Dmytro Voshkarin is CEO of the trendsetting esports betting company, GG.BET. An active participant in the development of esports, The company delivers news, sponsors broadcasts, creates content and partners with teams.
Licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority, GG.BET offers markets on all major esports genres – Dota 2, StarCraft 2, CS:GO, League of Legends, Call of Duty, NBA, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Vainglory, World of Tanks, Fortnite, Valorant and FIFA.
And for traditional sports betting enthusiasts, markets are also available for football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, baseball, boxing, futsal, MMA, handball, snooker, motorsports, American football, hockey, beach volleyball, beach soccer and even virtual sports.
Esports betting is such a hot topic, with such a new and hungry audience, that we wanted a true expert to provide the readers of Global Gambling News with meaningful insight into this exciting phenomenon. And Dmytro was more than happy to oblige.
Can we please begin with a brief overview of GG.BET’s history?
“GG.BET is an international bookmaker that strives to provide the best esports betting experience possible. We help enrich esports fans’ experience when watching their favourite matches, with markets across more than 30 different disciplines, following the twists and turns of esports tournaments alongside fans.
“GG.BET was founded by people who love everything about computer games and want to share this enthusiasm. Esports has always been our primary focus. However, customers can also place bets with GG.BET on traditional sports, as well as virtual sports such as e-tennis or e-football.
“Over time, GG.BET has expanded its range of available services, and on investing in the development of the esports community. In the past year alone, we have supported two Majors in Antwerp and Arlington, as well as the biggest Dota 2 tournament, The International. GG.BET is also a partner of two well-known esports teams, Team Vitality and Natus Vincere. We work with brand ambassadors and influencers on an ongoing basis in order to deliver unique and high-quality content to fans.”
And how have esports and esports betting in particular evolved?
“Although esports is a dynamic industry, it has solid foundations. Three main game categories were established with the rise of esports – team MOBA games such as League of Legends and Dota 2, shooting games such as CS:GO, and battle royale games like Fortnite.
“Every new game falls within one of these categories. By applying this knowledge, GG.BET is able to stay ahead of the curve. We understand the potential of each game and how best to present it to the betting audience. If an entirely new game genre emerges, this could impact on what viewers choose to watch and we would have to adapt to the new circumstances. For the time being, however, the esports betting market is fairly predictable.”
GG.BET is known as a bookmaker that specialises in esports betting. Could you explain how esports betting is different to traditional sports betting?
“That is a broad subject, and I could talk about it for hours! Betting is all about knowing the games, understanding their intricacies and the teams’ potential. The more you know, the more accurate your predictions. To answer your question, we need to look at the differences between esports and traditional sports.
“It may seem like football teams and CS:GO teams are both just competing against each other and whoever scores more goals or earns more points wins and moves on to the next stage. But if we dig deeper, esports is actually far more complicated than traditional sports. Whereas the rules of tennis or basketball have been the same for decades, the rules of Dota 2 are updated a few times each year and can sometimes completely change the balance of the game.
“Esports traders and betting companies have to be prepared to adapt to changes. This includes developing new mathematical models to improve the accuracy of predictions, revising marketing and communication approaches, adding new games to the platform or removing ones that are no longer relevant. Teams have to come up with new strategies and builds, and change their choice of characters.
“Another unique aspect of esports betting is its audience. Our bettors enjoy all the benefits of the online world. They watch matches on the screen, they tune in to streams led by analysts and they also have the GG.BET app open on their phone. All these things happen at the same time, creating an environment that allows bettors to be as involved in the game as possible. As a result, providing a stream and offering a few markets simply isn’t enough for such an audience. We working to develop an organic esports ecosystem including tournaments, teams, content and a variety of esports betting products.”
What does GG.BET bring to the table that makes the company stand out?
“We are proud of the huge variety of esports bets we offer. We offer 300-400 different markets on top events every day, and more during major tournaments. Thanks to the in-depth expertise of our esports trading partners, we are able to provide more interesting markets, and not only ‘To Win’ or ‘To Lose’ bets, but bets on in-game events too. What’s more, we recently introduced unique, individual player markets on ‘Total Deaths’ and ‘Total Kills’ in CS:GO. This means that customers can now not only place bets on the final outcome, but on their favourite players too.
