LoL esports betting guide 2024

League of Legends is one of the biggest esports on the planet, with millions of people playing, watching and following this Riot Games title. League of Legends betting is available at most online betting sites, with LoL one of the most common games you will find. The best online sportsbooks for League of Legends betting will vary greatly depending on your location.The best LoL betting sites will allow you to bet via mobile and even stream the game you are wagering on. Our LoL betting guide includes tips on finding the best sportsbooks for esports. EsportBet.com always recommends LoL betting with licensed and regulated betting sites:

Best LoL esports betting

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S-Tier LoL esports events in 2024

Major LoL esports leagues

The LoL esports world is broken up into nine different regions, with the best of the best from each zone meeting regularly to compete for huge prize pools. The League of Legends esports regions are as follows:

• China: League of Legends Pro League (LPL)
• Korea: League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK)
• North America: League of Legends Championship Series (LCS)
• Europe: League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC)
• Southeast Asia: Pacific Championship Series (PCS)
• Vietnam: Vietnam Championship Series (VCS)
• Brazil: Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL)
• Japan: League of Legends Japan League (LJL)
• Latin America: The Liga Latinoamérica (LLA)

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What is League of Legends?

League of Legends is a PC/Mac OSX multiplayer online battle arena video game which has become one of the biggest esports in the world since its original release in 2009. With dozens of tournaments held around the world celebrating pro LoL players, throwing around million dollar prize pools and selling out tickets like hot cakes, it’s only natural gamers would want to pay attention to the game responsible for bringing their beloved hobby to the world stage in recent years.

If you are a fan of LoL and want to learn more about the game, its format and rules, jargon and terminology and top players and teams, this up-to-date esports guide has you covered. We also detail how to place a bet on League of Legends, the types of betting markets available on each match, and the world’s highest-rated LoL esports betting sites.

League of Legends gameplay

League of Legends is a fast and frantic multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) perfect for competitive play, both between buddies and at a professional level. It blends the gameplay of several genres together, including real time strategy (RTS) and role-playing games (RPG) to create something very unique. As an unseen commander with a third-person isometric perspective over the battlefield, players control one of 135 + champions, each with their own unique abilities, skills and playstyles to accomodate a large variety of different strategies and tactics, and pits them against enemy opponents.

A typical League of Legends match starts with two teams of five players at opposing sides of a map, called the Summoner’s Rift, which is the only map in the game. The starting area is called the Spawning Pool, which also houses a crucial structure at its heart called the Nexus. The main objective of the game is to destroy the other team’s Nexus, which is not only protected by members of the opposing team, but defensive structures and obstacles such as minions, neutral monsters and turrets. The match is definitively won whenever one team successfully destroys the other’s Nexus first.

All champions start fairly weak at the beginning of the match, but as they accumulate gold and XP, the competitive edge can change fairly rapidly depending on the team’s individual skill and cohesion as a unit. A massive part of the average LoL match is completing objectives to earn gold and experience points and spending them to purchase items, increase a champion’s stats and further enhance abilities for additional advantages. It’s already fairly intense in the average, non-professional match-up, so imagine what high-level play is like! Intense doesn’t do it justice – enthralling is a better fit.

Champions and class types in League of Legends

League of Legends’ 138 character roster can be incredibly overwhelming to digest for newcomers, as it is unlike many other video games, competitive or non-competitive, in its diversity. Every playable champion has unique abilities and fosters particular playstyles and not all of them can be neatly classified under a particular type. However, the developer of LoL, Riot Games, has provided six basic types to help beginners: Assassin, Mage, Fighter, Marksmen, Tank, and Support.

Assassin

An agile champion specialising in fast damage meant to take down enemy opponents as quickly as possible, usually with melee-centric weapons and abilities. Excellent at taking down champions with low health pools or slow attack rates due to their mobility, but are also weak in defense to offset their high speed. Some examples of heroes in this class include Ahri, Shen, Twitch and Zed.

Mage

A magic-wielding champion specialising in powerful spells and support skills that annihilate opponents quickly and buff allies with a diverse range of benefits dependent on the champion. Many have AoE (Area of Effect) spells which hurt multiple enemies at a time, while others have DPS spells (Damage Per Second) which focus on killing single enemy champions quickly. Their powers are offset by long casting times to execute their spells, low mobility and their low health pools. Some examples of heroes in this class include Anivia, Galio, Karthus, Lulu and Swain.

