Valorant Betting Guide – Start Betting Money on Valorant

Valorant has been around for just over a year, yet it’s already among the most popular esports that people bet on. Interestingly enough, betting on Valorant started long before the game’s actual release. Bookmakers initially offered bets on the game’s beta events handled by Twitch. Fun times!

Since then, Valorant has become a lively esports title packed with championship events left and right. All major regions are included in the portfolio, and the pro player pool keeps on getting fresh talents from other first-person shooters in esports.

But we’re mainly here to talk about the game’s betting sphere! You see, Riot Games’ FPS was always meant to be an esports title just as much as it was meant for people to bet on it. The top-level of professional play in Valorant is highly competitive, and the demand for Valorant betting was always going to flourish.

And if there’s demand, online bookmakers are going to be interested…

Best Valorant Betting Sites

• BetUS – Best Valorant Betting Site for US Players
• BetOnline – Best for Betting on Valorant’s Smaller Events
• SportsBetting.ag – Great All-Around Esports Coverage
• MyBookie – Post Valorant Betting Odds Earliest
• Betway – Best Bookmaker for Non-US Players*
• 22Bet – Best Valorant Betting Bonuses*

(*Betway and 22Bet are Overwatch betting sites that only accept No-US bettors)

What Makes Good Valorant Bookies?

• Intuitive and responsive website
• Mobile betting support
• Reputation
• Number of available esports markets
• Generous bonuses
• Customer support quality
• Supported payment methods

There are plenty more where that came from. If you want a closer look at what makes these sites good, then checking out our Valorant betting sites guide is a must!

What Is Valorant?

Let’s start off with the basics. What is Valorant?

Valorant is a round-based first-person shooter (FPS) made by Riot Games, the creators of League of Legends. Valorant, ever since its Project A days, was meant to be a fast-paced, well-balanced esports title. It’s a direct competitor to the likes of Overwatch, CS:GO, and Rainbow Six Siege.

Valorant Gameplay 101

As stated earlier, Valorant is a round-based FPS, similar to CS:GO in that regard. Instead of having 30 rounds, Valorant has a maximum of 25, meaning the first team to reach 13 takes the big W.

As for the actual gameplay mechanics, there are many additional similarities with Valve’s most popular FPS. For instance, the movement and aiming mechanics feel near-identical, and the maps feel alike, too. Valorant does have a major difference, though, and that would be the unique characters (AKA agents) and their unique abilities.

Don’t worry, we’re not talking about the next Overwatch here. Valorant is a short-TTK (time to kill), character-based FPS in which the unique abilities don’t drastically alter how the game plays. They do matter, but just slightly more than utility grenades in CS:GO.

Tactical Short-TTK FPS

“Tactical what?” That ought to be the first thing most of you think of when you read that. Don’t let Short-TTK FPS confuse you; it’s not nuclear physics. Short-TTK stands for short time to kill, meaning a single headshot is enough to kill an opponent in most cases.

Valorant basically borrows the character-based gameplay from Overwatch, fewer max number of rounds from Rainbow Six Siege, and everything else from CS:GO. We won’t dare say Valorant has the perfect mixture of great esports characteristics, but it’s damn near close, that’s for sure!

Biggest Valorant Competitors

Long story short, Valorant’s biggest competitors are CSGO and Overwatch. Rainbow Six had been in the mix before the game’s release, though it’s now evident they’re nothing alike.

As for Overwatch and CSGO, here’s what you need to know.

Overwatch

Obviously, Valorant and Overwatch have numerous playable characters divided into several roles, each with unique characteristics and skills. While that aspect is similar on both fronts, they have vastly different gameplay elements like round objectives and map design/outline.

Another differentiating factor are their time-to-kill mechanics. Valorant’s TTK is much shorter, with some weapons granting instant kills on headshots.

Last but not least, character abilities in Overwatch have much greater importance than agents’ skills in Valorant. Valorant is more about aim whereas Overwatch is more about MOBA-styled team fights.

Best Overwatch Betting Sites

CSGO

CSGO and Valorant have a lot of things in common. They both rely on the good old plant/defuse objectives, have similar map designs, similar movement/aim patterns, and short-TKK mechanics.

What differentiates CSGO and Valorant are abilities. Yep, abilities—that’s pretty much it! Characters in CSGO are all the same; none of them have unique skills. You can buy armor, weapons, and grenades— that’s it!

Best CSGO Betting Sites

Valorant Agents

At the moment, there are 16 agents in Valorant. 10 of them were available in beta, with one more coming with the official release version. We’ve had five new arrivals since then. Here’s the full list:

Popularity of Real Money Betting on Valorant

Loot.bet has been so kind to give us proper esports betting statistics for 2020. Keep in mind, though, Valorant was released halfway through the year. Just something to think about going forward.

