Best eSports betting sites for 2026: Compare top-rated platforms for secure bets

Although esports betting started as a niche market for video gamers, it’s now a staple at many top UK online bookies. However, if you’re looking to start betting on esports, it’s important to do so at the right sites.

This guide covers the best esports betting sites in the UK. Based on our checks, BetMGM, Betnero, 10bet, Midnite, 247Bet, Betfred, bet365, and Betano have great esports services for UK bettors. We’ll offer a crash course on esports betting, describe how we arrived at our picks, and offer you tips on how to get started with esports betting.

Top Bookmakers for eSports Betting Online

Pros and cons of using reputable esports betting sites

Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons of using verified esports betting sites:

Pros & Cons

• UKGC-regulated
• Above average usability
• Decent esports game collections

• Potential ineligibility for bonuses

Quick facts about online eSports betting sites

• It’s legal to bet on esports in the UK.
• Esports events are available for betting all year round.
• Most top UK online bookies support in-play betting on esports.
• BetMGM, Betnero, 10bet, Midnite, 247Bet, Betfred, bet365, and Betano are the leading online bookies for esports betting.
• League of Legends, CS2, Dota 2, Call of Duty, and Valorant are five of the most popular esports titles at UK online sportsbooks.

How does esports betting work?

Esports betting is easy to understand because it's similar to online sports betting in many ways. The main difference is that it involves betting on video gamers competing in esports events rather than real sports events.

Basically, two players or teams compete in organised events or competitions. You then place bets on which team or player will win these events or competitions, among other betting markets available for the event. Esports betting is fully legal in the UK, and UK betting laws allow bookies to offer esports odds on regulated video game competitions in line with the stipulations of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). Keep reading to find out all you need to know about placing esports bets.

How esports betting markets work

There are so many betting markets that you can place esports bets on, and we can’t cover all of them in this guide. So, here’s a quick look at the top 5 betting markets in the esports betting space:

Match winner

As the name suggests, you’ll be wagering on the winner of a specific esports match. It’s one of the more popular esports betting markets because it's short-term and settles relatively quickly.

Outright tournament winner

With this betting market, you’ll be wagering on the team that will win an esports tournament. This kind of bet is for the long-term and often comes with competitive odds. Plus, placing such a bet may also come with a relatively high payout.

Maps Handicaps

Similar to sports betting, esports teams that are regarded as the “weaker” teams are also given handicaps. When betting on maps handicaps, you’ll be wagering on whether the team with a handicap wins.

In-play betting

Again, similar to what you get at the best football betting sites, where you can place live bets on your favourite football matches, you can also place in-play esports bets. It works just the same way: the odds update as the events unfold, and you can get in on the action whenever you want.

Player props

These kinds of bets focus on the performances of individual players and the impact on the esports event. Examples of player props bets in esports bets include “player total kills”, “first kills”, “agent specific kills”, and “creep score’.

5 popular esports titles you’d find at the best online betting sites for esports

Again, we wouldn’t be able to cover all the available esports games in the market. So, we’ll offer a quick description of five of the more popular titles you’d find at the top esports betting sites:

League of Legends

The game mechanics for this game are essentially an online battle arena, where two teams of five players defend their portion of a map. It’s an extremely popular title and is linked to international tournaments like the League of Legends World Championship. Due to its game mechanics, some of its top betting markets are “first kill” and “map winner”.

Dota 2

Dota 2 is another battle-centric game where two teams of five players try to destroy the other team's key building (“Ancient”) deep in their base. Gameplay requires a lot of strategy, and there’s always some new tactics to discover in-game. It also has international appeal, and some of its top competitions include The International and the Dota 2 Pro tournaments. You can bet on ‘total kills’, “map winner’ and ‘total duration’ at the best betting sites for esports.

Valorant

This game also follows the 5v5 player format. Only this time, it's a first-person shooter game that features agents with unique skill sets, and the goal is to win the most rounds. Both teams are either Attackers or Defenders, and each team must dispatch the other team or achieve a set objective to win a round. Like the other titles we’ve described, Valorant has an international circuit known as The Valorant Champions Tour, where players from different countries compete against each other. The top betting markets for this game include ‘total rounds’ and “map outcomes”.

