How To Perfect Your Esports Betting Strategy

Part of the recent explosion in esports as a billion-dollar industry is the addition of being able to easily bet on tournaments and live matches on a wide variety of games, including Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and League of Legends.

Many of the best offshore sportsbooks have a dedicated esports section with numerous betting markets available daily, and there are many big esports tournaments throughout the calendar year, including The International, Valorant Champions Tour, and the new Esports World Cup that started in 2024.

It’s very easy to place bets on esports, but it takes just as much time and dedicated research as you’d put into regular sports betting to be successful at it. Perfecting your esports betting strategy involves understanding the games, tracking stats, and choosing the right platform. For those interested in game-inspired betting formats, Betwinner Aviator offers a unique, high-paced betting experience that blends timing and instinct—perfect for strategy-focused players.

Below, we have included some tips to help perfect your esports betting strategy.

Manage Your Bankroll

This should go without saying, but you should always manage your bankroll and only wager what you can afford to lose. Just because these are video games doesn’t mean you’re not capable of losing real money just as you would on real sports bets.

So, stick with a unit size for your bets, don’t chase losses, sprinkle in some light underdogs from time to time, and track your bets in a spreadsheet to help with consistency and figuring out which types of bets are working best for you.

Find Your Best Games

While the esports landscape offers numerous titles, some remain fan favorites like League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2. Favorites mean more people tend to play them and bet on them. But if you see heavy favorites who are used to winning at these games, they may be safer bets to make than someone on a lesser-known game.

But your best strategy is to find a game or two you know the mechanics for, you know the different game styles for, and it wouldn’t hurt if you’ve played it yourself religiously at a time. Just remember that being good at a game doesn’t mean you’ll be good at making bets on esports winners.

But if you stick to a game you know best, that should help than if you’re just going in blind to different games for the sake of diversity. Find your best games.

Research Teams and Players

Just like you’d do with football and basketball, you should research as many teams and players as you can in esports. You should follow social media accounts (Reddit, Twitter/X, Discord, etc.) for real-time updates on how they’re doing or any big news like if a top player joins a special team like FaZe Clan.

Having data on what a player/team has done in the past is still your best way of predicting their future outcomes. Use online platforms, such as vlr.gg for Valorant, to research performance metrics. Focus on recent match outcomes, head-to-head records, and map win rates.

Make Use of Props and Live Bets

You can always bet on things beyond just who wins the match. You can make use of prop bets like total kills in CS2 or “first blood” in League of Legends. Some people will do better with props than picking match winners.

Live betting is also offered for esports, and that can be very fun and valuable for fast-paced games like Valorant where momentum can shift in a hurry, quickly changing the live odds and creating value for bettors.

You should also check multiple sportsbooks to make sure you are getting the best odds for your bets. A platform like Thunderpick can help with that.