“Another feature concerns bonuses. We have noticed that during the group stages of major tournaments, when lots of variables are involved and it is difficult to predict the winner, bettors are more likely to use bet insurance. On the other hand, the closer a tournament gets to the Final, the more bettors stick to their favourite team and place precise bets, making this the perfect time for us to offer big deposit bonuses. This nuanced approach creates a ‘Win-Win’ situation for both GG.BET and our customers, who enjoy a far smoother betting experience as a result. I believe that this variety of bonuses will become a GG.BET tradition.”
What can new customers and partners expect when they team up with GG.BET?
“We aim to give our customers everything that we – as esports fans ourselves – could possibly want. The best odds in the industry, an abundance of markets and quick real-time updates. One of our key goals is to become the No.1 esports bookmaker in the world. Day to day, this not only means providing the best possible service, but also paying attention to financial details, supporting every single customer, ensuring data security and actively managing risks.
“When we collaborate with partners, we look for projects that will improve esports as a whole. We have been partners of ESIC since 2019 and are working together to develop an Anti-Corruption Tutorial. This will cover how people in the esports industry should handle insider information, how to prevent corruption and what to do if they witness corrupt behavior.
“GG.BET advocates for fair play in esports and is committed to building a safe and fair space for all players and esports clubs. With this in mind, both our partners and customers can rely on us to be equally open and transparent.”
In terms of current trends/preferences, which have garnered the most interest, and may be here to stay?
“One of the hottest trends in recent years has been the rise of mobile betting. People want to be able to place bets on the go, whether that is when they are waiting for their order in a cafe or stuck in a traffic jam. As a result, we have been working on providing our customers with a convenient and informative mobile version of our platform. Our efforts certainly did not go to waste, the number of GG.BET customers who placed bets on mobile devices grew by 12% in 2022.
“Another important trend that we are focused on is the continued usage of new technologies in betting, ranging from the introduction of instant payments and cryptocurrency betting, to complex machine learning algorithms, which help collect data about matches and even generate forecasts.
“Among the latest big GG.BET updates, there is the personal feed feature, which automatically adapts to individual user behaviour and displays more betting events that are relevant to each specific user. It is small changes and features such as these that help enrich customers’ betting experiences.”
The betting industry can often be unpredictable. What do you think will be the main challenges for the industry going forwards?
“The first challenge is the evolving regulatory system, which often restricts and sometimes explicitly prohibits betting. Although many countries are working on implementing more balanced legislation, it takes a long time for laws to be passed. Currently, there are no worldwide or region-wide uniform practices available when it comes to betting. As a result, bookmakers that operate on the international market have to strike a careful balance by adapting and adhering to local legislation. It’s likely that establishing a legislative framework for esports betting will take several more decades.
“The second challenge for the development of esports is the large gap between the quality and the cost of services in the industry. Instead of seeing high-quality tournament broadcasts, we often come up against difficulties with the organisation of streamers and analysts.
“Moreover, instead of teams collaborating with fans, players and clubs are often not interested in working with their audience. Media figures are not representative of today’s prices and the entire industry appears to be highly overrated. We can liken the esports market to a bubble that is constantly growing and inflating – if we don’t care for it properly, it could burst and do harm to the entire community. As participants in the esports market, I think all of us should pay more attention to these new developments.”
How do you think esports betting will change in the next 5-10 years?
“In the next five years, we expect turnover to grow by 15-18% per year. This means there will be more opportunities, more players and fans, and increased competition.
“Personally, we are equally excited about what is happening in the esports world outside of the games themselves. Esports is also about cultural exchanges, challenges, victories and just having fun. Every year, more and more people discover esports as a form of spectacular, fun and thrilling entertainment. Betting, after all, is just an extension of our favorite games, and we are confident that a whole range of unique events and activities is yet to come! “
Finally, what can we expect from GG.BET in 2023?
“We enjoyed a very successful 2022 in terms of partnerships. We sponsored and attended major esports events, organised unique offline activities with Natus Vincere and Team Vitality and filmed analytical and entertainment shows with key industry influencers. Our plans for 2023 are equally ambitious, but I shall stop there as it would be a shame to spoil the surprises we have lined up. Make sure to follow us on social media to stay informed…”
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