Call of Duty

This is one of the pioneer esports titles and has been around since 2003. It’s also a first-person shooter game. It started out with a World War 2 setting and has evolved to modern settings over the years, and as such, its game mechanics vary per the series released. The Call of Duty League is one of the top competitions for this game. “Map winner” and “Match winner” are also some of the more popular betting markets in this game.

CS2

CS2 is also a tactical first-person shooter game where two five-player teams face off against each other as they try to achieve in-game objectives. It’s an upgrade of the best-selling CS:GO title and is currently also a popular title for esports betting. Some of the top tournaments linked with this title include ESL Pro, IEM events, and BLAST.

Our best esports betting sites for UK players

Having walked you through how esports betting works, here are the top sites for betting on esports if you’re in the UK.

BetMGM – Decent collection of esports titles

BetMGM’s casino product is easily its most popular product. However, it also features a sports betting product that boasts an esports section. When we checked it out, we found esports titles such as the esports World Cup, League of Legends, Dota 2, Valorant, Call of Duty, Honor of Kings, and Rainbow 6. BetMGM also offers betting markets such as Match, Handicap, and Totals, and competitive odds for its available markets.

New BetMGM bettors receive a sports welcome of £40 in free bets after they’ve made a qualifying deposit of £10. However, you won’t be able to use your sports welcome bonus for esports betting at BetMGM.

Betnero – Great site usability

The esports section of Betnero’s sportsbook features titles such as Valorant, Call of Duty, Kings of Glory, Apex Legends, and Rainbow Six. Betnero offers great ease of use, making it one of our top picks for the best online esports betting sites in the UK.

Betnero also supports in-play betting on its esports titles. When we looked up the available esports betting markets, we mostly found tournaments, match winners, and lots of competitive odds for the available markets.

At the Betnero sportsbook, you’ll be offered £10 in free bets after you’ve made a £10 deposit. We looked up the T&Cs of the bonus and didn’t find any specific mention of esports being ineligible for the free bets.

10bet – Lots of competitive odds

At 10bet, you’ll get a 100% bonus up to £50 after making your first deposit. The site also offers monthly free bets, a winning boost up to 100%, and an app-based promotion of £50 in free bets after making a £10 deposit. However, we didn’t find any information about the eligibility of these offers for esports betting.

10bet’s esports collection features a handful of titles, including eBasketball, League of Legends, eFootball, and CS2. Like all the other sites on this list, we also found very competitive odds (similar to its traditional football odds) for the available esports games. We also only found fulltime results and match winner as the betting markets available for the matches.

10bet also supports in-play betting on the esports markets. We also found multiple esports events that were being live-streamed at the time of the review.

Midnite – Lots of betting markets

When we checked Midnite, we found League of Legends, Dota 2, Rocket League, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike. Although that might not seem like many titles, it was the available betting markets that drew our attention. For instance, for a single League of Legends event, we found 16 betting markets including “most kills”, “race to 5 kills”, and “both teams to slay a dragon.”

The odds are also some of the best around, and you can also place in-play esports bets and live stream esports events. As a new bettor, you’ll receive £30 after making a minimum deposit of £10 and wagering £10 on a sports event. We also didn’t find any details in the T&Cs about whether you can use this bonus for esports betting.

247Bet – Impressive collection of esports titles

Valorant, Dota 2, Age of Empires, Mobile Legends, Fortnite, League of Legends, and Rainbow Six are some of the esports games available at 247Bet. Besides having an impressive collection of esports titles. The odds are also quite competitive, and there are several betting markets for the ongoing events. Some of them include match winner, correct match score, total kills, and winning margin by kills.

247Bet offers its new bettors a 100% bonus up to £50 after they’ve made their first deposit. Once the bonus is credited, it has a 30-day validity period. However, we didn’t find any information about its eligibility for esports betting.

Betfred – Limited collection of esports titles

At Betfred, you’d be able to bet on esports titles such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, and Dota 2. For the Counter-Strike 2 title, we found a CCT Global Finals competition. We also found some League of Legends competitions, including CBLOL-Split, LPL-Split 2 Placements, and LCS-Spring. Dota 2 only had PGL-Wallachia at the time of this review.

