How we rate esports bookmakers
The short version
Our ratings rest on three kinds of source. The licence comes from the Gambling Commission register and the bookmaker's own licence statement. Esports markets, betting rules and offers come from each bookmaker's own site. Facts about the games come from the game makers' pages.
Our team tests the bookmakers and checks every fact before a page is published. Where a bookmaker's page gives no figure, we leave it out rather than estimate it.
The licence
Every bookmaker we list holds a licence from the Gambling Commission, which licenses gambling in Great Britain. We read the licence statement each bookmaker publishes, then check the bookmaker against the Gambling Commission's public register, including its domain names, trading names and licences.
The register tells us who holds the licence and which names the bookmaker trades under. It does not tell us how a bookmaker treats a customer, so the rest of our reading comes from the bookmaker's pages.
Esports markets and betting rules
We note which of League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2 and Valorant each bookmaker offers markets on, and how its betting rules settle an esports bet. The rules matter because they decide what happens to a bet when a map, a match or a series ends in an unusual way.
Facts about a game, such as how a match is won, come from the game makers' pages and are stated as facts, without adjectives. If a bookmaker does not list a game, we say it is not listed and do not guess.
For how match winner, map handicap and in-game bets work, read our esports betting markets guide.
Offers and how esports bets count
For each sports welcome offer we record the qualifying stake, the minimum odds and the free bet expiry exactly as the bookmaker sets them. Amounts stay in pounds and are never converted.
Where the offer terms make clear whether an esports bet qualifies, we report that. Where they are silent, we do not assume that a bet on an esports match counts, so check the terms before you opt in. Our esports betting offers page sets out each welcome offer's esports terms.
When a page was last updated
The date each page was last updated sits at the top. Terms and offers change, so that date tells you how old the page is.
A fact that has changed is corrected on the page, and the page date moves with it.
How we rate a bookmaker
A rating is a weighted score out of five. The weights add up to 100, and each criterion below counts for its share of that total.
Racing value carries a weight of 20. Welcome free bet, betting features and account and safety each carry 15. Limits, markets and support each carry 10, and mobile carries 5.
Welcome free bet looks at the free bet and its expiry. Betting features looks at cash out, bet builder and live streaming. Account and safety looks at the licence status, the safer gambling tools, the complaints route and the verification clause. Limits looks at the maximum payout, and markets looks at the markets and in-play betting. Support looks at the support channels, and mobile looks at the iOS app.
Payments and speed is shown but not scored, so its weight is 0 and it does not change a rating.
When a bookmaker's pages do not let us score a criterion, we leave it out and scale the rest so the rating still runs out of five.
What we do not cover
We do not list bookmakers without a Gambling Commission licence. We do not give tips or predictions, and we do not cover skin betting.
When a bookmaker does not print a figure, such as odds, a margin or a limit, we do not estimate one.
We do not cover ways around a self-exclusion. For help and for the tools that block gambling, see our responsible gambling page.
If you think we are wrong
When a fact on one of our pages is shown to be wrong, we read the bookmaker's page again and correct ours.
Corrections are welcome at info@esportsbookies.co.uk.
Sources
- The UK Esports Betting team: tests of the bookmakers and their esports markets, and checks of every fact against the bookmakers' own pages and betting rules, the game makers' own pages and the Gambling Commission register