge prize pools are the way the pro players make their fortunes, but there are of course other ways people can make their money without having to invest hundreds of hours into honing their skills.

The first thing about understanding ways to make money off of Esports, is understanding that ‘Esports’ is an umbrella term used to describe any title with a competitive scene. Just like how an individual cannot claim to be a master of wagering on a whole variety of sports, people who do well from Esports betting are the ones who know all the ins and outs of just one or two chosen titles.

Think of the term: ‘quality over quantity’.

The world of Esports is made by its events and competitions, with the more high profile and bigger tournaments naturally offering the best collection of odds and markets. Obviously, understanding which events are top-level and when they are happening is crucial to this; most Esports titles have a competitive scene that splits its tournaments into a tier ladder system of ranking. S-Tier and events are usually reserved for the premium events out there, whilst you’ll be hard-pressed to find many competitive markets for those tournaments down in the B and C-Tiers.

More and more platforms such as Liquidpedia and HLTV are being launched that help would-be fans keep track of the competitive calendars of each and every title, and give them a complete overview of each tournament’s ranking, prize pool, fixtures, standings, and results.

Variants Of Wagering

Much like real-world sports betting, there are a whole host of ways in which a player can begin wagering on their favorite video games and their competitive scenes. Because the competition is so fierce, sites such as Unikrn.com have to offer the most complete collection of markets that appeal to every user that find themselves landing on them.

Users are able to back their favorite teams, orgs or players in both match and season outrights, as well as following the action through dynamic live in-play odds.

The emergence of online live streaming on platforms such as Twitch TV have been instrumental in the growth of Esports’ appeal and popularity to both fans and would-be partners, and following the action right as it happens on such a platform allows for a better understanding of the latest odds as they shift, as well as offering a thrilling viewing experience.

Whilst traditional real-world sports find themselves battling greedy corporations and consistently hidden behind paywalls, Esports is readily accessible for anyone to follow.

On top of the traditional forms of wagering, which most are already familiar with, Esports has helped breathe new life into the betting world with more and more exotic markets that are specific to their respective titles. Betting on the number of rounds won, frags picked up, bombs planted or amount of maps played can all help to provide a unique spread betting element to a user’s experience, and certainly presents a potentially lucrative opportunity for fans of a game who are experienced and knowledgeable enough to know the ins and outs.

Again, understanding a game is one thing, however getting ahead of the curve and beating the markets requires a substantial amount of know-how on how the difference between picking a winner and those value bets that really stretch your winnings with value bets. Understanding the games’ metas, competitions and the subtle nuances of professional plays is the best way of ensuring you really clean up with your bets.

Of course, with anything in the wagering world, it’s always important to remember your limits, ensure everything you do is strictly for fun, and always check that any sites you bet with have all the structures in place to help support you.