LOL/League of Legends Betting Sites (2023)

LOL Betting

League of Legends/LOL is a video game that takes the format of a multiplayer online battle arena developed by Riot Games in 2009. Today, the game is one of the most popular video games ever and one of the biggest and highest-grossing esports.

The game plays out by having ten players split into two teams of five to battle it by defending their camp and destroying the opponent's camp and characters on a map called the Summoner’s Rift. Each of the 10 players controls a single character in the game — these characters are referred to as champions. (We’ll discuss this in more depth later in this review).

The League of Legends as an e-sport brings together the millions of fans of the game to watch as pro-level players of LOL in teams face off against each other in special events, league contests, and championships. With over 4 million fans tuning in to watch the largest LOL event, the League of Legends World Championship, it is no wonder betting sites have paid great attention to the e-sport.

Top 5 League of Legends Betting Sites in the UK

Let’s look at the UK's top 5 betting sites that offer League of Legends betting.

GG.bet

Founded in 2016, GG.bet is a rookie betting site that has made great strides in esports betting. Originally introduced into the market as a betting site for esports bettors only, the bookie has grown to offer betting on other major sports as well.

One of the best features that make GG.bet a favourite for esports bettors is its Live streaming feature. The provision to watch the action on League of Legends tournaments as the biggest pro-level teams face off against each other is an asset that most bettors look out for when weighing different LOL bookies to work with.

Beyond live streaming LOL matches, GG.bet offers various markets, competitive odds, and numerous promotions for top LOL tournaments. The site is also easy to navigate on both mobile and laptop interfaces.

GG.bet is licensed by both the Government of Curacao, where it was established, and the Malta Gaming Authority to have operations in the UK.

Betway

Established in 2006, Betway has carved for itself a mark as one of the most popular betting sites in the UK. The bookie has been praised for its ability to quickly respond to the growth and changes in the gambling industry. It is no wonder that the bookie now has a comprehensive Betway esports section on its website in response to the year-on-year profile growth of competitive video gaming.

Betway is known for having the widest and best coverage of all League of Legends action. The bookie not only provides betting on the major tournaments such as League of Legends World Championship and League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational but also regional leagues such as League of Championship Series, League of Legends Champions Korea, League of Legends Pro League, League of Legends Continental League and many more.

The Betway esports website is well organised, making it easy to use and visually appealing. Betway also has a live streaming feature that you can access if you have at least £10 in your Betway account.

Betway is registered and licensed to operate in the UK under the UK Gambling Commission. The bookmaker is based in Malta and Guernsey, with supporting offices in London, Cape Town, and the Isle of Man.

Bet365

With over 45 million bettor accounts on their betting platform, Bet365 is one of the most popular betting sites globally. This huge number of members is largely attributed to the bookie having one of the most intuitive and user-friendly betting sites. Let’s not forget the Bet365 app available for Android and iOS users that has transformed the betting experience for many bettors.

The Bet365 website is available in about 20 different languages intending to cater to all bettors and make it as simple as possible to navigate the system and place wagers. When it comes to esports betting, and especially LOL betting, the bookmaker provides live streaming and live betting to ensure bettors can catch the live action and even make in-play bets. 

Besides providing a very functional and easy-to-use betting app, Bet365 offers competitive odds and decent coverage of league of legends matches and events.

Bet365 is based in the UK and has been in the gambling industry since 2000.

Rivalry Betting

The Rivalry betting company may be one of the newest kids on the block, having been established in 2018.

The bookie has a creatively done website that features great illustrations with the main menus displayed at the top of the homepage. True to its anthem of catering to esports bettors, the bookmarker has the esports schedule of ongoing or upcoming action displayed on the homepage.

Rivalry covers all major events, provides odds matching major bookies, and has impressive promotions and bonuses. Besides, Rivalry has gone all out on payment methods. It allows debit and credit cards such as MasterCard and Visa, payments via e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill, payment via prepaid cards such as Paysafecard and other alternative payment options such as Western Union, WebMoney, Astropay Card, Yandex Money, Picpay, Pay4Fun, Boleto, MuchBetter, PagoEffectivo, and even Bitcoin. 

Rivalry is regulated and licensed to run betting operations by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission.

22Bet 

Established in 2007, 22bet is licensed by the Government of Curacao and the UK Gambling Commission to operate in the UK market. The bookmaker has spent the past decade establishing its name by offering bettors a simple, easy-to-use website and developing an intuitive app to access betting on the go.

