Best Esports Betting Sites 2017

	5/5	100% first deposit bonus as a free bet	Betway
	4.7/5	x3 payout if you win your first bet	888sport
	4.5/5	100% deposit bonus up to £50	Bet365

In the past, we’ve talked a little bit on this blog about betting on regular sports. As you know, I’m quite the avid football punter, and placing bets from my phone in the pub while watching a game is definitely one of my primary hobbies. However, that doesn’t make it the only one. I’m also a pretty avid gamer who regularly indulges in all sorts of genres, from story-heavy RPGs like “Final Fantasy XV” and “The Witcher III” to online-focused experiences like “DotA 2” and “CS: GO”. At this point, it’s a no-brainer that I’d want to find some way to make my hobbies cross over, and luckily a lot of my favourite betting sites have made that possible by adding the ability to bet on various professional leagues!

Now, whenever people discuss eSport gambling, they typically refer to one of two things – either traditional gambling through a bookmaker where you bet money, or gambling at fansites and non-licensed bookies for in-game items. Fair warning, here I’m only going to be discussing the first type of gambling, because honestly, not only is the second form illegal (with Valve, the developers of many games used for eSports, cracking down on these types of sites), it’s also sometimes a scam – who can forget the infamous incident in which a popular YouTuber promoting a “CS: GO” item gambling site turned out to also own it? Just to remain on the safe side, we’ll stick with proven, licensed bookmakers who are authorized to take these types of bets.

So, let’s say you have a healthy interest in gaming and would like to bet on some games – exactly on what can you place a wager? Well, much like in football, you have different leagues with matches being played by professional teams on a world level. For most games, these leagues are primaries (smaller tournaments which are endorsed by the game’s developers, but not organized by them, such as the Dota 2 Asian Championships), the premiums (much bigger events with very particular qualifications for the competing teams and a huge pricepool, like ESL One Hamburg) and majors (the biggest tournaments organized directly by the game’s developers, with millions of viewers and the best players, like The Internationals). Leagues smaller than primaries are generally ignored, since the popular teams that people would actually want to bet money on don’t attend those.

Of course, what I described above is just general information – just because some bookmakers offer betting on matches from majors, premiums and primaries doesn’t mean they all do. As of right now, betting on eSports is still an emerging market, and most bookmakers don’t really offer a wide selection of matches to choose from. Still, what’s there on the best eSport betting sites is more than enough to satisfy even an aficionado like me, so if you’re having any doubts, I personally would advise you not to worry about them. Maybe the next time a big tournament for a game you’re into, like EVO or The International comes around, hop over to a bookie and see if you can win some cash while supporting your favourite team?