The birth of sports betting can be traced back to the first sports competitions and other sporting events in ancient times. Since then, the sports betting industry has come a long way to becoming a pastime adored by millions of people. Throughout history, betting has gone hand in hand with the sports industry, evolving, adapting, and transforming along with it.
The biggest catalyst for change in human activity has been the breakthrough in technology in computers, the Internet, and mobile technology. The development of technology has influenced the growth and popularity of eSports wagering and has not passed by the sports industry.
Horse Racing has not changed much since the massive Internet and mobile technology spread, and they have become more popular due to increased accessibility. The most significant change in the sports industry has been eSports’ emergence and rapidly growing popularity.
What is eSports?
eSports is a multiplayer video game played by professional gamers for spectators in competitive mode. The first video game competition took place at Stanford University in October 1972. Still, in the 21st century, with improvements in broadband access and the growth of the gaming industry, eSports has become an extremely popular trend.
People worldwide watch professional players participating in tournaments in games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, League of Legends, Hearthstone, and Overwatch. As eSports tournaments have begun to garner a huge fan and viewer base, betting on them has proven to be a lucrative industry. What are the similarities and differences between bet on eSports and horse racing, and if so, which one is better?
Horse racing and eSports betting — what do they have in common?
At first glance, horse racing and eSports are completely different, but the similarities between the two are undeniable. Both disciplines have a form of competition to determine the winner. Because of their structure, similar forms of betting take place: betting on the outcome, betting on events within the event.
Betting on horse racing and eSports can be placed in the same bookmakers, and Bookmakers offer different betting lines and odds, and players can choose among them the most attractive. As in horse racing betting, to make correct predictions in eSports betting, you need to analyze and understand the nature of the competition.
At the same time, the features of eSports distinguish it from the traditional variety and horse racing in particular. For example, horse racing has set rules. eSports are video games, and like any multiplayer video game, they are constantly being updated.
Changes can be made to the gameplay, individual characters and maps can be updated separately. The whole game can be unbalanced. New abilities added or taken away from characters. This can increase or decrease the effectiveness of strategies and significantly affect professional players who participate in competitions. Also, eSports is much more dependent on luck, which makes the game’s outcome much more unstable and unpredictable.
It’s easy to find a guide on the internet on how to bet on both horse racing and Dota 2, CS:GO, etc. By adapting the strategy to your own needs, you can easily make it a winning one. You can bet live, or you can make long term predictions.
The advantages of eSports are:
- The frequency of events is much higher than in racing sports: each team can have about 15 games a week. This gives plenty of options.
- Because of the high randomness of game events, the possibility of an outsider winning increases.
- eSports is insufficiently studied and analyzed by bookmakers. Therefore, betters can take advantage of odds that do not reflect the real probability of events.
As for the disadvantages of eSports, the main disadvantages are the low limits offered by bookmakers. They consider this market as a high-risk market. Often, technical difficulties can dramatically change the outcome of an event. Contractual games occur, which devalue any analysis of the likelihood of the event’s outcome.
As you can see, eSports and Horse Racing have a lot in common. That said, some factors set them apart. There’s no sure answer as to whether betting on Horse Racing or eSports is better. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, as well as ardent fans. They both contribute greatly to the industry. If horse racing is at the origins of betting, eSports is a natural industry extension.