Playing Fantasy Esports In 2024
The term sport is something that’s highly debatable in today’s culture. For instance, if you were to sit around with some older folks and talk about baseball, they would probably tell you that a real baseball game is supposed to last four hours, have elements of human error, and balk at the idea of instant replay. But today’s generation, attune with HD TV and mobile devices and suchlike, understand that replays and removing human error are important elements.
This debate would really heat up if you were to discuss Esports, particular fantasy Esports. But this is a huge genre in today’s world, and even big-time fantasy sites like DraftKings are offering fantasy line-up opportunities for Esports tournaments being played around the globe.
Esports Betting Sites attempts to give you an accurate, thorough rundown of Esports as a genre, how and where you can bet on them via sportsbooks, and also fantasy-based information, just in case you want to try your luck on one of the DraftKings of the world.
Our goal is to have you ready to bet when you’re done reading this. So pay attention. If you want to know about fantasy Esports, we have plenty to tell you.
Top Fantasy Websites Offering Esports In 2024
How to Play the Game
Depending on where you play fantasy Esports, the finer points of drafting and line-ups and leagues may differ, but these are some static points about fantasy Esports that you should know before making your decision. Here are just a few key elements of fantasy Esports of which to be aware (and these points assume you’re already in a league, not starting one yourself):
• Start by finding a reputable site at which to play your fantasy Esports
• Next, find a league that deals with the type of game(s) you want or are familiar with
• Now, make sure you get ready for the draft by recruiting players, doing your research, finding out their stats, their health, how they play vs. other teams, etc
• Now draft your 7 starters: 1 Top, 1 Jungler, 1 Mid, 1 AD Carry, 1 Support, 1 Flex Player, 1 Team (similar to a defense in football), and 3 alternates. Make sure you research these terms if you don’t know them, so you know what you’re getting
• Set your roster based on the players you think will accumulate the most points throughout the game(s)
• Pay attention to the points system. If you need to adjust, do it immediately after a match
• Add/drop players based on how they perform, who you find on waivers, etc
• Watch, watch, and watch more Esports so that you learn what’s what with scoring, with games, and how players do and react
• After you have the basics down, adjust the leagues in which you join up (money-based; e.g. $1, $10, $50, etc) and make sure you get a scoring system you prefer
If you can do these simple things, give or take some potential site-specific changes, you should be able to fit right into the fantasy fold. As you will learn below, it’s not all that different from other fantasy sports.
Is It Like Fantasy Sports in General?
One aspect of fantasy E-sports that you may appreciate is that they’re very similar to other fantasy sports. Let’s use football here as an example, since that’s the big proverbial “get” now with sites like Draftkings.
A typical fantasy football starting roster looks like this: one QB, two RBs, two WRs, one flex player, one TE, one place kicker, and one defensive/special teams unit. Now, your points accumulate based on how well your players do.
If your QB throws for 300 yards, 3 touchdowns, while your RB goes for 120, and your receivers catch 200 yards and a few touchdowns themselves, you’re going to score a lot of points. Each positive play your players get, they score points. The more yards they get, the more points. The more touchdowns scored, the more points.
The same basically goes for fantasy Esports. You will score points for certain actions within the game: Points per win, per first blood drawn, per players/characters fragged, etc. In specific games, you will find points awarded for things like slaying dragons, destroying towers, killing key characters, and points given based on time frames; e.g. how long it takes team X to win.
In essence, fantasy Esports are incredibly similar to other fantasy sports in how you draft, how points are awarded, and how you can win.
What you need concern yourself with as a player in fantasy Esports is in knowing the games, knowing the players, and understanding how to set a roster that will gather up the points.
How Popular are Fantasy E-sports?
So, while you may be able to get the hang of the drafting and scoring systems, that still doesn’t mean you want to play. After all, this used to be a poker problem due to all the many different sites with the poker boom. You wanted to play, so you signed up with site X, but you never found any competition there. Just donkeys who never folded and who threw money around like they didn’t have to work for it. And never enough players to get anything real going.
This is something many would like to avoid with fantasy Esports. So it’s important that they’re popular, or else you might not be able to fill up leagues, or find people who know what they’re doing.
The good news is that fantasy Esports are incredibly popular. When DraftKings picks up on the genre, you know that they’re moving up the ladder. This is a site whose bread and butter is football, so they don’t need fantasy E-sports whatever. The fact they do offer them should tell you that the genre is quite popular and that you’re going to be able to find sites full of eager fantasy players.
Is There Real Money in Playing Fantasy Esports?
Another factor helping you decide whether or not to play is undoubtedly the monetary factor. E.g. is there actually money to be won in fantasy Esports? To understand this answer, look no further than the site Vulcan, which has been online since January 2015, dealing with fantasy Esports.
They recently earned their first six-figure winner, player Yjington, who is famous for drafting winning line-ups and following the League of Legends Championship Series. And not to think that he’s an outlier and everyone else is losing, there’s actually a group of 26 players here, in his leagues alone, who have cleared over $10,000 in profit each since the site opened up.
The average payout per player is right around $7, nothing to write home about. But the important fact here is that players, on average, aren’t losing money. Fantasy Esports gamblers are actually winning, with the site earning not from losers but rather from taking a rake. This means that, realistically speaking, every E-sports player can win money in fantasy, and the site still wins.
GOSu gamers also ran a lucrative contest, based on bullets left at the end of a series, and rewarded their top finishers handsomely. And sites like DraftKings, Vulcan and others are guaranteeing prize pools of $1 million and even $4 million. So the money is there to be made, for people who know what they’re doing in the genre.