Fighter

A jack-of-all-trades champion usually specialising in being a damage dealer or tank, with a decent health pool and higher-than-average damage output. Usually use melee weapons, but some ranged heroes fir this category as well. Some examples of heroes in this class include Irelia, Lee Sin, Jax and Wukong.

Marksman

A ranged champion specialising in dealing physical damage safely from a distance, usually sustained to wear down opponents as the match goes on. Many champions which fit this classification are high DPS (Damage Per Second) characters, but their offensive lethality is offset by their low defense. Best used for taking out neutral monsters or destroying crucial objectives, such as barons, dragons, and enemy turrets. Some examples of heroes in this class include Draven, Caitlyn, Kindred, Tristana and Varus.

Tank

A tough champion specialising in crowd control and keeping opponents at bay because of their high health pool. Their endurance and ability to soak up damage is offset by the low base damage of their attacks. Some examples of heroes in this class include Amumu, Dr. Mundo, Garen, Malphite, and Leona.

Support

A support champion specialising in backing up team-members with helpful buffing and healing abilities, or incapacitating enemy opponents with debilitating effects. They are best paired up with other team members, and are useful for scouting out unseen parts of the map with their ability to place wards. Some examples of heroes in this class include Leona, Janna, Maoki, Morgana and Taric.

Can I bet on League of Legends esports?

As already pointed out, League of Legends is one of the most popular esports in the world, so you can definitely place a bet on your favourite team at several of the best esports betting sites on the Internet.

Due to the fast-paced nature of LoL’s gameplay combined with the complexity of its RPG upgrade systems and the need to know the in’s and out’s of every part of Summoner’s Rift and the 135 + champions available for professional players to pick and play, we generally recommend anyone looking to place a wager on a high-level esport tournament have decent knowledge of the game first. Otherwise, do some reading and get to know the basics at the very least – luckily for you, we have beginner’s guides to LoL esports betting right here for your benefit.

Before you decide to bet on League of Legends anywhere, though, we highly advise reading our beginner’s guide to betting on esports to understand the odds and markets open to you, so you can learn how to actually place a bet on your favourite League of Legends team properly.

When you are eventually ready to bet, we have reviews of the highest rated League of Legends esports betting sites for your convenience, so you can find the best sportsbook catering to customers from your country with generous bonuses, safe deposit and withdrawal methods and the best odds.

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League of Legends bet types

Every single online esports betting site offers markets on major League of Legends tournaments, many of them straightforward and easy to understand for the average bettor and some more specific to the game’s unique format.

Here, we detail the types of bets you can place on LoL esports, based on the available markets offered by our highest rated esports betting sites.

• Match Winner
  You are betting on the result of the match – which team successfully destroys the other team’s Nexus and wins. The betting terminology varies between sportsbooks, but generally it is known as a ‘Match Winner’, ‘Money Line’ or ‘Head to Head’ bet. The odds are reflective of the perceived skill level of each team, and are usually based on their most recent win/loss records, roster changes and other potential player mishaps.
• First Baron or Dragon
  You are placing a bet on the team who kills the first Baron or Dragon. Both the Baron and Dragon are neutral, computer-controlled enemies which both teams can strive to eliminate for various buffs and benefits, at the cost of leaving their flanks undefended or opposition unaccounted for should they be killed by either.
• First Inhibitor/Tower
  You are placing a bet on the team who kills the first inhibitor or tower. Each lane on the map have towers and inhibitors which can be destroyed by both teams for gold and experience, and other benefits such as spawning friendly super minions to distract the enemy team – at the cost of being distracted with these side objectives.
• Handicap
  You are placing a bet on whether the team with the handicap advantage or disadvantage win one map in a series or to win without dropping a map.
• Outright Winner
  A common type of bet you can place on esports is betting on the overall winner of specific tournaments – not individual matches, but the entire tournament in question.

LoL betting online

League of Legends betting is available at many of the best online betting sites, with LoL one of the biggest esports on the planet. Pretty much, if an online bookmaker has esports betting they will almost certainly have wagering on LoL. The amount of LoL betting markets, odds and promotions will vary from betting site to bookmaker, but as a general rule when the bigger events roll around, there will be more options available to us punters.

Many of the biggest esports betting sites are names most would recognise, that also have a huge in-print in sports and horse racing betting, like Bet365, William Hill and 888 Sports. While there are also many dedicated esports betting sites that do an outstanding job, like GG.Bet, ArcaneBet and Pixel.Bet.

