Bitcoin Forum

It seems that eSports are getting more popular all the time, especially with Covid and social distancing, so I thought of putting together a little snapshot of which games have the biggest competition winnings. It's a bit of a leap from competition winnings to biggest betting markets, but it gives an idea of where the most money is involved. Does anyone here follow these games closely, or has anyone made a decent amount from eSports betting? It seems like the market will keep growing and if you're able to identify consistent players/teams then there is quite a fortune ready to win.

1. DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) leads the way by a large margin. It currently holds the top 5 spots for largest competition prizes ever. If you look at the top 100 largest prizes for this game alone it totals a massive $171,313,243.05

2. Fortnite has a huge player base around the world and this has helped it to generate some impressive prize pools. The Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 Solo & Duo prizes came to $15,287,500 and $15,100,000 respectively.

3. League of Legends is another game that has been around for a long time and gathered a big following. The LoL World Championship winnings pot averaged $5,488,989 in the three years between 2016 and 2018.

At this point the variety of games gets a little more diluted.

4. Arena of Valor came up with $4,606,400 for participants, with 12 teams competing and 60 players total.

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare offered $4,600,000 in prizes during the 2020 Championship

6. Player Unknown's Battlegrounds managed an epic $4,080,000 up for grabs during the Global Championship 2019 competition.

7. Overwatch has a large group of players, with 77 entrants in 8 teams competing for a $3,050,000 potential payout during the 2020 Playoff Grand Finals.

8. Rainbow Six Siege offered up $3,000,000 during the "Six Invitational 2020" and had 80 players battling it out.

9. SMITE was able to put together $2,612,994.19 in prizes for their league all the way back in 2015.

10. Halo 5: Guardians rounds out the top ten with $2,500,000 that was up for grabs during their 2016 Halo World Championship battle.

For reference, this list was compiled with the help of the ranking table at https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments

The Esports industry is already popular even prior to the pandemic. It's been several years already that everyone is riding the wave in Esports. It was become the talk of the town due to the insane prize pool in every big event.

Yes, I followed some tournaments before but my online betting experience here is just in a casual or moderate tier. I'm more active at physical gambling within our place, especially at Dota 2, and LOL but that was halted due to pandemic.

Really? Dota is still a thing? I thought it was completely repplaced by LOL. I played Dota during the glory Warcraft 3 times. Is it now stiill integrated in the Warcraft universe or is it now independend like LOL?

I have never been a fan of betting eSPORTS. Feels like it would be too easy for teams to take a dive and rig games to me. I think this happens in all sports personally so gotta be careful on a big game.

DoTA and CSGO without a doubt. I did place some bets on a few dota games when dendi and NaVI was a thing and I am pretty sure that was nearly 10 years ago. Amazing how the time flies by... I remember the international 2013 like it happened yesterday.

REALLY? Despite of being popular of DotA's tournaments, being covered by tons of news on both traditional media and social media, and its constantly growing community, you are not aware that it is still a thing? DotA cannot be replaced by LoL, not by an inch. Its complexity remains difficult and strategies uncountable. Yes, Warcraft remains its lore of course. What only changed is the graphics and the overall gameplay. Go check it out again!

I often place bets on DotA. 5% of my profit goes to betting on a team that would play in near days and seemed to have a chance of winning (obviously). Betting in it is still popular tho, that's why there are still platforms for eSports betting that hasn't ever closed on operating.

Yes, the prize pool of it is hundreds of millions of dollars during the main tournament.

Just an addition, it's Dota 2. Dota and Dota 2 are the same games but have differences in terms of graphics. Dota 2 is own by Valve and Dota (1) was the old version of it. The person who has continued developing maps for Dota (1) before has been hired by them, that's Icefrog.  8)
But he's focused now on Dota 2 since he's hired by Valve and the tournament that gives that huge prize pool happens in Dota 2.

Nothing beats out Dota 2 when we do talk about prizepool on tournaments which does signify on how well known this game and next with Fortnite and LOL.
These numbers might be not updated https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments but it does shows on how great these games are.

On the question if i do ever placed on sports bet? Then yes it is, ive been putting bets specially on Dota2 International or when this event happens or do see some
good opportunity to place bets.

Been doing that even crypto sportsbook werent still available.

These are the 3 games ive been playing on my pc and watch on tournaments and events.Just like on what that guy above said^ Dota 2 had the biggest prize pool

among the other e-sports games available around but the most favorite i do like to play is fortnite.It might be a bit cartoonish but i do like the concept of the game.

