Online betting has been on a steady rise, especially because it goes hand in hand with esports. It’s an activity many people enjoy, so it’s no wonder it gained so much popularity over the past two decades.
As esports grew and evolved into a massive business that it is today, the demand for esports betting followed closely behind.
Today, betting has become a common activity, and fans of the hobby have a plethora of licensed betting providers to choose from. Governments have established laws and regulations that prevent illegal betting providers from operating, but the internet can’t be fully regulated so there will always be illegitimate betting businesses working from the shadows.
In this day and age, it’s important to bet safely and responsibly, so learning more about licensed and verified safe betting sites becomes the first priority.
Safe betting also includes becoming familiar with the ins and outs of betting. For example, there are various types of esports betting sites that use different currencies. Everyone knows that real money wagers are used the most, but nowadays cryptocurrency is considered to be the safest option when trading on the internet, which is also valid for online betting.
If you’re a passionate gamer and love to collect different skins to customize your character, there’s also a betting market for that. CSGO skin betting is incredibly popular, and if you don’t wish to use real money to bet, skin betting could be an alternative.
Many betting sites tend to include esports casinos, and this is another great way to have some fun with betting. Overall, it’s important to learn as much as possible about online gambling in order to protect yourself, and bet safely.
The first step on your betting journey should be to choose a licensed provider. There’s a large number of betting sites, and many of them might seem legitimate at first glance, but oftentimes they are not. There are a few ways to make sure you’re betting with a licensed operator.
The benefits of picking a licensed betting provider
First of all, the main giveaway whether the betting site you’re on is licensed or not, is the actual licensing information that’s listed on the main page of the website.
Whenever you access a new esports betting site, even if you did your own research prior to this, make sure to scroll down to the bottom and see if there’s information listed that confirms the legitimacy of said website. If there’s nothing displayed on the website, chances are you’re dealing with an unlicensed provider.
Another thing you should pay attention to is the registration process of the betting website. All licensed betting operators are bound by law to require proof of age from their users. In order to bet legally, the users must be over the age of 18, or 21 in some US states. For this reason, registering an account would usually require some form of document that confirms your identity. This protects the user, but it also protects the betting operator.
These are the two main ways of knowing if you’re dealing with a legitimate business. If the operator requires no confirmation of age and identity, or if there’s no licensing information listed on the website, you’re better off leaving and moving elsewhere. Otherwise, you risk getting scammed, or getting your private information stolen – which is a much worse case.
For this reason, it’s best to be cautious and always choose a licensed safe esports betting site.
To ensure safe betting, one should get acquainted with both sides of the coin when it comes to choosing a bookmaker. We’ve explained some of the ways of distinguishing between licensed and unlicensed betting sites, but now we’re going to delve deeper into the risks of choosing an unlicensed operator, and the potential consequences that may follow as a result.
The main thing you need to worry about is protecting your online data and personal information. When betting on an unlicensed betting site, you are placing your trust in a business that operates outside of the law. By default, these websites have an expiration date and can be shut down at any moment. In this case, all your winnings and your total balance would be lost, along with any credit card or bank information that remained behind.
Another risk associated with unlicensed betting sites is identity theft. In some cases, these websites may ask for much more personal information than what’s usually required on licensed betting sites.
New users who may not be so familiar with online betting, could choose to provide all that information, and end up with a serious problem on their hands. We advise you to be careful with this, and always suggest that you opt for a licensed bookmaker and enjoy safe betting.
Betting with skins is one of the options when it comes to online betting. Instead of using real money currency, users wager their CSGO skins, and if they win they get more in return. However, this option is a bit tricky as it’s not well regulated and in some cases the user ends up being scammed.
For example, at one point CSGO Lounge used Valve’s gaming services to allow their users to gamble their CSGO skins. The users could gamble their skins, and if they won, they could convert their value into real-life money. Valve shut down the whole operation several years ago and CSGO Lounge was forced to end their virtual items betting functionality. This is the fate of many unregulated betting sites, especially ones dealing with skin betting.
If you’re a fan of CSGO, and you find CSGO skin betting too risky, don’t worry. CSGO betting is a perfectly legal option, and as a matter of fact, CSGO is one of the most popular esports betting categories across all major safe betting sites. Most licensed bookmakers will cover all the major CSGO events and also have esports live odds. You will have to use real currency, but you’ll enjoy the comfort and security of safe betting.
