💻 Operator | Betway | bet365 | Midnite | Unibet | BetVictor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
🎮 Games Available | 9 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
🔢 Markets offered | Up to 100 | Up to 100 | Up to 50 | Up to 20 | Up to 20 |
🏦 Betting Margins | 7.84% | 7.46% | 9.21% | 8.61% | 8.91% |
👉 Visit Site | Bet on Esports | Bet on Esports | Bet on Esports | Bet on Esports | Bet on Esports |
Esports may not be the biggest component of the betting industry in the UK, but it has grown significantly just in the last few years. Of course, the younger generation - which is more into video games - can now place bets and this has certainly helped a lot. However, the betting sites also deserve credit for improving the Esports betting experience.
Esports betting is still rather far behind, though, and it remains to be seen if the interest is big enough for betting sites to properly expand on this front. Having said this, there are some good Esports betting sites in the UK and we have put together our top 5 list below. We have focused on the things that truly matter to Esports punters, from the games available to live streaming options.
The leader of Esports betting thanks to good coverage, live streaming and a dedicated welcome offer.
A strong runner-up with many games to bet on, live streaming and a great depth of markets.
A perhaps unknown but good sportsbook for Esports, with many games and decent market depth.
A former top three site for Esports that has fallen off slightly, but still with decent coverage.
An allrounder when it comes to sports and the Esports offering is decent.
Betway is one of the established bookmakers in the UK, but the brand has also made a name for itself when it comes to Esports betting. It might seem obvious to pick them as the No.1 betting site for Esports, therefore, but it is still justified and there are plenty of reasons for this.
The most important thing, as when making any other top X betting site, is to look at the games and markets available. For Esports, popular games include DOTA 2, CS2 and Valorant, which are all available to bet on at Betway. There are also many markets for these, with the site offering up to 100 of them in-play for a game. This might not sound like a lot, but it is for Esports.
Punters at Betway will also be happy to hear that live streaming is offered for almost every single Esports game. This is very convenient and makes betting on Esports easier. Betway is actually one of the few that offers live streaming of so many Esports games, so it was another big reason to put the site top here.
Finally, those who sign up at Betway will be able to claim an Esports welcome offer, consisting of a £10 free bet. All you need to do is deposit at least £10, place a £10+ at a minimum odds of 3/4 (1.75) on Esports, and then the free bet will be credited to your account. This gives Betway an edge compared to the other betting sites on this list.
Pros
bet365 is undoubtedly one of the biggest bookmakers in the industry and its extremely comprehensive coverage of all sports is behind this. For Esports betting, however, bet365 was a bit late to the trend compared to everyone else and thus had to put in some hard work to catch up. This certainly paid off, as evidenced by second place here.
Punters who sign up at bet365 will be able to find all of the popular Esports games and there are many markets available before the games as well, not just in-play. Our test showed that there were around 100 in-play markets, thus in line with Betway, but the diversity of the markets seemed a bit better at bet365.
As for live streaming, bet365 offers it for select games but the site is not as strong as Betway here. On the other hand, bet365 has a very nice live betting infographic that punters can look at to get a grasp of what is going on. This certainly makes the site stand out and somewhat makes up for the lack of live streaming (for some games).
Finally, there is indeed a welcome offer at bet365 and although it is not Esports-dedicated, it can still be used for these markets. Simply deposit £10, place bets with minimum odds of 1/5 (1.20) to the same value, and then the £30 in free bets will be credited to your account.
Pros
Midnite was first launched back in 2019, making it one of the new betting sites, and there has been a particular focus on Esports since day one. Now that Esports betting is experiencing an upswing, Midnite subsequently already has a great foundation in place. For us, therefore, it was obvious to include the site on the list even if might not be as well known.
At Midnite, you will find all of the popular Esports games such as League of Legends, Call of Duty, Valorant and more. There is also a decent amount of market, even though no one can compete with Betway on that front. Punters at Midnite will find that there can be up to 50 markets available in-play, which is certainly higher than most Esports offerings in the UK.
Having said that, as opposed to our first picks on this list, Midnite does not offer live streaming of Esports games. This is perhaps not a huge con, as the games are often free to view on other platforms, but it certainly would have been a nice addition.
Furthermore, there is no welcome offer for the Esports section either. There is a general one that customers can claim, but the free bets are only eligible for select markets and some of these cannot be used for Esports betting.
Pros
Cons
Unibet was one of the first major betting sites to embrace esports, which is why so many esports fans have signed up for an account with this bookmaker already. The bookie used to run an active social media account for Esports, and there was also content on its blog, but this is no longer the case unfortunately.
In terms of games available, you will find the popular ones at Unibet and the betting site can thus be a decent choice, especially if you already have an account there. However, when checking out the site, we found that there were not as many markets available as the other sites. And this is something that most punters prioritise.
In addition to the relative lack of markets, Unibet does not offer live streaming for most of the Esports games despite what is otherwise a very strong service in Unibet TV. It is fair to say that Unibet is behind some of the other sites and this is a great shame, because it feels like the brand has pulled back on its Esports offering in the last few years.