Making out bets is just basing on interest because im not a gambler who can spend up big time on betting on teams.

I think this will be the future. Esports is already on big networks like espn. Betting I feel is a little further down the line has to get more adoption imo before we talk betting. But esports betting will be the future!

If you mean DOTA2 (Dota was the oldest version) then yes! Nothing beats DOTA2's prize pool during tournaments. It's the most massive eSports event in history called The International (TI). It has been going on since 2011 with a prize pool of $1.6m and it is now $40m prize pool in 2020  (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espn.in/esports/story/_/id/30079945/dota-2-international-surpasses-40-million-prize-money%3fplatform=amp) though the 2020 TI has been delayed because of Covid.
 here's the prize pool ranking of each eSports events.   (https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments) and it seems that LOL are still far from achieving what DOTA2 has been achieved.

Dota, CSGO, and League would certainly be the top 3, no doubt. The amount of viewership these 3 games take every tournament is just insane. Even in the midst of the pandemic, many people are still betting on such events, making me think that a lot of people betting are really rich or doesn't have problems with money.

CSGO, while having smaller prize pool for major tournaments, rake in a lot of viewers and bettors casually. I still remember having to bet on CSGOlounge and making a lot of skins for underdog bets back in 2014. It was a fun time to be a CSGO fan back then.

Considering the Prizes, DOTA is the biggest competitive eSports for me since then, they continue to grow and increase that reward as many teams are fighting to get the championship. I also see LOL and CSGO as one of the biggest eSports where they held many tournaments as well. I didn’t just bet on this, I’m also a player here in my place.

Dota is still a big thing in eSports and many players are still coming-in, in fact they’ve just finish an international event last week, the ONE eSports Singapore Major 2021.

Dude, 2015-2018 is the pinnacle of eSports popularity. I remember everyone in school talking about who's the best league of legends team and why it is SKT, or why Dendi is the best Pudge player of all time. Just talking about this brings me back to the days where you don't have to worry about contracting COVID. I also remember fantasy esports being the gateway to eSports betting for the most of my acquaintances, we'd all sign up for Alphadraft and then win some bets or lose most of them.

DotA 2 Pioneered the concept of huge pricepools in eSports, dare I even say that it is due to them that eSports is a big thing right now. The huge focus they exert in the price pools and the integrity of each game is definitely something that you have to applaud Valve for. Because of them people saw potential in eSports and have been recognized as a bonafide sporting event in some countries.

I mostly made bets on DOTA II, a whole lot of bets especially during The International. It was so sad that the 2020 TI plans were foiled due to COVID-19. For now, I am not anymore updated as to the next TI. I don't know whether or not it will push through within the year. I hope it will, though. Quite frankly, the level of excitement is decreasing due to the pandemic. Even after more than a year, this virus is still wreaking havoc to world events such as TI. I can't wait to begin analyzing picks and plays and place bet on DOTA II.

I place a lot of esports bets almost everyday depending on the tournament schedules. I sometimes make a nice amount of money from betting but I don't rely on it that much since I also go on big losing streaks.

In terms of esports betting the biggest ones are League, CSGO and Dota. Even though Fortnite is so popular and have one of the biggest prize pools you'll rarely see discussion that's related to betting.

Hi op, can you please cite a source from where you have gathered this information? Because I wonder how come Counter Strike - Global Offensive is not a part of your list. This game was a hot favorite around the world and even few years back, I used to hear about tournaments with prize money worth millions of dollars. I don't think PUBG and Fortnite can push counter strike completely off the chart! Counter strike is the true pioneer in esports gaming.

Dota2 all-in bet to every game of OG during TI9 since they already prove how strong there roster on TI8. I pawn my IPhone and Watch to my friend just to have enough money to bet on there game. I don't remember my exact profit but I earn more than X2 of my original money minus the interest of pawning my item. Craziest thing I did in my life but I can't do it now anymore since I already settle down.  :D

Why is that CS:GO isn't included on the list? It is one of the greatest games to watch and keep track on an eSports Betting.

I usually bet on DOTA2, LOL, and CS:GO because these are the games that I'm playing for so many years.

Even when I'm at work, I still can watch over these games because Pro players are so good to watch especially that they have the skills and outstanding plays. Playing eSports betting is entertaining but you should still become disciplined enough and apply the saying "don't risk what you can't afford to lose."