When it comes to LOL betting, bettors enjoy coverage of both pregame and live actions. The bookie also offers numerous regular and special markets and some of the most competitive odds on the market. Better yet,  22bet offers live streaming and in-play betting of League of Legends matches. 

To ensure maximum customer support, 22Bet has a 24/7 customer service team that timely responds to live cats and emails. Furthermore, the bookie has a detailed FAQ section where most common questions are answered in great detail.

How We Vet the Best League of Legends Betting Sites

Below are the key attributes we looked for while vetting LOL betting sites to come up with our list of the top 5 League of Legends Betting Sites.

Customer Support

An effective and efficient customer service and customer care centre is one of the most important features of any successful online-based service. This is a top requirement for any bookie looking to make it into our list of the best League of Legends betting sites.

The customer support features we look out for include;

• 24/7 availability of customer service team
• Responsiveness to issues raised within reasonable timelines
• Multiple communication channels, i.e. customer support email, customer support hotline, social media handles, etc
• Live chat feature for urgent issues
• Comprehensive FAQ section to facilitate self-help

Licensing

Any reputable betting site that targets the UK market must be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. A valid license speaks to the credibility of the betting site, while being regulated by a legal gambling body assures you that the bookie must protect your information and do right by bettors.

Betting Markets  & Events Coverage

League of Legends is arguably one of the greatest gaming phenomena today — with over 100 million players globally and numerous events that run concurrently. Therefore, to become a favourite bookie among LOL bettors, you must offer a wide coverage of LOL matches, events, and tournaments all year round. Covering only the big-league events will not cut it.

Beyond just covering the events, as a top LOL betting site, you must provide betting markets with depth. We expect a good number of regular LOL bets, proposition Lol bets, and Futures LOL bets. 

League Of Legends Odds

At the end of the day, the odds call the shots when it comes to your most preferred bookie. That is why our top League of Legends betting sites offer competitive and regularly updated odds. The best odds ensure you can get the best winning margins possible.  

Promotions & Bonuses

Free bets, special bets, bonuses, and promotions on select LOL tournaments are features that entice LOL bettors. Top LOL betting sites bookies provide at least one of these incentives.

Live Streaming & In-Play Betting 

Nothing elevates the betting experience more than catching the action as it happens and the provision to make real-time bets. Live streaming of LOL events allows bettors to make better analyses and place their wagers from a more informed point of view. Besides providing the option of in-play betting, top League of Legends betting sites provide accurate match statistics that are updated as the matches and tournaments progress.

User Interface & Mobile Optimisation

A user-friendly website ties together the great offers, the wide range of markets, the live betting features, and the competitive odds to offer the ultimate betting experience. Punters need to navigate the website to access what they want easily.

In addition to having a highly intuitive website, mobile optimisation of the website’s desktop version is key. We are all on the go, and LOL bettors prefer being able to place their wagers via their phones easily. Top betting sites go even a step further to develop mobile apps for their betting sites. The betting apps should be available for iOS and Android phones.

9 Most Popular League of Legends Betting Markets

League of Legends can be quite a complicated game with a variety of betting markets. However, here are the 9 most popular LOL betting markets.

Match Winner

In League of Legends, a match is defined as a set of either 3 or 5 games played by two teams of 5 players each. A match-winner refers to the team that will come out at the top at the end of the 3 or 5 games. 

The match-winner market is the most popular LOL betting market as it offers the lowest risk and multiple betting opportunities.

Map Winner

A “map” in League of Legends refers to a single game. When two teams begin playing, this first game is referred to as “Map 1”. The number will increase with every new game played. Therefore, the Map Winner market allows bettors to wage on which of the two teams will win a specific “map”.

First Blood

Each team on League of Legends is made up of 5 players, and these players control characters in the game referred to as champions. The first blood market allows the prediction of the first team to kill one of its opponent's champions. A successful champion kill is an attack that reduces their health to zero and results in them entering the death state.

Total Kills Over/Under

This is the perfect wager if you do not want to put your money on either team but are confident of the game's outcome regarding the total kills to be made. In this market, you place your wager on the prediction of whether the total kills will be lower or higher than the number of total kills predicted by the bookmaker.

Maps Total Over/Under

This is another market that focuses on the outcome of the game rather than the performance of either team. All you have to do is predict the number of  “maps” the two teams will play before determining whether the victor will be above or below the number predicted by the bookmaker.

Correct Score

To place your wager in this market, you must not only correctly predict the winning team but also the match's final tally. Though a daunting wager to place, if your prediction is right, you can be assured of good take-home pay.

Most Kills 

This is a prediction of the team ending up with the highest number of kills. You can bet based on matches, division competitions, league contests, or championship tournaments in this market.

