Back in the nineties and early noughties, bookmaking was all about traditional sports like football or basketball. However, with the ever-growing popularity of competitive gaming and e-sports it was only a matter of time for major sports betting sites to notice the demand for video game-related real money wagering opportunities. Consequently, many online sportsbooks now allow their customers to bet on the outcome of major video game tournaments, such as the League of Legends Championship Series.

• Bet Money Line Calculator

So how do you place bets online? Sign up, or log into your favorite site Select the race you wish to bet on Place your bet. This is where you can choose to do a single wager or an exotic wager Pick how much you want to bet. Bet money, play real players and win cash. It's a prestigious video game betting league. Put your money where your controller is! Why waste time playing for free? Time is money, play for cash!

If that wasn’t enough, players who aren’t really interested in the professional gaming scene are free to wager on the outcome of their own matches using one of the dedicated head to head platforms. All things considered, betting on video games is readily accessible to all kinds of gamers – whether you’re interested in titles designed for PlayStation, X-Box or a PC, finding the right site to suit your needs shouldn’t be much of an issue once you’re done reading this guide.

Ways to Bet Real Money on Video Games Online

As you’ve probably already guessed, wagering on professional teams is quite different from betting on a head to head game or a tournament that you participate in. If you decide to wager on an e-sports event on one of the video game-friendly sportsbooks, everything will be virtually identical to betting on a team that competes in one of the traditional sports. On the other hand, if you decide to join the action yourself, the entire experience will be very different as you’ll be required to display some actual in-game skill in order to actually claim your reward.

Head to Head Video Game Betting

Head to head game betting allows you to challenge other players to a duel and is very popular on console-focused sites. Consequently, the available games often include popular fighting games like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, driving games like Gran Turismo or Forza, as well as sports games, including the EA Sports series.

If you prefer modern first person shooters like Halo or Call of Duty finding the right place to play might prove to be slightly more challenging, as most head to head services tend to focus on one on one games. Most sites of this kind allow you to choose between posting an open challenge or challenging a specific player directly.

Whenever you create a new challenge, you’re placed in control of all the game options, which means that you can choose the size of a buy-in, schedule the start of the match or pick a game mode that you feel comfortable with. Quite obviously, other players might decline your challenge, so you should generally avoid picking obscure titles and game modes if you’re planning to join the action right away.

Tournament Video Game Betting

Some of the sites that offer head to head betting also allow their users to take part in larger tournaments, which can range from small contests to massive competitions with tens of gamers to play with. These events are very similar to poker tournaments in that each player is required to pay an entry fee for a chance to claim a part of the overall prize pool generated by all the other entrants.

Quite obviously, the higher you place, the more money you will be able to win. However, you should keep in mind that the specific format usually depends on the game in question – a Battlefield tournament might not follow the same rules as a Street Fighter or FIFA event. The tournaments usually run on a schedule, which means that you’ll be required to commit more time than in the case of basic head to head play.

e-Sports Betting

As briefly touched on above, betting on professional players is very different from wagering on your own games and requires a different skillset. If you decide to put your money on a professional team, your winnings will be determined by your handicapping efforts instead rather than your individual skill when it comes to actually playing the game.

Furthermore, it is worth pointing out that while head to head betting sites tend to focus on console games, e-sports betting is pretty much all about major PC multiplayer titles such as League of Legends, StarCraft II and Defense of the Ancients 2. The available bet types are very similar to the ones offered for traditional sports. Consequently, betting on a professional team or player requires you to know how handicaps, money lines or totals work.

The event coverage is usually fairly good, which means that you’ll be able to put your money on teams competing in the global events like the LCS AllStars, as well as regional contests such as SK Telecom Proleague. If that wasn’t enough, some of the video game-friendly bookmaking sites allow you to place additional prop bets, which can range from StarCraft II futures to predicting who will be the MVP in a specific League of Legends match.

Making a Deposit and Cashing Out

Regardless of the site you choose, the available banking options are more than likely to follow the standards set by traditional real money gambling sites. In most cases, you’ll be able to fund your on-site account using your credit card or a traditional bank wire transfer. Furthermore, many sites support e-wallet payments, which means that Neteller and PayPal are also an option.

Withdrawals are usually handled using the same method that you picked for making the first deposit, but many sites allow exceptions to this rule. Most sportsbooks and head to head services operate rather strict deposit and withdrawal limits. In most cases, you won’t be able to transfer less than $10 or more than $2,500, but keep in mind that the specifics may differ from site to site.

Bet Money Line Calculator

Some head to head sites might require you to pay a small transaction fee each time you request a payout, but that shouldn’t have a significant impact on your long-term profitability. Most sites will process your payments instantly, but keep in mind that cashing out might take a few days due to the fact that each request has to be thoroughly checked in order to prevent fraud.