A beginners guide to League of Legends betting

League of Legends is a fast-paced, competitive online game that blends the speed and intensity of real-time strategy (RTS) with role-playing game (RPG) elements. Two teams of five players battle each other with champions of varying skills and abilities.

LoL odds: What are the available markets?

Learning how to bet on League of Legends is similar to learning how to bet on Dota 2 or Smite. The most popular type of bet is on the result of a match – also known as the Money Line. The odds on offer reflect the perceived level of each side, based on their recent win-loss records. If the team you bet on wins, your bet wins - it’s as simple as that.

LoL is played on one map, known as the Summoner’s Rift, meaning there is no need to worry about different maps (unlike in CS:GO betting). You can, however, bet on teams to not drop a map or game in a series, which is usually a best of three but can also be a best of five, depending on the event.

As well as betting on the winner of the match-up, Pinnacle also offers handicap betting. As previously mentioned, you can bet on a side to win one map in a series or a favourite to potentially win without dropping a map. On top of this, you can bet on the total number of kills in a match, generally over or under 50.5.

LoL betting: Who are the best teams or players?

When learning how to bet on LoL, the first clear objective to keep in mind is which territory you can focus on the most. Be mindful, if you try to keep up with each individual region, you will more than likely lose track of the original goal which is identifying who the best teams or the best players are.

One trend bettors might observe is that many of the best teams and players are based in South Korea. Another trend you might also observe is that the strong majority of teams across the LCS, LEC, and various other regions have at least one South Korean based player in them. One of the best-known Korean players, Faker, is a part of one of the world’s best teams: SK Telecom T1. This might influence you to consider South Korea when betting.

The best teams across the regions vary and another key fact to keep in mind is that roster swaps on teams can happen quickly, but consistencies within the Leagues can remain apparent.

However, there are inconsistencies that bettors can keep an eye on in order to achieve their desired results. One such inconsistency is teams that play in Spring Season who qualify for the Playoffs.

One such example of this, is TSM during the LCS Spring 2018.Despite finishing third during the Spring Season (going 11:7), they managed to defeat FlyQuest and Cloud9 to win the Spring Playoffs. Fast forward to 2019 Spring Season, and TSM are now under-performing near the bottom of the leader board.

What tournaments are offered for League of Legends betting?

In 2014, Riot Games saw the launch of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). The introduction of this saw an increase in prize pools, with players now having salaries and consistent tournaments.

As mentioned before, LoL betting features all of the major Pro-Gaming tournaments throughout the year, including the LCS, LEC, LEK and LPL, and additionally it also covers All-Staffs, Rift Rivals and many more.

Other competitions are also covered, including OGN The Champions and NiceGameTV. To view all the latest upcoming events, visit our esports schedule. 

League of Legends betting strategy

Understanding how to bet on League of Legends effectively involves recognising some key differences between LoL and other esports. Not only does the performance of individual players matter immensely - but so do the line-ups. There is a vast amount of champions to pick from and certain line-ups may not work against other ones - something that should be considered when analysing LoL odds.

Familiarising yourself with game knowledge such as the champions that certain players would like to play, which champions are currently overpowered, and whether teams are early or late-game teams can really impact your LoL betting. Indeed, certain champions perform better further into the game as they scale better. They start off quite weak but their abilities grow as the game progresses. Other champions start very strong, and fade as the game progresses.

Rotations and communication are two of the most important things for a successful team in League of Legends. If a side has mixed nationalities and share a common (but not a first) language, communication will not be as strong, and this can affect their overall performance. Rotating your teammates around the map for pushes and ambushes on enemy lanes is the most important aspect to master - and it is no secret the best teams excel here.

Why the LoL terminology is important

Familiarising yourself with LoL terminology is critical when devising any level of betting strategy and will give you a competitive edge once you have. Understanding the difference between a gank and invade will provide you with deeper game knowledge.

When considering an advanced betting strategy, it is important to remember that during competitive competitions there is a draft mode. The draft mode consists of teams “Picking” and “Banning” champions. If a player loses access to their preferred pick during the ban phase, they will likely have a champion that they can fall back on, however, this still might not work in their favour as the other team should be able to predict a counter-pick.

The Pick and Ban phase can also carry over to not only teams but individual players as well, prior to the match starting. For example, if a Jungler loses a champion he favours, such as Lee Sin, then not only can you cancel that champion out of the pick phase, but you can also predict that the playing style will change as Lee Sin is a very mobile and versatile champion.

As mentioned previously, scaling plays an important part to a League of Legends match. For example, during the early laning phase of the game, you would assume that the Jungler would potentially focus on the Bot lane, as well as Middle, as the Top lane has naturally higher base stats.

Different roles have a different champion pool, and whilst it isn’t required that players stick to their roles, it does provide you with a better understanding with how the players function - you can read more on this on the League of Legends roles article.

Now that you have read our introduction to LoL betting, you can capitalise on the best League of Legends odds online.