What Kinds of Bets Can You Place on League of Legends Games?

If you're starting to get into League of Legends betting, the first step is to know the many different bets you can place. Luckily, this guide is what you precisely need to understand all LoL betting markets and what kinds of bets can you place on League of Legends games.

LoL Competition Markets

LoL Competition Markets are relatively simple markets on paper, but quite complex in practice. Making successful wagers in this market requires a solid understanding of a team's average performance compared to its competition in a tournament or league.

Tournament Winner

As the name implies, the "tournament winner" market is for betting on which League of Legends team comes out as the champion in a given tournament.

Example - In the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) 2021 Spring Season, you chose to wager on G2 Esports as the potential reigning champion among nine other teams in the tournament because of their new team composition. If G2 Esports wins the Finals of the LEC 2021 Spring Playoffs, you have made a successful wager. If they drop off the tournament by elimination, then you lose the bet.

League Winner

A "league winner" market looks at which League of Legends team manages to claim first place in a tournament or league.

Example - During the League of Legends World Championship, you opted to bet on LCK representative T1 to become the world champion. To make a winning wager, T1 needs to come out as the Grand Finals winner during the Knockout Stage against other competing teams. If any other team wins the Grand Finals, other bettors who wagered on that team will be the winners.

LoL Match Markets

Compared to other LoL betting markets, match markets may be the simplest among them all. A match can be defined as a sequence of games fought between two teams, typically in a best-of-three fashion.

Match Winner

A "match winner" wager is simply about which team will win in a best-of scenario. In LoL tournaments, it is usually about which team comes out on top in best-of-three or best-of-five games.

Example - A World Championship match happens between 3-time world champion T1 (1.64) and LPL underdog FunPlus Phoenix (1.98), and you betted on T1 to win the best-of-five match. The results came in, and FPX managed to snag a win with a 2-3 score. These results mean that those who wagered for the underdog won the bet.

LoL Map Markets

In LoL betting, the term "map" is used to depict the games that happen in Summoner's Rift, and "Map 1" will always be the first game that occurs in a match between two teams.

Map 1 First Blood

First Blood refers to the very first champion kill that occurs in a match. Players that obtain first blood get a special announcement indicating as such.

Example - In an LPL match between JD Gaming (1.54) and Victory Five (2.17), you chose to bet on JDG for being infamous for their early game aggression. One minute into the match, the entire JDG team rushed towards the enemy jungler for an invade, and then they managed to take down V5's support. That support kill is the first blood drawn by JDG, and that means you won the wager.

Map 1 Team to Draw First Blood & Win the Map

Similar to Map 1 First Blood, this market has the added condition of winning the map. To win this market, a team must draw first blood and destroy the enemy's Nexus.

Example - Following the LPL example with the same teams (JD Gaming at 1.71 and Victory Five at 1.97), you followed through with a JDG wager because they are among the strongest teams in the region. Since they have already taken first blood, they need to win the game to deliver a successful wager.

Map 1 Team to Score the Most Kills

This betting market is about which team will garner the highest number of kills in a match's first game. Kills occur when a champion kills an enemy champion, and all kills taken for that game are tallied on the scoreboard per team.

Example - You're betting on 100 Thieves (1.4) to take the lead in kill count against Team SoloMid (2.13) in an LCS Spring Season match. Based on your research, 100 Thieves have an above-average kill/death ratio per match compared to TSM for that season. Thus, this is a good wager to pursue.

Map 1 Kills Odd Or Even

You're looking at whether the total kill count between two teams will be an odd or even number in this market.

Example - In the previous example situation between 100 Thieves (1.36) and Team SoloMid (1.98), you wagered on kill counts to turn out even. The match concluded with 18 kills in total; 13 kills from 100 Thieves and 5 kills from TSM. Therefore, you made a winning bet for this match.

Map 1 Team to Destroy the First Tower

Towers are defensive structures that each lane has, and it slows down each team on the path to each other's Nexus. The first tower destroyed in Summoner's Rift is always one of the outermost turrets in each lane. A visual announcement that comes with the successful siege declares which team destroyed the first tower.

Example - A Mid-Season Invitational semifinals match happens between Invictus Gaming (1.27) and Fnatic (2.31), and you opted to wager on IG because of their top laner's preference in champions that siege towers quickly. In Game 1, IG's top laner managed to break the top outer turret by minute 9 after dominating the early game against Fnatic. This result indicates that you won the bet.

Map 1 Both Teams to Slay a Dragon

Dragons are one of the neutral objectives in Summoner's Rift, located at the south of the map where the bottom lane is. Slaying a dragon provides team-wide benefits, and it helps achieve the primary objective of destroying the Nexus.

