From Poker To 'League Of Legends' Matches: Is Esports Betting Las Vegas' New Thing?

Esports, or competitive sports of professional video gaming, is becoming more popular in this day and age where technology continues to progress. Some even consider it more popular than other sports, which resulted to people using esports to get more money by sports betting.

In Las Vegas, The Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino became the first casino in the United States where they allowed betting in esports matches, according to Mashable. William Hill, a bookmaker from London, collaborated with the hotel in asking permission to take bets on League of Legends matches during the Intel Extreme Masters tournament.

"We tried for months but didn't get permission from Nevada until the day before [IEM Oakland], which didn't give us time to properly promote," according to Downtown Grand's director of resort marketing Angela Abshier, who has plans about letting esports betting into the mainstream. "This is the first time it was done, I don't know how many times we will get permission, I don't know if we'll get it again. There is more to come regarding future bets, but no details as to which matches or a criteria by which decisions will be made."

XLIVE will also be held in Las Vegas this coming December and it will also include an esports gambling panel, according to SBC News. Founder of the XLIVE event, Waco Hoover said "Esports is a burgeoning industry that's poised for significant growth in the coming years. Some estimates put the global sports betting industry over $1 trillion and with the growing popularity of esports the industry is looking to capitalize on gambling. Unheard of in traditional sports - crowd sourced prize pools in excess of $20 million demonstrate the extraordinary fan bases that exist with eSports and their leagues."

Waco Hoover added "The XLIVE eSports program in Las Vegas this December, will delve into issues around the most promising areas for growth, player compensation, monetizing league assets, prize pools and how the gaming industry can effectively tap into esports."