SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Boasting strong social elements that intrinsically connect players on a global basis, esports’ popularity has undoubtedly skyrocketed. With this in mind, Bayes Esports has chosen to embark on an education session on just what makes Dota 2 such a popular title.
In addition to the above, Senior Software Architect Ben Steenhuisen builds on a long history of working with esports statistics, primarily in Dota 2, to elaborate on primary target markets to ponder, nuances to be aware of, risks to consider and how to ensure that you receive the best possible service.
SBC News: What advice would you give to more traditional sports betting experts who may be considering entering the esports arena for Dota 2 specifically?
Ben Steenhuisen: The overarching theme of esports is its dynamic, ever-changing nature, and that is especially true with Dota 2. The game can have major patches as often as every 2-3 months and there is also no dedicated transfer window, like there is in traditional sports.
Therefore the metadata, rules, players, and teams can change at any time. This means businesses must be able to adapt to changes quickly as it will impact the betting experience.
Dota 2 is also a very complex game to follow. It requires people who are familiar with the game to handle the data integration, trading, and all possible edge cases that come with it. The game has a large and loyal fan base, and the betting potential is global if the product is handled accordingly.
SBCN: Following on from this, why would you highlight Dota 2 as being of particular importance? And why is it also essential to have a betting portfolio specified to the game?
BS: In esports, there is the ‘Big Three’, the most popular esports games: Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Dota 2. Dota 2 has some of the most viewed tournaments with the biggest prize pools. It has been around for a long time and is unlikely to die out anytime soon, which incentivises long-term investment into the game.
In certain regions, like the Philippines, Dota 2 isn’t considered a niche game, but rather a household name that everyone recognises. The global reach ensures that professional games are nearly always in progress, providing ample opportunities to place bets and generate revenue.
It is important to have products specific to the game due to its complexity and how quickly a game can change. For example, in football, if it is 3-0, it is very unlikely for the team that is down to make a comeback, which makes it easier to set betting odds.
However, 20 seconds in a Dota match can completely flip the game on its head. Due to its fast pace, it requires a specialist team and tools. Bayes Dashboard for Traders is powered by live data and our Video for Traders is undelayed.
This ensures the trading team can get the granular details of the event in real time to make the most informed decisions. Some of the data points in Dota 2 can’t be detected by simply watching a stream, so tools like this are essential.
SBCN: What would you specifically highlight as the best markets to have regarding the game? In addition to particular nuances that interested parties should be aware of?
BS: There are of course all the obvious markets to have such as 2-way match winner, sometimes 3-way match winner, game-winner, and all the various handicapped versions of these. Additionally, there is also the opportunity to provide more interesting and engaging live markets. My personal favorites are:
- First Blood.
- Next Roshan Kill.
- First Tower Taken.
- First to X Kills.
- Game Duration Over/Under X minutes.
- Total Kills Over/Under X.
A few of these markets are correlated but are still different enough to make them interesting. That’s the magic of comebacks in Dota.
According to data from Abios, 66% of all Dota 2 bets in Q1 2024 were on in-play markets. This should be taken into consideration when building your portfolio. Live markets can only be responsibly offered with access to live, accurate, and highly detailed data directly from the source; otherwise, a sportsbook is left vulnerable.
SBCN: Despite the above, there are always some potential risks to consider. What would you highlight these to be and how can they be best overcome?
BS: While offline (LAN) tournaments are the most popular to bet on, there are also many online tournaments. This is great as it provides a lot of content to bet on, however, due to the accessibility and ease of running esports tournaments, it also leaves the door open for bad actors to run illegitimate fake tournaments or match-fixing events.
It requires diligence from the sportsbooks to identify these tournaments to maintain the integrity and credibility of their offering.
The betting industry wants fair tournaments, 24/7 coverage, and reliability. This is why top operators trust data providers like Bayes Esports to conduct thorough background checks on every piece of content. Bayes Esports covers the majority of premium data content for Dota and ensures they only work with the most reputable tournament organisers.
SBCN: Why is official data of the utmost importance for Dota 2 bettors? What advice would you give to ensure that the best service is received to this end?
BS: Official data is essential not only for building interesting markets as I previously mentioned, but also to ensure the viewing experience is up to the standard that Dota bettors desire.
They need a holistic view of the game to make the most informed decisions, and actively participate in live betting. This can be in the form of detailed statistics, as well as the visualisation tools that a sportsbook can provide.
Experienced or not, Dota bettors will want to follow along with the game via a video or 2D map positioning. It is extremely unlikely they will blindly place bets and in order to retain a bettor on your site, it’s important to cover all aspects that the bettor requires.
That is why sportsbooks are always on the lookout for video and widgets with the lowest delay possible so bettors can have the most engaging betting experience.