Many of the best LoL betting sites will also have an online casino and other gambling pursuits available, with the casino including things like real money slots, poker games, blackjack and roulette. Overall LoL betting is readily available online

Best LOL betting sites

The top LOL betting sites will largely depend on where you are in the world, with many countries having regulated sports betting, which encompasses betting on professional video games. These League of Legends betting sites will allow you to bet via both computer and mobile, while some even have telephone betting services.

Payment options at LOL betting sites include things like credit and debit cards, web wallets and payment processors, while some even accept bitcoin payments. Really, the options available for you to fund a LoL betting site will depend on where you are based in the world. For instance, many punters at UK esports betting sites will deposit with Paypal, same goes at Australian esports betting companies, while this option will not be available to customers in countries with stricter esports betting laws.

Many of the best LOL betting sites have extensive markets, with odds even provided for things like overall winner of events and Most Valuable Player awards. The future is massive for League of Legends, and we expect LoL betting online to continue to grow with it as the younger generation graduate into full time employment.

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League of Legends, then and now

If we were to compare League of Legends back in the day and the one we have today, it would be like looking at two completely different games. From a small project, the developers used to play in their free time, to one of the biggest and most popular MOBA games in the world, League of Legends has had a hectic journey, and we’ll be taking a look at some of the changes that defined the game throughout the years.

We’re all aware of how simple the game used to be in terms of the objectives. What we’re talking about here is obtaining map control via destroying the opposing team’s structures and securing the neutral monster camps. The turrets, inhibitors and the nexus were fairly straight forward; and as that still remains true for the inhibitors and the nexus, the turrets have had quite a few changes. This was in order to compensate for the meta developing around switching lanes and destroying the turrets as fast as possible. After a number of changes, the newest one, Armor Plating, seems to be the best so far. The turret will have more resilience up to a certain point in the game, and award you more gold for taking each plating down. This is also a huge incentive for you to shove your lane and allows champions that do not roam well to keep up with the potential gold their opponent could earn by ganking another lane.

Neutral monster camps have also changed significantly. Whereas there used to be only one type of drake, now there are five (cloud, mountain, infernal, ocean and elder). Killing each one will give you a certain amount of bonus, whether it be health regeneration, movement speed, bonus damage or increased durability in fights. And the elder used to buff the other bonuses significantly. These changes themselves were quite new and still powerful, but in the latest season, even they have been changed. Now, there is something called the Dragon Soul, which is chosen at random and upon killing 4 drakes will be granted to the team. This is, simply put, a more powerful version of the drake’s bonus.

Two more notable changes regarding drakes are the fact that once the second drake is killed, the map will later change depending on the type, spawning more walls, bushes or speed up areas. This keeps the game dynamic and the players on their feet, as they have to adapt to the changes. Using this to your advantage is key, especially for junglers. The other notable change is to the elder dragon buff. It now grants an execute on enemies below 20% health when you hit them with a basic attack or a spell. Think of this as everyone suddenly having Pyke’s ultimate on every attack and offensive spell. This makes the drakes even more fierce than they have ever been and perhaps the most significant objective to secure.

Now, all of these do impact the game quite a lot and will often dictate how you need to play. But, there is one more crucial component that we need to mention. The champions. With the roster constantly being updated, you might feel a lot has changed. Well, in essence, not really. Each patch brings with it a new set of buffs and nerfs, which pretty much define which champions will be at the top and which ones will be at the bottom. This is most noticeable in high elo, with lower elo players copying that style. This is the cycle that defines the word “meta” and it is everchanging. Reworks, updates, ground-up changes do not matter much in the grand scheme of things, and game sense still counts for much more than individual mechanical skill. This part of LoL, it seems, has not changed drastically.

League of Legends betting by country

Like we have previously mentioned, League of Legends betting availability will vary greatly from country to country, with the betting sites someone in Australia will bet on LoL with completely different brands to those in somewhere like Sweden. This is all to do with licensing and what is legal in your country. Below we will give you an overview of League of Legends betting in some of the countries it is most popular:

LoL esports betting sites for the USA

Esports fans from the USA will be happy to know there are several international licensed and regulated online sportsbooks offering betting markets on major League of Legends tournaments, which you can wager in with US dollars. All of the following lol esports betting sites take match winner, handicap, first baron, first tower, first inhibitor and many other LoL prop bets on the latest League of Legend match-ups, with safe deposit and withdrawal methods such as Bitcoin, Visa credit card and virtual wallets like Neteller and Skrill.