That said, Valorant came in seventh in terms of overall betting volume.

History of Betting on Valorant

Unfortunately, there’s not much history to talk about here. As you probably know by now, Valorant was released on June 2^nd 2020, meaning it’s a fresh game. Valorant betting demand is going to be growing in size over the next few years, so any concrete historical talk makes no sense… at least for the moment.

Biggest Valorant Events to Bet On

Since Valorant is Riot Games’ product, it comes as no surprise to see it having one centralized championship. The game’s entire esports ecosystem revolves around that single championship, which is exactly the case with Riot Games’ biggest esports title, League of Legends.

In League of Legends, Riot Games has instituted LoL Championship Series consisting of numerous regional championships such as LEC, LCS, LPL, LCK, and so on.

Valorant Champions Tour

In Valorant, the LoL Championship Series equivalent is called Valorant Champions Tour. The game still revolves around one massive event (as in there are no notable third-party events), Valorant Champions, but there are far fewer Valorant Champions Tour regionals. Keep in mind, though, Valorant is still a brand-new game with plenty of development potential.

How to Bet on Valorant Online

Starting your real money Valorant betting career won’t take too much of your time. Best of all, it doesn’t require any advanced IT skills other than simple web browsing. If you’re skilled enough to use Facebook, Twitter, and similar platforms, you won’t have any issues with betting on Valorant either. In fact, betting real money on Valorant is in many way similar to betting on CS:GO, Dota 2, LoL, or any other esports title out there.

• • The first thing you need to do is find a proper site you can use to bet on Valorant online. Finding one is not difficult. You can refer to the list at the top of this page, all these sites feature Valorant odds.
  • After you’ve found a bookie you like, you need to register for an account by clicking on that shiny register button that’s usually located somewhere at the top of the main page.

• Proceed to fill in your personal and bank info. In addition to all that, you might also need to verify your email address because that’s what most bookmakers require these days.
• After you’ve done all that, it’s time to make your initial deposit. Don’t cheap out right off the bat, numerous esports bookmakers offer welcome bonuses which are based on the initial deposit.
• The final step is to start betting on Valorant, it’s as simple as that! Most bookmakers will have dedicated Valorant categories featuring a bunch of bets on the biggest events.

Five Crucial Valorant Betting Tips

Esports betting is still a very popular niche. Even at this day in age, being a professional esports bettor is much easier than being a professional sports bettor. That said, this Valorant betting guide can’t end without pointing out five important tips for all wannabe Valorant betting enthusiasts.

1. Familiarize Yourself With the Basics of Online Betting

First things first, if you’re an avid gamer, you probably don’t know much about online betting. Heck, the chances are that betting on Valorant will be your first online betting excursion. If that’s the case, you’ll have to conquer the basics of online betting before you can go ahead and actually place wagers on Valorant matches.

First and foremost, learn the online betting jargon! Follow that up with exploring the most popular esports betting strategies and try to find one that best fits your betting style. It might seem irrelevant at first but finding and sticking to an esports betting strategy is of crucial importance for your long-term success!

2. Learn About the Gameplay

After learning the ins and outs of the online betting basics, it’s time to pay an equal share of attention to the game you’re interested in betting on. Since we’re talking about betting on Valorant, the first thing you should do is learn about all the available agents.

Learning core gameplay elements like playable characters (AKA agents), their abilities, map layouts, weapon tiers, and peeking angles will bring you the much-needed win consistency at Valorant betting sites.

In addition to the core gameplay elements, you should also explore the game’s esports scene. It’s already starting to develop, but there will be a lot more information or stats available once the game gets officially released this summer. Last but not least, exploring the game’s META should also increase your overall success. Luckily for you, that’s exactly what we’ll be focusing on in the next paragraph.

3. Explore the META

The META, or the most effective tactics available, can tell you a great deal about the outcome of every Valorant matchup. The same goes for other esports titles too, and it’s not only reserved for MOBA games. Contrary to popular belief, META is present in virtually all highly competitive titles and revolves around things like economy management, optimal movement, core item builds, angle peeking, and similar.

The thing that will tell you the most regarding betting on Valorant is the most played agent pools of the teams and players in question. By understanding the agents’ complexity, their individual abilities, and realizing their key pros and cons, you’ll be able to determine just how viable they’ll be in a given match.

That sort of stuff bears massive importance in your Valorant betting success, so make sure you explore your options before you start investing too much money.

