As much as old school gamblers may shake their head with a rue smile, the fact is that Esports betting is one of the fastest growing betting sectors. It's already taken off in a big way across East Asia, and is showing very healthy signs that this phenomenon will soon be evident worldwide. We're already seeing many of the large gambling companies such as Red Flush Online Casino setting up dedicated areas for Esports betting. If companies of this size and influence are taking Esports seriously, you can be sure that everyone else will follow suit.

For those not in the know Esports is the term used to describe individuals - or more commonly teams - competing against each other in popular video games for prizes. While online multiplayer has been around for years, only recently has the concept of competitive play been commercialized. Most games are team focused and Esports tournaments are now widely broadcast live online, with the most successful teams gaining their own loyal supporters just like any other popular team sport.

Given the interest in Esports and the millions of people who play these games worldwide, it's no surprise that the money involved has skyrocketed very quickly. Most of this income is through commercial sponsorship deals, which have been so lucrative that there are a number of professional teams who travel the world playing in live tournaments available at Red Flush Online Casino. The major competitions have now started to sell out medium sized sports stadiums, adding even more cash to the revenue stream.

It's important to note that Esports isn't anything close to the 'geeky' stereotype that is often unfairly applied to video game players. These squads are ruthlessly professional and members are hired, fired or even transferred just like a mainstream team. In terms of quality the standard of play tends to be far beyond what the majority of game players are capable of - in fact often the tactics and strategies used are baffling to most. All of this makes it even more fascinating to watch.

When it comes to gambling, in the past it tended to be 'skins' that were up for grabs. These are special components earned through successful game play that were then put up as items to be fought over. Amazingly some of these had genuine cash value on the open market (sometimes huge amounts of money).

However the influx of cash into Esports has seen a cash-led gambling market evolve that is now involving seriously big bucks. Betting on Esports works practically the same as betting on any other sports match, just rather than goals and yellow cards it'll be kills and enemy flags that determine the winner. Sports book style betting is by far the most popular form of cash Esports betting, with CS:GO, DOTA 2 and League of Legends being the three major games gambled on. Unsurprisingly these three games are very popular with millions of players worldwide, so naturally this makes them very accessible and easy to follow for the vast majority of gambling gamers.

It is remarkable how quickly the sport has adapted to gambling, and with this has come some controversy. Most importantly of all Esports is barely regulated, at least nothing like other professional sporting disciplines and this has led to allegations of match fixing with teams betting on themselves knowing that their opponent will happily allow themselves to be trampled over. It's impossible to say for sure how much truth there is to these claims, but in a fledgling young sport that has just turned professional it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

To combat this there are plans to centralize the regulation of tournaments in a more professional manner, and it's likely that as the prize pots continue to grow any match fixing that may exist will quickly fade. Yet these rumors are clearly not enough to discourage people from continuing to bet on their favorite teams and games just yet. Providing Esports gets itself organized then there's a very good chance that this kind of gambling market is going to be absolutely enormous in the relatively near future. 

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