BetOnline:
The #1 online sportsbook for North American esports fans due to their long-standing reputation with racing and sports betting customers. The site has a small but growing esports betting section, and they take wagers in Bitcoin and fiat currency on a range of the latest LoL, CS:GO, Dota 2, Overwatch and World of Tanks esports events. Read our BetOnline esports review for our verdict.

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Bovada:
Our second pick for USA customers to bet on the latest League of Legends international and North American tournaments. Known for its massive welcome bonuses for both fiat currency deposits and Bitcoin deposits, and even better when you like betting with both types. Bovada also offer betting markets on the world’s most popular esports, including CS:GO, Dota 2, Overwatch and StarCraft II. Read our Bovada esports review for our verdict.

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Nitrogen Sports:
Recommended for esports fans who like to bet in Bitcoin only, because Nitrogen only takes bets with the popular cryptocurrency. The site offers betting markets on all major esports tournaments and games, including League of Legends. Read our Nitrogen esports review for our verdict.

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Philippines League of Legends betting

Filipinos may be more in love with Dota 2 esports, but League of Legends isn’t exactly far behind in the esports-obsessed country. If you prefer Riot Games’ take on the MOBA genre and you are from the Philippines, you will be happy to know several sites accept players from your region and offer betting markets on the latest LoL tournaments, and offer several different deposit and withdrawal methods that make wagering on your favourite match easy and safe.

Betsson:
Our #1 online sportsbook for Filipino players, you can claim €/$25 in bonus bets when you sign up for account via our links and gain access to a massive list of esports betting options not just limited to League of Legends, but also including CS:GO, Dota 2, Overwatch and many other popular and niche titles. Read our Betsson esports review for our verdict.

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Nitrogen Sports:
For Filipino esports fans who love to bet in Bitcoin rather than fiat currency, Nitrogen Sports is our top recommendation thanks to their intuitive interface, fast deposits and decent range of esports betting markets on League of Legends and other popular competitive games. Read our Nitrogen esports review for our verdict.

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League of Legends betting in Australia

Aussie players are big fans of League of Legends, and will be happy to know that several esports betting sites accept players from Australia and offer betting markets on the latest LoL tournaments. The best Australia-friendly betting sites accept several different deposit and withdrawal methods that make wagering on your favourite match easy and safe, with bonuses available for new punters. The best League of Legends betting sites for AU players include:

Picklebet:
For Aussie esports fans looking to bet with real money at a site licensed Down Under, Picklebet is our top recommendation thanks to their intuitive interface, fast deposits using all major payment methods and decent range of esports betting markets on League of Legends and other popular competitive games. Read our Picklebet esports review for more info about what Picklebet has to offer.

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League of Legends betting for Brazil

The esports betting market is really heating up in Brazil, and given the popularity of League of Legends, Brazilian players will be happy to know that several leading esports betting sites accept players from Brazil, while offering betting markets on the latest LoL tournaments. The top rated esports betting sites make it easy to deposit and withdraw real money, accepting payments via an array on safe and trusted payment methods. The best League of Legends betting sites for Brazilian players include:

BumBet:
Bumbet is an online betting site designed especially to cater to Brazilian esports, making it our top recommendation for Brazilian players thanks to its vibrant interface, list of safe deposit methods in BRL and nice range of esports betting markets on League of Legends and other popular competitive games. Read our Bumbet esports review to learn more.

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How popular is League of Legends as an esport?

League of Legends is arguably tied with Dota 2 for the biggest esport in the world, attracting the largest amount of players worldwide compared to any other competitive video game scene. Last year’s esport industry report from SuperData revealed League of Legend attracted a whopping 101 million monthly active users (MAUs), recorded 1,665 million hours watched on Twitch (April – October), and US $11.4 million in total prize money.

Against its closest competitor Dota 2, League of Legends’s impressive stats only fall short to the recorded US $37.1 million Dota 2 made last year. However, in terms of popularity and playerbase, LoL healthily beats out the Dota 2 esports scene – the latter only pulled in 12.6 million MAUs and 465 million hours watched (April – October) in comparison, which is still very impressive.

League of Legends also relies on crowdfunding for many of its major tournaments, which it utilises to great effect. The League World Championship 2018=7 prize pool alone raised US $5 million, which is indicative of the massive worldwide appeal and demand the game has as a heavily supported esport.

See also:

• How to watch League of Legends online
• League of Legends Championship Series betting guide
• Esports bloopers and cringe moments
• Weekly League of Legends esports betting predictions and tips