However, Betfred only supports in-play bets for Dota 2 and League of Legends, but it offers pre-match bets and lots of competitive odds for all three esports titles.

As a new bettor at Betfred, you’ll be awarded £50 in free bets after making a qualifying deposit of £10. Note that your free bets expire 7 days after you’ve received them. You can also use your welcome bonus on esports betting.

bet365 – Impressive live streaming service

bet365 welcomes its new bettors with £30 in bet credits after they’ve made a qualifying deposit of £10. The free bets are awarded as bet credits, and they expire 7 days after you’ve received them.

Once you’ve received your bet credits, you can bet on several esports titles, including CS2, StarCraft, eSoccer, League of Legends, eBasketball, Call of Duty, and Dota 2. Some of the betting markets we found at the site include overtime, tournament specials, kill markets, bomb markets, and tournament MVP.

bet365 also supports in-play esports betting and has the Bet In-Stream feature that allows you to live stream events that you’ve wagered on. The ease of live streaming at bet365 makes it one of our top picks for the best esports betting sites

Betano – Welcome bonus not eligible for esports betting

Although Betano has a strong reputation as one of the top football and cricket betting sites, it also offers an above average selection of esports titles. We found titles such as Dota 2, League of Legends, Call of Duty, eIce Hockey, Valorant, eBasketball, and Counter-Strike.

Some of the betting markets we found include totals (under/over), map winner, match winner, total kills, and race to 10 kills. We found football and horse racing offers for new Betano bettors, where you’re offered £30 in free bets after making a first qualifying deposit of £10. Since they are sports-specific promotions, you can’t use them for esports bets.

3 things we considered when picking our recommended sites

All of the sites that made the list above were thoroughly vetted based on the following criteria:

1. Licensing: The UKGC regulates all the sites on our list and is thus considered a legal esports betting site in the UK. As such, you won’t be breaking any UK betting laws when placing esports wagers at any of them.
2. Available titles: The next thing we considered was the number of esports titles that you could wager on. Granted, 10Bet currently only has a handful of these titles, but bet365, BetMGM, 247Bet, and Betnero boast good collections of esports games.
3. Site usability: We also considered the site’s ease of use for both PC and mobile devices. Betnero and 247Bet offer very intuitive desktop experiences, and bet365 and BetMGM have some of the best esports betting apps in the UK.

How to bet on esports at our recommended sites

To bet on esports games, you’d need to sign up for our top picks, and here are the steps to do so:

1. Click on our on-page banners to visit the official website of your preferred site.

2. Tap the “Sign Up”, “Join Now,” or appropriate button to start the sign-up process.

3. Provide the required information.

4. Verify your account.

5. Make the qualifying deposit.

6. Claim your welcome bonus

Head over to the “esports” section to pick your preferred game. Note that not all the welcome offers at our recommended sites can be used for esports betting. You can use your Betfred and bet365 welcome offers for some esports betting. However, the BetMGM and Betano welcome offers can’t be used for esports betting. We also didn’t find any definitive information about the eligibility of 10Bet, 247Bet, and Midnite welcome offers for esports betting.

Before you start placing your bets, here are some fast tips to note:

Conclusion – Have a great time at the best esports betting sites

To help you pick the best sites, we ran some tests based on their licensing, available titles, and site usability. Based on these tests, BetMGM, Betnero, 10bet, Midnite, 247Bet, Betfred, bet365, and Betano are the top sites to place esports wagers at.

Each of these sites is easy to sign up to, and some offer welcome bonuses that you can use for esports betting. For instance, you can use your Betfred and bet365 welcome offers for esports betting, unlike the BetMGM and Betano welcome offers, which can’t be used for esports betting. We also didn’t find any definitive information about the eligibility of 10Bet, 247Bet, and Midnite welcome offers for esports betting.

To get started at any of these sites, click on our on-page banners and follow the prompts to sign up and place your esports bets responsibly.

Best esports betting sites FAQs