At the very least the welcome offer, which is a money-back bonus of up to £40, can be used on the Esports markets. But that offer in itself is not among the best welcome offers on the market, so we advise punters to choose one of the other sites for a better deal.
Pros
Cons
BetVictor is one of the main bookmakers in the UK and punters who sign up here will find a comprehensive sportsbook. In addition to regular sports, the esports offering is also decent and if you already have an account on the site, it could be worth the convenience of placing your Esports bets there as well.
Punters will find a decent Esports offering at BetVictor with games such as CS2, efootball, Valorant and more available to bet on. The number of markets per game, at least during our testing, was okay with up to 20 of them in-play. Significantly behind Betway and bet365, in other words, but still more than most bookmakers will offer for Esports.
Streaming is not offered for most Esports games, which is a shame, but at least those who like to watch eFootball will be able to find streams for these games on BetVictor. Then, as has already been mentioned, most of these games will be available for free on other platforms so it does not affect the betting site too much.
BetVictor's welcome offer, which will get new customers £30 in free bets, can indeed be used on Esports markets even though some of the free bets will not be of use there. Overall, BetVictor has an okay Esports selection and if you already have an account there, the section will most likely suffice.
Pros
Cons
In our verdict of the best Esports betting sites, we made sure to test the betting margins for the Esports markets. Unsurprisingly, bet365 came out on top with an average of 7.46%, which is indeed quite low for Esports. Betway is another good option on this front, with an average of 7.86%.
The betting margins for Esports tend to be slightly higher than other sports, as it is more difficult for bookmakers to predict the outcome of these events. Charging slightly higher fees is thus their way of protecting themselves from huge losses. The only option for Esports punters is to choose the bookie with the lowest margins.
In our test of the best Esports betting sites in the UK, we decided to focus on factors that truly matter to Esports enthusiasts and punters. For example, how many games are available and is live streaming offered? By eliminating the unnecessary details of these betting sites, we were able to come up with a reliable ranking which focuses solely on Esports.
If you are interested, you can also read about how we rate online betting sites here.
As with any other sport, if you are a fan that is, the coverage of the betting site is very important and Esports is no different. After all, you want your betting site of choice to have most Esports games. When we compiled the list, therefore, we made sure to double check the games available and also listed these for each site (as you can see above).
In addition to the games available, we have many markets were usually on offer in-play, as most punters will often want to do more than just bet on the winning team. Even though some betting sites have a lot of Esports game, they can lack in the number of markets and this is something we placed great weight on.
It should be noted that some of the betting sites remove some games when there are no major tournaments. As a result, these might appear again once there are actually main events to bet on, so take the list with a grain of salt. It will certainly give you a general idea of the situation, though.
Promotions are a great way for betting sites to entice new customers and keep existing ones happy. However, these are almost only available for the 'regular sportsbook' and not the Esports section, which is a shame really. There are some exceptions to this, and we made sure to highlight the welcome offers/promotions in our list of the top 5 Esports betting sites.
Betway, for example, has a welcome offer which has been made solely for the Esports section, once again showcasing the site's dedication to Esports betting. But the promotions are something that betting sites generally will have to improve, as it could help scale up the Esports betting industry.
Streaming is another important piece of the puzzle when it comes to Esports betting. Of course, most of the games/events will be free-to-stream on other platforms - such as Twitch - but it is certainly convenient to have it all on the betting site of your choice. The best ones do offer streaming for most events, thankfully, and Betway seems to be the main site on this front.
In any case, we made sure to double-check the I've streaming offering when reviewing the site and also included this in the motivation. If streaming is important for you and your Esports betting, there will be no issues with picking out the right bookie.
The number of markets available for esports on sports betting sites is growing all the time. Right now there are a few main options offered, which include the following:
Skins betting: Most gambling on sport is in cash, but esports has an alternative known as skins betting. In skins betting for esports events, virtual currency such as coins or in-game items is instead used for wagers. Skins can include an avatar, weapons, or game equipment.
Fantasy betting: Fantasy sports have been around for a long time, with competitions like the Fantasy Premier League in football enjoyed by millions of people around the world. It is therefore natural that fantasy esports has also developed, with real money up for grabs to players.
Map winner: Moving on to esports betting markets themselves, this option does exactly what the name suggests. Users simply bet on who will be the map winner in a particular match.
First blood: This is the team or player that records the first kill of a tournament match. First-blood markets tend to be offered for games such as CS2 and Call of Duty, plus a few others.
Handicaps: Most sports fans will be familiar with how handicap markets work. They are a major part of the esports betting offering on a lot of the top sites. Users will find handicaps are very useful in the event of one esports team being a big favourite to win a particular match.
Winning team: Another fairly self-explanatory esports betting market, this involves predicting which team is going to come out on top at the end of a particular match or tournament.
Most kills: For some esports matches, customers on betting sites have the chance to bet on which player will get the most kills. Over and under markets for kills are also offered as well.
Outright: Many esports betting sites allow their users to place ante-post wagers on the top tournaments, which include the likes of the League of Legends World Championship.
Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis. If you have any questions about online gambling in the UK, please don't hesitate to contact him.