Example - An LEC match occurs between G2 Esports and Fnatic with odds of both teams successfully slaying a Dragon set at 1.84. In the first game, G2 takes their first Dragon at 6 minutes, and after 19 minutes of struggling, Fnatic secures their own. This is an example of a winning scenario.

Map 1 First Element Dragon

Element Dragon is synonymous with Dragon because Dragons in LoL come in four different forms:

• Infernal (red),
• Cloud (white),
• Mountain (brown), and
• Ocean (green).

This betting market only requires one team to slay any of the four dragon types in the first game.

Example - Using the exact LEC match between G2 Esports (1.58) and Fnatic (2.21), you chose to bet on the highly consistent team G2. In the first game, G2 snags an early Infernal Dragon at 6 minutes. Since G2 was the first to slay an elemental dragon, it means you won the wager.

Map 1 Team to Slay the First Baron

Baron Nashor is the other neutral objective in Summoner's Rift that spawns 20 minutes in the game, and unlike the Elemental Dragons, Baron is no pushover. To successfully slay him, an entire well-geared team needs to coordinate to reap its game-ending benefits for sieging.

Example - An LCK match between Gen.G (1.35) and KT Rolster (2.58) occurs in a given round or week. You opted to wager for Gen.G as they are among the best teams LCK has to offer. At 23 minutes after Gen.G wipes out KT Rolster in a teamfight, they have successfully slain Baron Nashor. In this hypothetical situation, you managed to place a winning wager.

Map 1 Both Teams to Slay a Baron

Compared to the previous betting market, two teams are now required to have a successful Baron takedown. Note that once Baron is slain, he needs 7 minutes to respawn for a second takedown.

Example - Following the previous LCK example, let's presume the odds of both teams successfully slaying Baron is at 2.61. You opted to bet that both teams can take their own Baron. Gen.G has slain the Baron at 23 minutes, but they immediately forced a teamfight from KT Rolster and wipe them out one last time, eventually destroying KT's Nexus. Unfortunately, this result marks a failed wager for this market.

Map 1 Team To Destroy the First Inhibitor

Inhibitors are unique structures located behind Inhibitor Turrets and can be damaged by destroying a corresponding lane's Inhibitor Turret. Destroying an inhibitor provides the sieging team Super Minions that push towards the enemy Nexus.

Example - You wagered on Team Liquid (1.65) to be able to destroy the first inhibitor against Evil Geniuses (1.52) in an LCS Summer Season match. Both teams are relatively equal in their ability to siege. Still, Team Liquid managed to catch Evil Geniuses off-guard with a skirmish during the mid-game and pushed towards their inhibitor. They managed to destroy it before anyone from EG respawned, and that marks a successful wager on your end.

Map 1 Quadra Kill

A Quadra Kill occurs when a champion successfully slays four enemy champions within a short period. A special voice announcement and banner are displayed on the event that a player kills their fourth enemy champion in a row.

Example - You're looking to bet on FunPlux Phoenix (4.50) to secure a quadra kill against JD Gaming (3.60) during an LPL match. Despite being slightly less rare than a penta kill, FPX's marksman player manages to claim a quadra kill during one game-changing teamfight in the midgame. This result indicates that you made a winning bet with the underdog.

Map 1 Penta Kill

A Penta Kill occurs when a player is credited for slaying all five enemy champions within a short period. There are a unique voice announcement and the most prominent banner displayed for players that achieve such a rare feat.

Example - In a different LPL match between JD Gaming (18.00) and Top Esports (21.00), you placed your bets on JDG because they have a marksman player/prodigy that has been the talk of the town this season. Because of the overwhelmingly low odds for a penta kill in competitive play, the ideal scenario would be that JDG's marksman takes a pentakill after having an insane lead in the early game with his team's support.

Map 1 Total Gold Over/Under

Gold is the premier currency that players use to purchase items to empower their champions. Often, gold is a measurement of how powerful or ahead a given player or team is compared to the other team or players in a game.

Example - You're predicting that Game 1 of a match between Team SoloMid and Evil Geniuses will last for well over 30 minutes, so you wagered that the total gold would go over the market's predicted total gold amount (Over odds at 1.68, Under odds at 2.14). The game did last for more than 30 minutes after multiple teamfights and objective takedowns, resulting in a total gold over for a winning wager.

Map 1 Total Gold Handicap

In this market, you're predicting which team will have a larger total amount of gold, with the benefit of a handicap. Winning teams typically have relatively more total gold, but the handicap gives underdog teams a fighting chance.

Example - An LCS match between Cloud9 and Golden Guardians occurs, and you're confident that Cloud9 will steamroll the other team in Game 1. Unsurprisingly, Cloud9's superior team composition dominated the early game without room for any comebacks. Thus, this wager is considered a success.

Now that you're aware of the different LoL betting markets, check out some tips to improve your LoL betting strategy. Best of luck on betting in the Rift!