Everyone and their dog have heard of esports, and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must have become familiar with the rapidly growing world of competitive video games. As an industry that began in the previous century, esports is nowadays a massive business that was quickly accepted into the betting world.
Although still a fairly new concept, esports betting continues to attract new action-hungry bettors from all backgrounds, including seasoned sports punters, esports fans, and those who have no idea of what esports is and how betting works. For those new to esports betting, we have already written an in-depth guide on the key strategies that will help you on your esports betting journey, and here we’ll build on that by unveiling some of the biggest mistakes all beginner esports punters make.
-
Failing To Understand Betting Basics
One of the biggest esports betting mistakes new bettors make is not taking the time to learn the betting basics. It’s easy to feel overly excited about starting betting on esports matches, but without a solid foundation, your journey will take you nowhere.
So before you start considering starting an esports betting career, every esports bettor should first learn how to read online betting odds, understand how online esports betting sites work, and familiarize themselves with the betting markets.
If you have no previous experience in betting, this will take time and determination, but spending some time to learn the basics is far better than losing money.
-
Not Following The Esports Scene
If you’re serious about betting on esports, then it definitely helps if you’re an esports fan or at the very least, enjoy following the esports scene. You don’t necessarily have to have a favorite team or be a die-hard esports fan who watches every esports tournament. But it certainly helps if you enjoy esports.
Every successful esports bettor will follow the esports scene closely, as only this way can you keep up to date with the news that will help you find smart bets. And even though there’s a lot more that goes into researching which bets to place, staying up to date with the recent developments in the esports world will go a long way.
-
Not Using The Right Esports Betting Site
Thanks to the growing popularity of esports betting, bettors are given an endless supply of betting sites to choose from. Not only can you bet on esports on esports bookmakers, but you can also use some traditional sports betting sites to place bets on your favorite esports title.
Like in any other industry, every bookmaker will try to portray itself as the best, and each has its own approach to achieving that. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily true, and you don’t need to be one of the seasoned bettors to discover that some esports betting sites offer a lot more than others.
Betting sites are very efficient in attracting new customers by inviting betting bonuses, free bets, and promotions, and often a good promotion is enough to bring in tens of millions of new bettors onto the platform. But a lot of bettors won’t realize that in order for the betting sites to offer generous bonuses, they’ll increase their margins, which will ultimately impact the odds you’ll use to bet with.
Some betting sites go even so far as not to let bettors win and will quickly limit you if you start winning too much with your bets. Evidently, there’s a lot to digest and to be aware of when picking the right bookmaker for you, and even though it does take some time to locate the betting site that will give you what you need, it’s a time well spent.
One of the most common esports betting mistakes is registering with the first betting site available to you. But if you want to be a successful esports bettor, you should avoid this trap and learn to recognize solid esports bookmakers.
-
Not Using The Best Available Betting Odds
It can’t be overstated how important it is to always bet with the best available betting odds, and taking it for granted is the biggest mistake you can make as a beginner. Betting odds will, at the end of the day, dictate how much money you will make per bet, and while many are aware of that, most of beginners don’t understand that every small advantage will add up in the long run.
For example, if you’re consistently betting with odds that are just 0.05 over the best available betting odds, you stand to lose €0.5 for every €10 bet. That might not sound a lot, but over one, two, or five years, when you’ve placed 100, 1000, or 10,000 bets, you’ll lose out on €50, €500, or €5000 in profit.
Betting is a numbers game, and right from the start, you should be aware that bookmakers will do everything they can to get an edge, no matter how small. And the only way to succeed in esports betting and thinking like a professional bettor is to get any advantage for yourself you can.
-
Not Being Aware Of Cognitive Biases
You might believe that you have control over your actions and thoughts, which is true to some degree, but it’s very tough to avoid biases that will cause any bettor – no matter whether we talk about rookie esports bettors, experience punters, or sharp bettors – deviate from what they would consider rational judgment.