Tournament Winner / Outright Winner

This is a wager placed on the team you predict to be the champion in a given championship tournament.

League Winner

This market predicts which team will win at the Grand Finals Playoffs/ Knock Out Stage. 

Top 3 League of Legends Betting Events

With millions of fans, avid players, and a good number of professional-level players, League of legends events are not minimal. In this review, however, we will only cover the top 3 League of legends events that you should take advantage of placing wagers on.

League of Legends World Championship

League of Legends World Championship, commonly known as LOL Worlds, is the League Of Legends’ biggest yearly event. The event marks the end of LOL’s competitive season and the crowning of the year’s League of Legends World Champions, who take home the Summoner’s Cup and coveted prize pool money.

LOL Worlds event hosts 24 teams from regions in the East and West. These 24 teams compete against each other across three competition stages to finally have one team crowned champion. The three stages are: 

• Stage 1: Play-In

This is the first stage League of Legends World Championship tournament — it rarely features S-tier teams as the strong regions send some of their teams directly to the Group Stage based on their excellent performance in previous years.

However, the lesser, well-ranked 12 teams must go through the play-in stage. The 12 teams are split into 3 pools, with two teams from each pool placed in either Play-In group. In the two Play-In groups, the teams play against one another in a Single Round Robin match format (must face each other off once). The scoring of the matches is best-of-one. The top team from each pool advances to the Group stage.

Team number 2 to 4 from each Play-In group then proceed to a second round of facing off each other. The scoring of the matches is best-of-5, and the winners of the final match from each Play-In group advance to the Group Stage.

• Stage 2: Groups

The Group Stage is where the exciting action begins as all major contenders play.  With only 16 teams in the group stage, the teams are split into four equal groups. The teams play against each other within their groups in a Double Round Robin match format (must face off with each team twice). The Match scoring is best-of-one, with the top two teams from each group proceeding to the Knockout Stage.

• Stage 3: Knockouts

The Knockout Stage comprises three tires, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals. The 8 teams that proceed to the Knockout Stage compete against each other in a  single-elimination bracket format, with all matches played scored in the best-of-five format.

The team that comes out victorious will be crowned the year’s League of Legends World Champions.

The 2022 League of Legends World Champions is DRX. The regional teams that participated in the  League of Legends World Championship tournament included:

• 4 teams from China
• 4 teams from Europe
• 4 teams from Korea
• 3 teams from North America
• 2 teams from Vietnam
• 2 teams from PCS, this region is made up of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and Southeast Asia
• 1 team from Japan
• 1 team from Turkey
• 1 team from Brazil
• 1 team from Latin America
• 1 team from Oceania

League of Championship Series

The League Championship Series (LCS) is a regional League of Legends league that brings together the top pro-level LOL players in the United States and Canada for a tournament. It is one of the biggest League of Legends regional leagues.

The LCS comprises two splits, summer and spring, where teams compete each season. The tournament runs for nine weeks of play-ins, with all the teams facing off twice. At the end of the nine weeks, teams are ranked based on win percentages. 

The tournament then proceeds to run a three-week playoff bracket with the top six teams of the split competing in a double-elimination tournament. The top two teams proceed to the semi-finals, and the remaining four face off for the position 3 spot in the quarter-finals.

Teams that make it to the summer or spring split playoffs are awarded cash prizes and Championship Points that are considered in qualifying for the League of Legends World Championships.

The champions of the spring split of all League of Legends regions qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational tournament. On the other hand, the winners in the summer split and the runner-up with Championship Points receive an automatic spot in the World Championships. 

Other popular League of Legends regional leagues to check out include League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), League of Legends Pro League (LPL), and League of Legends European Championship (LEC).

League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational

The Mid-Season Invitational is LOL’s second-biggest tournament after the World Championships. They have even been dubbed “Mini Worlds” as they gauge teams performing well in the season and provide a preview of teams from different regions facing off.

The tournament happens after the spring split but before the summer split of the LCS, hence the name Mid-Season. The winning region in the Mid-Season Invitational automatically receives a spot in the year’s World Championship group stage for their Summer Split champion, while the top four regions get the pool-1 spot at the World Championship group stage.

LOL games101; A Brief Guide

If you are a novice to the League of Legends video game, it will help you understand how the game works to follow the e-sport and make better-informed bets. Here’s a brief guide to League of Legends.

The Objective

The ultimate objective in League of Legends is to win, and you win by destroying your opponents' team base. 

The Players

Two teams per game play League of Legends, each comprising 5 players.

