Esports Betting Guide – League of Legends

VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert

15 minute read

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS (LOL)

The most popular Esport in the world is League of Legends. League of Legends has dominated the other Esports in terms of viewership over the last few years. With the full backing of Riot Games, the game has 12 major leagues around the world, and those leagues are spread across five continents. That has allowed each league to blossom and develop its own identity, giving fans of the game different things to watch in each region.

WHAT IS LEAGUE OF LEGENDS?

League of Legends was created back in October 2009 by Riot Games. It was heavily influenced by DotA 2, as the developers borrowed many of the same concepts to make their own MOBA. The game is free to download and play, but users must pay cash or grind out Riot Points in order to unlock characters or skins.

The goal of the game is to destroy the opposing team’s nexus. The best way to do that is by earning gold to buy items and make your champions stronger. You can earn gold by killing minions, slaying enemy players, taking down enemy towers, and defeating neutral objectives. There are important neutral buffs on the map that teams fight for to gain the upper hand and earning these buffs is huge. The two biggest buffs are Baron Nashor and Elder Dragon, but the Rift Herald and elemental drakes considerably help as well.

UNDERSTANDING LEAGUE OF LEGENDS ODDS

TYPES OF BETS

• Straight Bets
• Prop Bets
• Spread Bets
• Over-Under Bets

As with traditional sports, there are both straight bets and prop bets available for League of Legends. The most common bets that you see are the same bets that you would in the most popular team sports. The moneyline bet is the most prevalent wager to make in League of Legends. When betting on the moneyline, you are simply betting on a team to win the game or series.

You won’t see spread betting available in most regions until the playoffs, but the LPL (China) and LCK (Korea) have a best-of-three series for each match in the regular season. In these series, you will see the favored team listed with odds of -1.5 games. The odds on this type of bet will fluctuate wildly, and it is somewhat similar to what you see with goal lines in hockey and run lines in baseball.

Online sportsbooks will also offer over/unders on how long it takes to finish a match. The typical match takes lasts from 30 to 35 minutes, so most of the totals you see will be somewhere in that range.

HOW TO BET LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

It is wise to focus on just one or two regions when you are first getting into betting on League of Legends. This game isn’t easy to pick up due to its nuances and steep learning curve, but you can get the general gist of it after watching a few matches.

Each region has its own feel, so it is important to keep that in mind when you are examining League of Legends betting odds. For example, the VCS (Vietnam) is the most aggressive league in the world, so you see plenty of kills and fast-paced action. Teams are always looking to scrap in this region, so you will see a lower total in terms of game time.

Meanwhile, the LJL (Japan) has been the slowest region in the world since its inception. Teams largely opt out of huge fights in this league, instead preferring to carefully build up their resources in order to find the most opportune moment.

Some games will have prop bets available too. You will find bets on the first team to get a kill, the first team to knock down a tower, the first team to slay an opposing drake, and the first team to kill Baron. Occasionally, you will also see bets on whether one player will have a higher KDA (Kill/Death/Assist average) than a counterpart. To get this number, you add kills and assists and divide by deaths.

WHERE DO I BET ON LEAGUE OF LEGENDS?

There are numerous places to bet on League of Legends. Typically, you will find League of Legends betting available under the Esports tab at online sportsbooks.Other Esports like CS:GO, DotA 2, Rocket League, and Call of Duty will also have betting odds under this tab, so check out the entire offering.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS BETTING AND SCHEDULE

The League of Legends season lasts for nearly 10 months now. Most regional leagues start play in January and the World Championship takes place in early November. There is typically an extended break during the summer for teams to make moves and players to take time off, and it is needed considering the grinding schedule of most pros.

Every league will have two splits take place over the course of the year. These splits are largely around the same time due to the international schedule, but there are differences based on the format and number of teams in each region. While 11 of the 12 regions have 10 or fewer teams, the LPL boasts 17 teams due to the game’s enormous popularity in China. That leads to the LPL playing more games than any other domestic league, and there are games being broadcast five to six days a week.

At the end of the first split, the champions of each region vie for the Mid-Season Invitational. The winners of the main regions (Korea, China, and Europe) earn automatic byes into the group stage of this event, while the victors of the other nine regions must take part in one or two play-in stages.

The trophy that every team wants to lift at the end of the year is the Summoner’s Cup. For this event, China, Korea, Europe, North America, and the Pacific Championship Series all send three members to participate. The other seven leagues are only allowed to send their most recent champion, but those teams have made some noise at this stage before. While only teams from China and Korea have won this event, Europe has been close in the last two years, and afterthoughts like Albus NoX Luna occasionally surprise.

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