A Beginner’s Guide to League of Legends Betting
There are some incredibly hot new games on the eSports betting scene right now, but the game most players find themselves immersed in has been around for years. According to Forbes, eight of the Top-10 most valuable eSports teams at the start of 2019 were playing League of Legends (LoL for short). Most of those teams can be found competing in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), with millions of people following the action around the world.
If you’re brand-new to the wonderful world of eSports, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll tell you all about League of Legends betting and how you can get involved here at Bodog Sportsbook. After reading this guide, you’ll understand what makes this game so compelling, and how you can squeeze maximum betting value from the LoL odds board.
The Rise and Popularity of LoL
In July 2002, Blizzard Entertainment released Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a real-time strategy game where players choose a faction to represent: Humans, Orcs, Night Elves, or Undead. One year later, an expansion pack called The Frozen Throne was released. A mod called Defense of the Ancients (DotA) soon followed; this proved so popular, it kicked off a whole new eSports craze: the multi-player online battle arena (MOBA).
Riot Games would eventually release their signature MOBA game in 2009. League of Legends asks you to team with other players and compete in matches with a specific goal, usually the destruction of the enemy base known as the Nexus. As you compete in more matches and gain experience, your power increases, as does your LoL ranking – which uses the Elo rating system found in other mind sports like chess and Scrabble. By 2012, LoL was the most-played computer game in the world.
The next step was the creation of the LCS by Riot Games in 2013. Ten franchises from across North America compete in this league; there’s also a 10-team league based in Europe called the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), and other similar leagues around the world. Every year, the regional winners meet at the League of Legends World Championship, where they vie for the top prize in the industry: the Summoner’s Cup.
Who Are the Best LoL Teams?
As with most eSports games, the top teams in League of Legends tend to come from Asia. The reigning world champions are Invictus Gaming, founded in China in 2011; they’re also No. 1 on the LoL rankings at press time. Next at No. 2 are Royal Never Give Up, also from China. They defeated Invictus Gaming to win the 2018 Summer split of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), China’s highest-level competition.
While these teams are certainly well-funded, the richest eSports teams can be found in the West. Cloud9 (based in Los Angeles) are only No. 12 on the LoL rankings, but they top the Forbes list of most valuable teams at $310 million. The richest EU team is Fnatic at $120 million; they’re fourth on the LoL rankings, and won both the Spring and Summer LEC splits in 2018 before falling to Invictus Gaming at the World Championship finals. All these teams have gained tremendous wealth through investment, sponsorship, and a massive audience of millions watching on streaming platforms like Twitch.
LoL Betting Strategy: What Should You Consider?
As with most sports, you have the choice of betting on individual LoL matches, or you can go to the futures market and bet on who will win the upcoming World Championship. You’ll find eSports betting odds for both options at Bodog Sportsbook. For specific matches, spreads, moneylines and totals are available; the spreads on the League Of Legends odds board are set at 1.5, much like the run line in baseball. LoL matches are best-of-three affairs, so if you take a team at –1.5, you’re betting that they’ll sweep the match 2-0. The total is based on the number of rounds the two teams will play (anywhere from two to five) to determine the winner.
For LoL futures, all the teams in a given tournament will be featured on the eSports odds board. These odds will remain available even as the tournament is in progress. As teams are eliminated, they’ll be taken off the board, until only two remain – then the futures market for that event is closed. At press time, South Korean-based Griffin (the No. 3-ranked team in LoL) are the favorites at +200 to win the 2019 World Championship in Paris. They’re the hot new team in South Korea, created in 2016 and hoping to rekindle that country’s eSports mojo.
How to Bet on LoL: Different Hero Types
The World Championship trophy is called the Summoner’s Cup for a reason: In League of Legends, you are a “summoner” who summons up a “champion” to do battle. At press time, there are 143 different champions to choose from, each with their own set of abilities. Katarina (“the Sinister Blade”), for example, can throw a mean knife, while Dr. Mundo (“the Madman of Zaun”) doesn’t mind setting himself on fire if that’s what it takes to get the job done.
Choosing the right champion for the job is obviously very important in League of Legends, but that’s only the beginning. Elite players must be able to perform the mental and physical task at hand, and in competitive LoL tournaments, these players have spent countless hours working on their craft. Strategies have also evolved over time, much like they have in poker; if you follow the sport and the latest innovations, you’ll know which teams are ahead of the curve and worth betting on.
Ultimately, the best way to appreciate League of Legends betting is to play the game yourself. But even if you simply enjoy following on Twitch, this is a game with a lot of strategic layers that you can pick up as you watch – and that’s what makes LoL such a great sport to bet on. You can summon up the latest eSports odds anytime, 24/7 right here at Bodog Sportsbook.