Pre-Game Set Up

Before the game officially begins, players decide which game mode they want to play, the position preferred, and the champion’s setup. We’ll touch on each of these aspects within this guide.

The Gaming Modes

League of legends is available in two game modes; Summoner’s Rift and the Howling Abyss. The difference between the two modes is the map provided for the games.

The Summoner’s Rift is the more popular map — it allows players to pick their own champions and lane positions. It is used in league competitions and tournaments.

The Howling Abyss map is a smaller map with randomly assigned champions and a shorter gameplay duration. This map is perfect for beginners to test out and become acquainted with different champions.

The Positions

The Summoner’s Rift map comprises three lanes; the Top Lane, Mid Lane, and Bot Lane, with a jungle between each. Each team of 5 players is arranged with 1 player in the Top Lane, 1 in the Mid Lane, 1 in the Jungle, and 2 in the Bot lane. 

The Characters

Below are some of the most popular and frequent characters in a League of Legends game.

• Champions

A champion refers to the character controlled by each player in a match of League of Legends. LOL has 140 champions for play — more are being developed.

• Nexus

The Nexus is the structure next to the spawning point of the enemy team. The aim is to blast and destroy it to win a match.

• Minions

Minions are little robed figures of opposing teams and the largest in number in the game. Minions from opposing teams fight each other in every match. Killing them earns champions gold that can be used to purchase booster items and increase abilities.

• Turrets

Turrets are structures whose main job is to attack the minions of the opposing team. Should there be no minions to attack an enemy champion who has advanced in their base, turrets also take up this task. 

• Inhibitors

Inhibitors are structures found behind turrets. Each lane features two inhibitors, one for each team. Inhibitors have no attacking capabilities, but once successfully destroyed by the enemy, they allow for temporarily spawning allied Super minions in that lane until the inhibitor respawns.

Super minions are bigger and stronger versions of regular minions. They attack and push enemy minions much easier and faster.

• Epic Monsters

Like slaying minions, turrets, and inhibitors, killing epic monsters earns champions gold. There are three types of epic monsters unique to League of Legends; Rift Heralds, Baron Nashors, and Dragons.

Rift Heralds and Baron Nashors appear in the pit between the Top and Mid lane. Killing a Rift Herald replaces the players’ warding trinket while killing the Baron Nashor strengthens the team increasing the power of minions nearby and delivering a faster recall time, among other benefits.

Dragons exist in the pit between the Mid and Bot lane. Several different types of dragons are available, and slaying each presents the teams with different powers and benefits. 

• The Fountain and Shop

The fountain is the beginning spot of every game. It is where champions respawn after they die. The fountain is also where champions can return to at any point in a game to either heal or purchase items in the shop to strengthen themselves.

The LOL Champion Roles

Champions In LOL are mainly categorised based on their roles. Understanding the 5 roles will help you as a bettor to accurately assess the game as it progresses and make well-informed wagers. These 5 roles are aligned with the lane played by the champion. They include:

1. Top lane role - These are the champions played in the top lane. Their characteristic is to be self-sufficient as they are the frontline fighters.
2. Jungle role - These are champions skilled in taking on the creatures found in the jungle. The jungle exits between each lane. These champions are the force behind a team’s winning strategy. Their job is to infiltrate enemy territory by appearing where the enemy least expects them or doesn’t want them.
3. Mid-lane role - These champions are situated in the middle lane. Their characteristic is to cause immense damage. They achieve this level of damage by eliminating enemies either from the shadows as assassins or from a distance as mages.
4. Attack Damage Carry (ADC) role - This is the role played by one of the two champions in the bot lane. These champions fight the enemy from a distance but cause continuous damage. They are the marksmen of the team.
5. Support role - The other champion in the bot lane plays this role. The job of these champions is to provide their team with buffs, multiply the force of the other champions and offer crowd control. They are the glue that holds the team together and elevates the skills and prowess of the entire team.

LOL Tournament  Rules

The League of Legends tournament has several rules, but you need only concern yourself with these 5 to understand a LOL game.

1. The games are structured as 5 vs 5 players on Summoner’s Rift map.
2. Matches are best-of-three during the regular season and playoffs and elimination rounds but best-of-five for the grand finals.
3. In the regular season, home and away teams are assigned weekly through the tournament interface. The home team appears on the left side, also referred to as the Blue Side, while the Away team appears on the right side of the page, also known as the Red Side. However, during the playoffs, the sides switch after each game.
4. Players can be substituted after every completed game in a best-of-three series.
5. Any game's official results are shown on the post-game summary screen.