William Hill US Takes Bets On Dreamhack Masters As Nevada Regulators Give Green Light

[toc]William Hill US will be taking bets on the 2017 Las Vegas Dreamhack Masters after receiving approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The CS:GO event runs from February 15 to February 19 and has attracted most of the top names in competitive esports. William Hill powers 108 sportsbooks and a mobile app in Nevada. All customers will be able to use their preferred betting portal to lay their bets. Esports betting options will include matchup wagering on quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds of the tournament.

Dreamhack is the second event with legal esports bets

Working with Seth Schorr, CEO of the Downtown Grand Casino and Hotel, William Hill offered the first legal esports bets in Nevada last November for the IEM Oakland League of Legends tournament. The Dreamhack will be the second event for which the NGCB has authorized wagers. The prize pool for the teams is a hefty $450,000. That is one reason why the top esports teams have put it on their schedules. The presence of so many big names should ensure a massive audience, both on and offline. Plenty of out of state visitors will be able to take advantage of William Hill’s esports betting options. Initial odds and the teams taking part are:

• Astralis (3/1)
• Virtus.Pro (7/2)
• Natus Vincere (5/1)
• SK Gaming (6/1)
• Fnatic (7/1)
• Faze Clan (12/1)
• Ninjas In Pyjamas (12/1)
• North (12/1)
• Optic Gaming (16/1)
• Gambit Esports (20/1)
• Cloud9 (30/1)
• Mousesports (30/1)
• Renegades (100/1)
• Tyloo (100/1)
• Misfits (150/1)
• complexity Gaming (200/1)

Esports betting set to grow in Nevada

The news bodes well for the future of esports betting in Nevada. There are a slew of future esports tournaments coming to the state on which William Hill should be able to get similar approval. Most recently, Millennial Esports announced that it would be hosting the North American Qualifier LAN event in Las Vegas as part of the HALO World Championship. The event will be the most prestigious yet presented at Millennial’s new esports arena at Neonopolis. Later in the year in July, the EVO Evolution Championship Series will be returning to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Last year’s event attracted a record-breaking number of around 15,000 players who completed at least one of the fighting game events. More than 5,000 registered to play the Street Fighter competition. The event was broadcast on ESPN2 as well as streamed on Twitch, creating a huge audience.

The NVEA wants to drive even more esports in Nevada

The launch of the Nevada Esports Alliance at the end of last week was well-timed to give a push to the burgeoning esports scene in Nevada. Both Schorr’s Fifth Street Gaming and William Hill US are involved as founding members. They and other stakeholders came together to help establish Nevada as a global esports hub. The NVEA will work to bring more top tournaments to Nevada working closely with regulators, the state government, academics and the casino and hospitality industry. The trend, helped along by organizations like the NVEA, is definitely toward more esports in Nevada. William Hill’s esports betting operations look to have a lot of runway for future growth.