I think this is because CSGO never had a record breaking prize pool and the biggest one according to the list was from the WESG tournament($1.5m) that was 5 years ago. The next bigger tournament could've been the Rio major($2m) but that was postponed for a year or two because of the pandemic.

I agree with you even though CSGO tournaments aren't as big as the others mentioned by the OP their esports scene is like one of the biggest and oldest like Starcraft.

CSGO is just for old folks only that is why they left this esports behind. :)  most tournaments that are being shared by my younger cousins are just DOTA. but if i have to choose its counter-strike that is a lot of fun to play than these strategy games. League of Legends is also one in which they are often stuck in one corner just playing this on a phone.

$171B only for DOTA. there really huge money to win but you just have to one one of the nerdy kids who just think and talk DOTA all the time. i've been with them, my cousins. I'm not betting on esports though.

I've placed bets on DOTA, League of Legends and CSGO but I mostly placed a bet on LOL since it is the current MOBA I play and I am more familiar with the team from LOL more than DOTA and CSGO

are you kidding? where have you been? as much as I love playing LOL I'd still pick DOTA as a better MOBA. and yes it is still integrated with the warcraft universe. and besides, I think the reason why LOL is so popular is that it appeals more to the younger generation than DOTA.

I worked my way down the list at the link provided and grabbed the biggest prize winnings ranked by size, it just so happens that the biggest prize single prize on offer at any CS:GO tournament was $1.5 million. Collectively it looks like there are many more CS:GO tournaments than some of the games listed, however it does seem to be an old game and the graphics have fallen quite far behind. It's probably played mostly by people with lower spec PC's who are still looking for fast paced action so probably deserves an honorary mention.


That's a good point, maybe because it has a much younger player base than other games and it is newer compared to some of those listed, or it could be the way the game is structured makes it hard to pick winners at the highest levels.


I'm not sure if it's just Covid or what, but it seems that the tournaments were not played in 2020 and 2021 unlike other games in the list, maybe the popularity is wavering a bit now?


The source is mentioned at the bottom of the post, the general idea was to get an understanding of the largest games but you're right that CS:GO should be in the list.

I doubt that's the reason why it's left behind since CSGO still have a huge competitive scene with a lot of upcoming pro players. It just depends on the state of the competition because not all countries have very competitive teams in every esports scene like for example CSGO in the Asia region isn't that big when you compare it to the Dota the difference is night and day.

I agree with you on this part, the game design isn't the same as the others where it's usually a traditional 5v5 matchup that could go either way.

There are two eSports games that we’ve been eyeing. But for now, I’d like to share how much money I have spent placing bets in League of Legends.

I was 19 when I started to place bets in the sportsbook. The problem is, I was very impulsive and also biased. I only place bets in the teams where I have my emotions devoted. Like if I am inspired by the team, I would go and trust them. But most of the time it doesn’t really work.

I became broke because of it. But then I realized that you can actually place bets on a team with the highest potential to win. And that’s the time that I have committed myself to study their abilities.

Going back, we are currently eyeing Wildfrift and Valorant to be the next Esports with highly competitive gaming/match. Those are the best to include in a sportsbook.

I am not so good in them since these games do require a lot of time and efforts , but my friends play Fortnite a lot and most of them require a few and they have also promos and at the same time local competitions.

At the same time PUBG is also very prevent. I had to organize e sport events for the university and I choose this and we had like 100+ entries within 1 hour. People are crazy over it ! At the same time we did set up an arena and people were on their mobiles and there were team matches and everything and the winning team got 100$.

Other than that I do not think that I have played other games on a competitive level and these two games are the one's that people are playing a lot now a days and there are so many events and you can also find one's without the fee. Plus more like placing bets , people pay and bet on themselves. Organize a stable fee and everyone plays it. Then at the end of the day it's all to the winning team.

I used to gamble on CS:GO matches, not that I understood which team was better and which was worse from the knowledge, I obviously checked the odds and when a team is 1.4 while other one is 4.40 you know which one is better, and I wagered accordingly.

However the main point of why I gambled was to make it more fun, because it was like I was fan of the team I wagered and that mattered a lot. Hell once I remember I wagered on a finals game, literally winner takes all, and the odds for the winner was 1.7, I was shocked to see one team being soo good that they were literally 1.7 during the finals, against the other team that managed to beat everyone else to get there. Those type of things just made watching those matches a lot more fun, my purpose wasn't to just gamble, my purpose was to put some money in to make viewing 100x more entertaining.