Our favourite sports are seeing cancellations and postponements leaving many of us with a bit of a gap in entertainment over the coming weeks – although as we find some lockdowns being extended for an increasing duration, that number of weeks could turn into months. There are plenty of us that also enjoy placing a little wager on these sports too, and whilst there are many alternatives as those within the UK turn to sites not covered by gamstop for betting in other countries or to use their online casino counterparts, it isn’t quite the same.
There are sports that have been able to go relatively untouched during the outbreak however – the world of esports. The category of esports covers many different games, with some of the most popular ones including League of Legends, DoTA2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and whilst many international tournaments have been cancelled, there are many local events that still take place and as these games can be played from the comfort of the players own homes, there wasn’t much in the way of disruption. Even the commentators who would usually be at the events would join via conference tools and spectator programs to view the games and continue to comment as usual.
(Image from forbes)
Betting within esports did get off to a bit of a rocky start – whilst there were some very limited places that you could bet in the more traditional sense, they weren’t that common and they also weren’t very well respected – the first form came in the currency of cosmetic items within the game Counter-Strike as betting with the ingame weapon skins, and receiving a similar payout was the basis in which betting was built, and it evolved very quickly. The events themselves bring in millions of viewers every year, and the players both inside and outside of competition do the same, bringing a lot of attention to the sport – after the teething issues with the betting and gambling sites around counter-strike and the weapon skins were handled, more legitimate companies stepped in after seeing the underappreciated value and started to set-up a legitimate and safe space for fans to bed in a more traditional and well known way – with money.
And with this a huge opportunity to those looking to learn and get involved – with many different games that represent the esport gaming world, and many different tournaments that take place throughout the year both internationally and locally, the options for how and when you bet can be a little more open ended. There typically isn’t an off season as you’d find within traditional sports too – whilst there may be small periods where main, larger tournaments don’t take place, smaller events will continue throughout the year without any break and even community organised events in which players will form a temporary team with their friends to get involved in. Whilst other sports are cancelled, now may be a perfect time to check out esports and find a game that suits your interests.
