If you’ve ever placed a sports bet online, you’ll notice many similarities when it comes to traditional eSports betting. It features the same types of bets and odds. The major difference between eSports and traditional sports betting is what you’re betting on. One of which is Betting on Yourself in eSports.
In eSports, you’re gambling on individual players or teams to win a gaming competition. For example, you might bet on BIG to beat FaZe in a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) moneyline bet.
eSports betting also offers a variety of other bet types, including totals (over/under), live betting, prop bets, and others. Again, if you’re familiar with sports betting, you should have no trouble transitioning to eSports betting. If you’re new to betting in general, you can check out this guide on how to bet on eSports.
Basics of Betting on Yourself in eSports
If you’re like most players, you’re far from being a professional. But you might still have aspirations to earn money through your gaming skills. In the past, the only way to do this was to spend countless hours mastering a single game. Even then, becoming a professional was a huge challenge.
Fortunately, however, some platforms now offer you ways to bet on your skills even if you’re far from being a professional. These platforms allow you to gamble money on your or your team’s ability to win a match. The concept is simple: win the match, win the bet.
No one wants to keep gambling when they lose most of the time. That’s why player-versus-player (PvP) platforms solve this problem using matchmaking systems.
Here’s the basics of how matchmaking works:
- You sync your Xbox, PS4, or Steam profile with the platform.
- Their system searches for players of the same rank.
- You get matched with opponents of equal skill.
Player-vs-player betting has existed for over a decade, so it’s nothing new. However, the previous dilemma with competitive gambling was creating a fair playing field.
Matchmaking eliminates this issue. It looks at specific metrics (such as kill-to-death ratio) to match players of similar skill levels together.
Betting on Yourself in eSports Vs Bettiing on Others
Traditional eSports betting is still the most popular way to bet in eSports competitions. As mentioned earlier, it closely mirrors traditional sports betting in many ways.
With traditional betting, you’re wagering money on professionals. You can improve your chances of winning by handicapping the match in advance and looking for value on one side or another.
Here’s an example:
You’re looking at an Overwatch match between Avoided and Obey Alliance.
Avoided -200
Obey Alliance +155
You handicap the match and feel that Obey Alliance is undervalued at +155.
Betting on player versus player (PvP) might look similar in terms of odds. For example, you could jump into a Call of Duty match with eight players total, and you’d get a +475 chance of winning. Of course, the major difference here is that you control the outcome of the bet.
Your skills will directly affect your performance. This is very different from traditional betting, where you can’t do anything after placing the bet. You simply sit back and watch professionals determine the outcome.
Advantages of Betting on Yourself in eSports
Betting on yourself provides a different kind of thrill compared to regular eSports gambling. Below are the key benefits of this type of betting.
You’re Directly Engaged in the Action
You might not need much incentive to play video games. After all, they’re incredibly entertaining on their own. However, adding gambling to the mix enhances an already exciting experience. Not only can you enjoy the games you love, but you can also invest money on the line.
Whether you win or lose, you’ll experience more excitement than if you were playing just for fun. You may even fall in love with this type of betting over traditional eSports betting.
You Can Earn Money by Playing Well
Professionals used to be the only ones making money from playing video games. Meanwhile, you were left on the sidelines. The advent of PvP gambling has changed that. It allows you to participate in the event and earn money if you play well enough. Of course, the matchmaking system makes it harder to dominate. But you can still have a great run and make some serious money.
PvP Betting Doesn’t Require Much Adjustment
PvP gambling offers similar opportunities to traditional betting. That said, you shouldn’t feel confused when switching between the two. You’ll typically deal with moneylines when betting on yourself. As long as you understand moneylines, you’ll be fine.
Disadvantages of Betting on Yourself in eSports
Betting on your own performance is certainly a different experience. However, this experience isn’t always a positive one due to the following downsides.
It’s Hard to Separate Yourself from the Pack
Player matching is a necessary evil in PvP betting. After all, bookmakers can’t risk losing too many customers due to unbalanced matchups.
Of course, you can improve your skills and keep winning matches to rise through the ranks. However, at a certain point, you’ll encounter opponents of equal or greater skill.
Account Sharing Can Happen
Current ranking systems are much better than those of previous platforms (which no longer exist). However, they’re not 100% foolproof. One way players can circumvent the system and exploit opponents is by sharing their accounts with a better player.
For example, a below-average player might share their login details with a semi-professional friend. Or, if they personally know a skilled player, they might just invite them back. In both cases, these accomplices exploit the ranking system and win more often.
Gambling Can Take the Fun Out of Playing
You might find that PvP betting becomes so addictive that you start to drift away from the fun of playing. This is perfectly fine as long as you have the money to keep playing and betting. However, over time, the process can start to feel like a grind. The added gambling aspect can make it more intense, which might wear you out eventually.
You probably didn’t start playing video games with the sole goal of becoming a professional or, more recently, betting on yourself. However, PvP gambling can steal some of the joy from the game.
Should You Start Gambling with Your Own Skills?
You should seriously consider betting on yourself if you:
- Enjoy playing.
- Want more on the line when you play.
PvP games won’t fully replace traditional eSports betting. However, they do bring a fresh perspective to the matter.
As covered in this post, betting on yourself comes with both advantages and disadvantages. You might not find player-vs-player eSports betting perfect. However, you can still give it a try if you believe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Betting on Yourself in eSports: Conclusion
You shouldn’t have much trouble starting to bet on PvP games. The odds and betting process are very similar between the two. However, the main difference is that you’re actually playing the game instead of betting on professionals to win. This unique aspect makes player-vs-player betting special.
More platforms are now allowing you to bet on your own skills. If you enjoy eSports betting, you might want to consider giving this type of betting a try.