Punters might not be able to avoid biases, which ultimately harm their decision-making and financial ability, and that’s fine. But one of the most common esports betting mistakes is not being aware of them.
One of the most common biases in betting is the Confirmation bias, which leads esports bettors to be drawn to evidence that they’re making the right bet and picking the winning team whilst disregarding all the evidence that might prove otherwise.
Another major bias affecting any esports bettors, especially when they start betting on esports, is Anchoring, which is the tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information and place bets without paying attention to it any developments and news that might make that info obsolete.
-
Being Overconcerned About Losses
Before you start betting on esports, you have to come to terms with the fact that there will be times when your bets will miss, and there will be losing streaks. Most people mistakenly think that losing bets is one of the most common esports betting mistakes, but that’s not the case. Instead, it’s fear of losing money that will do you more harm.
Expecting that you’ll win most of your bets is one of the most unrealistic expectations you can have before you start betting on your favorite esports titles. And the sooner you come to terms with the fact that losing bets is a part of the process, the better off you’ll be.
A common esports betting misconception is that the best punters don’t lose, which simply isn’t true. Admittedly, good punters will lose less often than they win, but everyone, no matter how good he is, will lose money at some point – the trick is to know how to get back in the green.
-
Not Taking Betting Seriously
Betting can be a fun pastime activity, and there is nothing wrong with treating it as such. But if you’re serious about making extra money with it, then you should treat it seriously.
Those who wish to place bets only for fun or entertainment can bet on any popular game they wish without doing any research to understand how to find value bets. But if you’re in it to make money, it requires some level of determination and seriousness.
-
Not Understanding The Concept Of Value
One of the most common esports betting mistakes is not understanding the concept of value, and many new punters will not correctly understand what it actually is. Some see value as simply finding a team that is on a hot streak but is priced at high odds, but that can’t be further from the truth.
Value is all about understanding how odds work, what they mean and represent, and calculating your own win probability and comparing it to the offered prices on bookmakers. If your probability is higher than the presented number, then you can say that you’ve found a value bet.
But know that value isn’t a subjective opinion of what you believe will happen. Rather is a combination of searching for information and using models and historical data to create a more accurate prediction than the betting site.
-
Chasing Losses
One of the most common mistakes new people who start betting on esports make is chase losses. And while it might be in our nature to panic when things don’t go right, you have to avoid involving any emotions in esports or sports betting.
For example, if you’re betting on the League of Legends World Championship and have lost six straight bets of €10 each, you should never try to make up the lost money by placing €20 bets. Instead, you should trust your judgment and keep with the plan since making anger driven bets (or any bets you place due to emotions) will only dig your hole deeper.
It might seem wise to increase your stake in hopes that one won bet would cover two lost bets, but that approach will never work and only harm you long-term. One of the most common mistakes is involving emotions when betting, and something even some of the most experienced bettors often struggle with.
This tip builds on what we’ve learned under no.6 of the most common mistakes esports punters make but looks at it from another perspective.
-
Bankroll Management
Managing bankroll is one of the most important skills any esports (or sports) punter must learn alongside the awareness of variance. As we’ve established, losing streaks are a part of the process, and while no one can avoid them – even the best esports punters – you can be ready for them and know how to deal with dry streaks.
The best and easiest way to fight losing streaks is to manage your bankroll properly, meaning you manage the funds you have available, i.e. determining which stakes you’ll take and when. Proper bankroll management will not prevent you from losing cash, but it will limit your chances of going broke.
Final Words
Entering the world of esports betting can be a daunting task to some, especially since there is a lot to learn, but every bettor has to start somewhere. In this guide, we have touched on the most common mistakes esports bettors make, which lead them to either lose money or not win as much as they could.
Although understanding common mistakes is just one of the steps you’ll have to take to become a successful bettor, knowing where many punters go wrong can help you greatly in avoiding making mistakes and starting your esports betting journey on the right foot.
