There are all sorts of types of bets you can make on matches. One term thrown around to describe these bet types is betting markets. This might be confusing but don't worry, it's a piece of cake once you have a basic understanding. Here are few of the more popular bet types:

  • Money Lines
  • Handicap Lines
  • Totals
  • Propositions (prop bets)

Money Line Betting

This is what you'll see damn near everywhere. You're just betting on who is going to win the match. Money lines are also the main way you'll see odds for a match. In the example below, you would just bet on Fnatic to win or to bet on Optic Gaming to win. The odds dictate how much money you'd receive if you're correct. To learn more about odds and payouts, click here.

Esports Odds

Handicap Betting

If there is a heavy favorite in a match, you will sometimes see a handicapped bet. Imagine Cloud9 is a huge favorite as they play Fnatic in a best of 5 series. On a money line bet, you might see odds like 1.08 for Fnatic and 6.44 for Fnatic. Cloud9 could sweep 3-0, win 3-1, or win 3-2. Any of those returns $1.08 on your $1 bet. Not exactly the most enticing bet in the world.

To make it a bit more exciting and give you alternative betting options, you may see a handicapped offering. Instead of betting on Cloud9 to win (and get the $1.08 on your $1 bet), you might be able to bet on Cloud9 to win 3-0. This would be shown as -2.5, which means Cloud9 would need to win by more than 2.5 games for you to win your bet (sweep 3-0). If they win 3-1 or 3-2, you'd lose your bet.

Instead of just betting on the outright winner like with a money line bet, you can bet on different outcomes. This varies from game to game. In CS:GO, you may be able to bet on number of games within a series or even round scores. In Dota 2, you may be able to bet on the number of games won within a series or even number of kills within a game.

Betting on Totals

Unlike the typical money line bet, you will be betting on a specific stat of the game such as:

  • Total maps played
  • Total kills
  • Total points
  • Total rounds

This is sometimes referred to as an over under bet (or over/unders or o/u). You are deciding if a certain stat will go over the amount shown or under the amount shown.

As an example, for a Dota 2 match, you may see the option to bet on over 43.5 kills. You win your bet if the combined kills of the two teams is 44 or more. 43 kills or less? You lose. The winner of the match doesn't matter at all for this bet.

Proposition Bets (Prop Bets)

Prop bets or props are specialty bets on the most obscure parts of a match. You can bet on crazy things like:

  • How many kills a certain player gets
  • Which team will get first blood
  • If the match will go over 30 minutes
  • Whether or not there will be a pause longer than 5 minutes

Prop bets are popular amongst casual bettors as they can make watching a blowout a lot more fun.

Want to know more? We can help!

We are here to help you become familiar with esports betting so that you can comfortably toss a few dollars on a match and level up your excitement and enjoyment even more. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to contact us!

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