4. Get up to Speed With All Valorant News

After you get yourself familiar with the ins and outs of Valorant’s gameplay and META game, it’s time to pay more attention to its esports scene. We’re not just talking about the team forms, stats, and rosters, but actual Valorant esports news reflecting on day-to-day happenings in the Valorant esports scene, something like what we provide below.

Pay a lot of attention to stuff like team-based or game-update news, team storylines ahead of major events, and the freshest transfers that could make or break rosters. Yes, this is another one of those things that might seem silly to do at first, but it can actually make or break your Valorant betting experience. Stuff like transfer news and balancing patches should not be taken for granted and can really affect the Valorant betting odds!

5. Avoid Making Silly Mistakes Over and Over Again

Esports bettors keep making the same old esports betting mistakes over and over again. We already have a separate article dedicated to esports betting mistakes, so you might as well go ahead and check it out. It emphasizes the critical betting mistakes that can endanger one’s betting experience and personal finances.

Best Apps for Online Valorant Betting

There are three important apps you need to know about if you are going to be betting real money on Valorant in the foreseeable future.

Strafe Esports App

First up, Strafe! Strafe is well-versed across the esports spectrum, allowing users to customize their news feed and notifications and get all the latest news and results for their favorite teams and players. There are some statistics involved in the story too, but they don’t go to the depth of the next Valorant betting app/site.

Vlr.gg

The next one, as the title suggests, is Vlr.gg. It’s basically the HLTV org of Valorant. It features a similar layout, a similar statistical depth, as well as live and upcoming match tracking. Events, players, teams, rankings—Vrl.gg has it all. This site will help you out a ton in your real money Valorant betting endeavors. You’re welcome!

Don’t Forget Liquipedia

Valorant Liquipedia hub can be a good source of information, too. You’ll find lots of same stuff available as Vlr.gg too, but in a more Liquipedia-esque manner. If you’re used to Liquipedia for betting research, Valorant hub will be right up your alley.

Live Betting on Valorant

If you want to bet on ongoing Valorant matches, then you have to look for esports bookmakers featuring live bets. Luckily, you won’t have any trouble finding those in this day and age. Most reputable Valorant betting sites offer live betting; it’s become a standard for the rapidly growing industry, and it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Most Common Valorant Bets

Now, let’s take a look at the types of bets available on real money Valorant betting websites.

Match-Winners (Moneylines)

The base of online sports/esports betting. All you have to do here is correctly guess the match-winner, just like the name suggests. There’s nothing else in it for you here, except the final outcome of the match. Guess the winner correctly and you win the bet. It’s that simple!

Spread (Handicap)

When moneyline AKA match winner wager is not an option because one team is a heavy favorite, spreads (or handicaps) often steal the show. It’s pretty simple! These bets give an artificial advantage to the favorite in matches with multiple maps and you’re supposed to guess the final outcome with that artificial advantage in place.

For example, Team A is the heavy favorite against Team B in a bo3 clash. Spread bet has Team A at -1.5 maps at the start of the match, which means the end result has to be 2:0 in their favor for this bet to come true.

Team 1

TEAM A

-1.5 (-110)

Team 2

TEAM B

+1.5 (-110)

If you’re betting on the underdog spread, Team B +1.5, that means they have a 1.5 maps advantage at the start and need to win just one map for this wager to come true. It might sound complicated, but it won’t be an issue after just one or two outings.

First Half Winner

Valorant matches have two halves. Typical match-winners are based on the outcome of the entire match. First half winner bets, as their name suggests, take just the first half into account. If your team wins the half, you’ve won the bet – it’s payout time, you don’t have to wait for the match to end.

Outrights

Lastly, there’s outrights! Outrights AKA futures are there for people who see no point in short-term match-related bets. These people are in it for the long run, and outrights are there for them! So, what are they? Well, if you haven’t figured it out by now, outrights are based around whole tournaments instead of a single match.

There’s more to futures/outrights than tournament winners, though. You can bet on region of the winner, group stage winner, tournament MVP, most used agent, and similar. It all depends on the size of the event as well as the bookie you’re using.

Real Money Valorant Betting FAQ

Final Thoughts on Online Valorant Wagering

At this point, you ought to know a lot about real money Valorant betting online. As stated earlier, it’s not nuclear physics. Even though some things might seem complex at first, it’s meant to be as straightforward and beginner-friendly as possible.

With that said, Valorant betting online is still no walk in the park. If you want to win some money while you’re at it, you will have to do proper research, learn from your mistakes, and avoid betting traps like chasing losses and poor bankroll management.

You can do it; we believe in you!