Fantasy betting is big news at the moment. There are millions of people who love assembling their fantasy teams to compete in competitions for everything from a sport like basketball to an esport like League of Legends. They do this because fantasy sports and esports is a lot of fun. Plus it’s also true that you can make some decent wins from your fantasy bets.
But what are fantasy sports and how can you get involved? We’re prepared a quick guide that will get you up to speed with fantasy betting. This means showing you how to build your fantasy teams for anything from esports to regular sports.
Plus we’ll show you some of the best fantasy sports betting sites. As a result, you’ll get a legal, safe and exciting way to get involved in the fantasy betting revolution. So keep reading to learn all you need to know about it.
What is fantasy betting?
Fantasy sports have been around for decades, but it’s only since the arrival of online technologies that fantasy betting has really taken off. Brands like DraftKings were quick to anticipate the demand for fantasy sports contests, and these allowed sports fans to assemble virtual teams for everything from basketball to football.
These teams can be entered into tournaments, where real money prizes are awarded for those competitors that field the best teams. The fantasy sports industry has grown dramatically in the past few years. In 2016, it was thought that fantasy sports was enjoyed by nearly 60 million people in the US and Canada alone, and the entire industry was worth over $7 billion.
Part of the success of fantasy sports is that you don’t need to take a real money bet to get involved. Many people just like to build their fantasy teams and enter them into competitions. However, a growing number of Daily Fantasy sites now allow you to buy into tournaments in the hope of making some real money winnings.
How does fantasy betting work?
It’s easy to get started with your fantasy bets. Here’s a short overview of what you need to do:
- Sign up to a Daily Fantasy site
- Assemble your fantasy squad
- Enter your fantasy team into a tournament
- Earn enough points to get a place on the leaderboard and win a prize
Fantasy betting gives you a way to win real money prizes by entering fantasy teams into competitions. Your fantasy team will compete against teams entered by other competitors. If your fantasy team manages to get a good enough result on the leaderboard, you could make some real money winnings.
Fantasy esports and sports games requires you to have to assemble a squad. You have to pick team-members who are all based on real sports or esports players. There will be a salary cap and it’s your job to get the most well-balanced team that performs better than your rivals. You will get chance to change the line-up of your team after each round in a competition by picking players from your squad.
You win a fantasy betting contest if you get more points than your competitors. These points are awarded in correspondence to how your selected players performed in real-life tournaments. For example, if a player scored a winning basket or helped their team win a map on CSGO, you would get a point.
What kinds of fantasy sports are there?
There are fantasy sports options for all of the world’s major sports. The most popular fantasy sports games tend to be North American sports like basketball, American football, ice hockey and baseball. However, there are many sites that allow you to enjoy fantasy betting on popular sports like football, tennis, cricket, rugby and much more. We’ve even seen some fantasy sites allowing you to build your fantasy teams for some fairly niche sports like MMA fighting, NASCAR racing, and even Australian rules football. Here’s a quick overview of the most popular fantasy sports:
- Fantasy American football
- Fantasy Football
- Fantasy Basketball
- Fantasy Baseball
- Fantasy Hockey
What fantasy esports can you bet on?
Fantasy esports betting might be a relatively new concept. But many fantasy sites will now feature esports. Unsurprisingly these tend to be the world’s most popular esports. This means that you should be able to enjoy fantasy bets on classic MOBA games like League of Legends or even top first-person shooters such as Counter Strike Global Offensive.
Some innovative bookmakers will even allow you to try fantasy betting on some alternative esports like Rocket League. Here are the most popular fantasy esports that you should be able to find:
- Fantasy CSGO
- Fantasy LoL
- Fantasy Rocket League
- Fantasy Call of Duty
Is fantasy sports different from fantasy esports?
Fantasy sports is pretty much the same as fantasy sports. The most noticeable differences are that obviously your squad sizes will be different, and that there will be different procedures for picking up points. But if you’ve ever tried fantasy sports betting, you should easily be able to make the switch to putting down fantasy bets on esports.
What is daily fantasy sports betting?
You’ll find that there are a massive number of fantasy betting contests to enjoy. Many of these will correspond to the length of a regular sporting seasons such as the NFL American football season or the English Premier League football season.
However, many betting sites will also offer daily fantasy contests that give you chance to enter your fantasy teams to get prizes every day. Here are some of the most popular daily fantasy contests:
- Guaranteed Prize Pool contests: You get chance to win the whole prize amount regardless of how many people enter.
- Head to head contests: Here you just take on one other competitor and aim to win the entire prize.
- 50/50 tournaments: Just finish in the top half of the leaderboard and you’ll win a cash prize.
- Double-up competitions: You can double your entry fee just by finishing in a placed position.
- Free contests: You won’t have to pay to enter these contests, but you won’t make any real money winnings either.
All fantasy sites will provide a range of tournaments that have different entry fees. Bear in mind that the contests with the lower entry fees tend to have the smaller prize pools. The more lucrative tournaments tend to attract more players, so your chances of winning might be reduced.
The best sites for fantasy esports betting
There are many decent sites that now feature a range of fantasy betting options. Take a look at our DraftKings review and you’ll get a good idea of what to expect. Here you’ll find a safe and legal way to take part in a wide variety of daily fantasy esports competitions. These will feature a range of entry fees that are suitable for all levels of gamer. Plus you’ll see that the prize winnings on offer can make your fantasy sports and esports games very worthwhile.
One of the best parts of using sites like DraftKings is that they have lots of helpful tutorials that can be handy in getting to grips with fantasy betting. Plus betting sites like this are fully licensed and regulated so that you can be assured of a safe and fair way to put your fantasy bets down.
Is fantasy esports better than regular esports betting?
If you’re already familiar with esports betting, then you might be wondering why you’d actually bother trying something like fantasy esports. The key thing is that fantasy esports is just a great alternative to regular esports betting.
There’s plenty of fun to be had in assembling your ultimate fantasy esports squad, and you’ll also enjoy using your predictive powers to change the line-up according to the next fixture.
In terms of profitability, fantasy esports can be just as lucrative as standard esports betting. You might not be able to calculate what kinds of wins you’ll be in line to make so easily, but we’ve seen no shortage of fantasy esports contests that pay out very healthily.
Is fantasy betting legal?
Like all kinds of betting, fantasy betting is fully legal in some countries and not others. This means that if you want to bet on esports in the USA, you’ll have to comply with online gambling laws in your state. You might be able to enjoy daily fantasy sports legally in the UK and some US states. However, many countries and states still prohibit real money gambling and you won’t be able to legally use fantasy betting sites in these places.
There are those who think that fantasy sports cannot be considered to be a true form of gambling. This is because it can be free to play and therefore involves no monetary risk. But it’s always wise to be cautious when you’re getting involved in any kind of betting. So be sure to only use those fantasy sites featured here for a safe and legal way to enjoy a fantasy bet.