The world of esports is not a new entity by any stretch of the imagination. It still is a mystery for many given that it is very much a niche gaming interest. We present you with a complete review of the esporting movement that is taking place online inside of the most prestigious casinos in Ireland. We will introduce you to the online gaming opportunity, inform you which online Irish casinos are able to provide members with esports betting and highlight the top games used within the gaming system and what the future of esports betting will look like.
What exactly is eSports?
Those new to the worLd of eSports, well, what is it? To put it simply as possible, eSports is a category of betting that allows casino members to bet on the outcome of console games being played between two egamers/players.
Yes, the esport movement is all about console gaming. Ireland eSports even has its own federation for this to support teams within the Irish eSports leagues.
The industry is one that generates billions with sponsorship deals exceeding 450-million-dollars from the likes of RedBull, Coca-Cola, and McDonalds already part of the machine driving this all forward. Some perspective on costs, last year alone, Intel forked out 10 million for the rights over the Overwatch League.
Adding to this, you have broadcasting rights when it comes to competitive gaming tournaments. Here you will find names like ABC, ESPN, and Twitch paying big to obtain the rights.
And they said playing video games was just for kids! We are very much in a new world of gaming and both players and gamblers are making money from it.
This is a gaming beast that devours both casino interest but also online fan interest amongst those that are ironically too young to gamble.
The name esports may lead you to think that only sporting games are played but that only paints half the picture.
When esports started, this was indeed the foundation of the new gaming option at the time, however, given that the real sport is available, the gaming expanded into the realms of shoot-em-up gameplay, with multi-player battle royale events quickly taking over the interests of players and casino members.
eSport Casinos in Ireland
For the best in esports betting, there are a total of seven casinos so far that are able to provide esport services.
The top seven bookmakers are listed below, but for their individual reviews, we recommend you head to https://www.betinireland.ie/sports-betting/esports/ to learn more about what each site offers with additional games, banking, and bonuses.
- Betiton Casino
- Betway Casino
- Mr Green Sport
- Spin Sports
- Redbet
- 22Bet Casino
- William Hill
All these Irish sites are licensed and regulated by both the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission. Welcome bonuses are provided by each casino to all newly registered players.
The popularity of esport betting inside these casinos comes down to the ease of betting. It’s a simple guess of who will win of the two teams taking part. However, do not let the simplistic nature of esports fool you. It takes more than a plucky guess to be continuously successful.
For the esports enthusiast, esport player and team stats and data are key to having longevity in your betting success. Just like any sports, egamers are easily researched and studied. The more you know about those that take part, the better your judgment will be when it comes to placing your bets.
This is global esports gaming so it’s not just about having eSports teams in Ireland and the United Kingdom, in fact, most teams are based throughout Europe.
Helping players to research and helping to push the eSports industry, social media is key! Players will have Twitch channels, YouTube, and various other media outlets that present games, discussions and they will also take part in iGaming conventions that take place throughout Europe like Franc. Germany, Malta, and across to the US. An example of this new-age superstardom is Tyler Blevin, a professional gamer that comes from the United States. He has over 15 million followers on one of his social media pages. For sponsorship and business, this is a mouth-watering prospect. The higher the follower count, the more earnings are made through advertising revenue or event sponsorship.
Now, you may have to play a life-time of games to reach the cash values the players make, but real money-making opportunities are there to be taken advantage of.
When making bets, be objective and selective.
There are many gaming markets to bet on, go all out and there is a very good chance you will lose a lot more money than you may have not planned for. If you are new to the concept of esports and console gaming, then you certainly will not have the know-how or understanding of the games being played.
The investment is more in the players than the game, you may know how games like Fortnite are played and won, but as a new player, it is unlikely that you will know of those that are playing the games.
Top eSport games to bet on
There are many diverse games out there being played and social trends sometimes affect what becomes more popular within the casinos. What may surprise you is the number of older games being used to entertain bettors online.
Here are some of the games commonly found across all the major casino platforms offering esports betting:
- F1 eSports
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive
- FIFA Football World Cup
- League of Legends
- Fortnite
- Dota 2
- Rainbow Six: Siege
- Splatoon2
- Valorant
- NBA 2K
As you can see, shoot-em-up games are leading the race in the popularity stakes. It’s a whole new form of gaming to bet on and it can be played from a player’s perspective in three different ways.
First Map: This style of gaming is all about team betting. Games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Call of Duty offer these types of team games. Your bet isn’t about who will win the match but to takes the first map, which is an in-play market odd you should consider more-so.
First Kill: The bet is as it sounds, predicting who will make the first kill during the shooter game. Now, this is a more difficult bet to pull off because more luck is involved. For this reason, the odds tend to be more higher than other in-play markets.
Odds/Evens: There is a chance you will come across the odds of betting on odds or evens with the esport game. This betting market relates to the number of matches that are won, or rounds played, and even relating to the number of players killed. It’s the bet that ramps up the entertainment.
Where eSports is going
The esports growth that has happened is enormous. It’s been happening for the good part of 5 years and only now are casino members realising its potential as a serious gaming contender. The popularity away from Irish casinos online is something quite staggering. Annual tournaments and championships are held to find the best player and best team for the hottest games.
This has led to life-changing payouts for the winners and a cult-celebrity status amongst the iGaming community. Teams like Ninjas in Pyjama, Vitrus Pro, Team Vitality and Evil Geniuses are amongst those that will command the tournament stages of finals many times over.
Those that compete have an ever-growing list of tournaments to join. Hearthstone World Championship, League of Legends World Championship, EVO 2021, Fortnite World Cup, Overwatch World Cup, CS:GO ESEA Cash Cup North America, ALGS Winter Circuit Playoffs, and many, many more across the world.
Within Ireland itself, there has been a launch of the very first e-sailing tournament, a national championship to join the already established cycling Ireland competition.
This is all just the beginning and with a world that had gone into a two-year lockdown, it showed what was possible. ESports is on the verge of something colossal. For the casino, it will soon incorporate live streaming, just as casino members have within the traditional sports betting area. But gamers will have a far bigger role to play after news of cryptocurrency makes its way into the eSports business.
Crypto and video gaming events will introduce new audiences to dynamic online gaming on an international level. There are already blockchain company tokens out there with plans that allow users to not only use tokens to bet but also be used in social media engagement platforms like what Socios.com has created, with Chiliz crypto as the background payment system.
eSports will march into one of the most lucrative markets, when only a few years ago, the idea of being a paid professional gamer would have seemed totally weird, despite it being the dream for many.
Soon eSports teams and players will be added to the latest NFT trading card craze and more established brands will come into the world of esports to share in the massive potential that will come from the two industries colliding together.
You will be able to view all this on a casino level and social media level.
