Esports betting is increasingly gaining in popularity, and Bitcoin is now used at many of the leading esports bookmakers along with a whole range of smaller vendors. Unlike the traditional ‘sports’ of yesteryear, esports is played on PCs and consoles, with competitive tournaments that can reach prizepools exceeding $20,000,000 USD. This injection of funding has proven enormously powerful at driving support for the game, and with so much at stake, it’s no wonder Bitcoin users are chomping at the bit to place bets! Below you can find a list of all the available esports betting sites, along with filters to help you hunt out your perfect bookmaker with the biggest bonus and best rating!

Popular Esports Games to Bet On

Esports betting in itself is self explanatory for those familiar with traditional sports betting. The odds work in the same way to sports betting, and gamblers are ultimately tasked with betting on the correct outcome of a game. Where esports betting differs to traditional sports betting is in the games that are played, with some of them having extremely complex mechanics and ‘meta’ – a term used to describe the current approach to characters, items and strategy within the game. Below are a few of the most popular esports to bet on:

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)
CS:GO has risen to fame on Twitch.tv as one of the most exciting games to play. CS:GO is a first person shooter which pits 2 teams of 5 against each other in a best of 30 format. One team plays the counter terrorists (CT side) who are tasked with killing the opposing team – terrorists (T side) – or diffusing their bomb should the T side plant it. After round 15, the two teams switch sides to allow for a balanced match.

The most typical betting format for CS:GO is ‘bet to win’, however some esports betting sites have included more creative metrics to bet on, including first blood, MVP and many others.

Dota 2
Dota 2 is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game viewed from a top down perspective with 2 teams of 5 tasked with the mission of destroying the opposing team’s ‘ancient’ (Dota is short for, Defense of the Ancients). The game is filled with dozens of different heroes with their own distinct powers along with many more items that can lead to extremely unique and interesting outcomes. While Dota 2 is extremely popular, it is also quite hard to follow as a spectator sport, which is why many Esports bettors choose the simpler alternatives such as CS:GO. It is recommended that before betting on Dota 2 (or any other esport for that matter), gamblers famialirize themselves with the gameplay first, by either watching on Twitch.tv or purchasing the game for themselves.

Overwatch
Blizzard’s blockbuster Esports game, Overwatch, launched in 2016 and quickly grew to become one of the most popular first person shooters in gaming history. 2 teams of 6 play against each other on different map variations including capture the point style maps and a payload map (popularized by Team Fortress 2). As with other popular esports games, Overwatch has a selection of heroes to choose from with their own individual set of skills and ultimates. Gamblers can bet on Overwatch much in the same was as other esports betting games, and many betting sites will offer Overwatch in their list of games available.

Top Esports Bitcoin Betting Sites

While esports betting is popular amongst those wishing to bet with USD, EUR and GBP, there are a number of dedicated bitcoin esports betting sites, which we think are great. The site results below will show you a full list of all the esports betting sites that have bitcoin deposits available, but immediately below we have listed our top 3 bitcoin-focused options.

Nitrogen Sports
NitrogenSports.eu is possibly one of our favorite bitcoin gambling sites to ever have launched. Besides from a poker room, casino, dice game and sportsbook, Nitrogen Sports also has a big emphasis on esports betting. The “esportsbook” features many of the leading esports games, in particular they have CS:GO, Dota 2 and Overwatch available to bet on. Registration is also anonymous.

Betcoin Esports
We love Betcoin and so do our players that have left reviews on this site. In a similar way to Nitrogen Sports, Betcoin offers a huge range of games outside of esports, but also has some of the best bonuses in the bitcoin gambling industry. Betcoin offers live esports betting as well as a range of games to bet on, including our favorites listed above. In particular, Betcoin also has a fantastic chat feature, that allows players to discuss their bets (the good and the bad) with others in the community.

SportsBet.io
Owned and operated by CoinGaming.io and sitting alongside popular Bitcoin casino, BitCasino.io – SportsBet.io is one of the most trusted and reliable esportsbooks in the industry. Launched ahead of the Euros in summer 2016, SportsBet.io also provided a list of esports markets for gamblers to bet on, including famous games such as Dota 2’s “The International” (with a $20,000,000 prize pool) and many others. While SportsBet.io is not as well established as their rivals above, they do offer a fantastic service and a solid platform from which to make esports bets.