Overwatch 2 101: How to Bet on this Popular FPS eSport
If you are looking for some exciting eSports betting action, you cannot go wrong with the first person shooter (FPS) game Overwatch 2.
In this guide, I are going to explain what Overwatch 2 is, how it is played, and what you need to know about betting on it.
Just some of the heroes in Overwatch 2. As you’re about to see, there’s a ton of them!
Directly below, you can find my recommendations for top betting sites for Overwatch. Click on any of the links to go directly to the sites and start wagering on Overwatch immediately.
Otherwise, if you are not yet ready to bet, scroll past the reviews for our full guide where you will learn everything you need to know to start making your first Overwatch bets.
The Best Places to Bet on Overwatch in 2023
Here are my top recommended sites for Overwatch 2 betting. I have personally vetted these sites for their wagering options, bonuses, deposits and withdrawals, and overall betting experience.
Bovada
If there is just one name in the world of sports betting that most US players know, it is Bovada. This site offers the largest selection of sports to bet on that we are aware of among US-facing sportsbooks, including plenty of eSports. Among them, of course, is Overwatch.
At the time of this writing, I see action on Overwatch OWL Pro-Am. But if you check back regularly, you will find betting on plenty of different Overwatch events.
With respect to bonuses, Bovada has got you covered with a $250 Sports Welcome Bonus or $750 Bitcoin Sports Welcome Bonus. There are also casino and poker bonuses and a rewards program.
MyBookie
For years now, MyBookie has been one of the biggest US-facing sportsbooks, offering consistent quality in terms of odds, payouts and bonuses.
At MyBookie right now, I see action on quite a few Overwatch League matches, including spread, moneyline and totals bets.
When you sign up at MyBookie, you can snag a 50% Sports Welcome Bonus on your first deposit, or a 10% Cash Bonus up to $200. 25% Sports Reload Bonuses are available to returning players, plus some other bonuses and rebates for sports, horse racing and casino gambling.
BetOnline
For over 25 years, BetOnline has been serving sports bettors throughout the US and Canada. This site is yet another one where you will be impressed with the sheer amount of action you will find for Overwatch and other eSports. You will also appreciate the fast payouts, ample banking options, and flexible wagering sizes.
When you sign up to bet on Overwatch at BetOnline, you can grab a 50% Welcome Bonus on your first deposit of regular fiat funds, and a 100% Bonus on your first crypto deposit. Other bonuses include the 25% Sports Reload Bonus, 10% Bitcoin Boost, 30% Crypto Reload Bonus and more.
SportsBetting.ag
If you love BetOnline, then you will want to sign up for an account at SportsBetting as well, since the same folks who run BetOnline also run SportsBetting.
eSports betting is a big deal over at SportsBetting. A lot of sites still seem to offer it almost as an afterthought, cramming it way down in the sidebar in the sportsbook section. But SportsBetting has a prominent link for eSports right in their top menu.
At the time of this writing, you can see betting on multiple Overwatch League matches, including spread and moneyline bets. It appears the site may also sometimes offer over/under bets as well. Moreover, you can make live bets on Overwatch games at this sportsbook.
Get a 50% Sports Welcome Bonus when you sign up at SportsBetting, and claim a 100% Crypto 1st Time Bonus as well as a 10% Bitcoin Boost. Grab 25% and 35% Reload Bonuses for regular and cryptocurrency deposits once you are an established customer.
This site also offers a phenomenal Weekly 20% eSports Rebate, and an eSports Parlay Power Up Bonus. With the latter, you can boost your winnings by up to 60%! So, this is the place to wager if you want to place parlay bets on Overwatch and other eSports.
Cloudbet
A great place to bet on eSports with crypto is over at Cloudbet. Right now there’s betting on quite a few OWL Pro-AM events at the time of this writing. That includes live wagering.
As a crypto-based betting site, Cloudbet is generous with its bonuses. In fact, the Welcome Bonus is worth up to 5 BTC depending on how much you deposit. Now, there is an offer you won’t find just anywhere. You also will want to check out the rest of their promotions; many of them change regularly, and there is always something cool going on at this sportsbook.
What is Overwatch?
Never heard of Overwatch, or don’t know much about it beyond, “Well, it’s a game and people shoot each other, right?” Let’s explain exactly what Overwatch is.
When we talk about Overwatch, we are referring to a series of two video games from Blizzard Entertainment:
- Overwatch, which came out in 2016
- Overwatch 2, which came out in 2022
These days, usually when someone says “Overwatch”, they are talking about Overwatch 2, since that is the most recent edition of the game. That means that competitive play currently revolves around Overwatch 2.
The Overwatch games can be classified as first person shooters, as well as “hero shooters.”
In the original Overwatch, teams consisted of six players. In Overwatch 2, players compete in teams of five.
Speaking of the original Overwatch, you should note that due to the online nature of the Overwatch series, Blizzard Entertainment actually replaced Overwatch with Overwatch 2.
You can find a post about this here from September 2022. As the post explains, October 2nd, 2022 was the last day that the original Overwatch was available to play. After that date, Blizzard Entertainment shut down the original Overwatch servers.
So, if you never watched, bet on, or played the original Overwatch, you missed your chance. But you can get in on the action with Overwatch 2.
Also, don’t forget that if you join up over at BetOnline that you’ll receive $200 Cash for every friend that you bring along with you!
How is Overwatch Played?
Now that you understand what Overwatch is, let’s talk about how the game is played. Again, note that we are specifically discussing Overwatch 2 here.
- Each player chooses a “hero” to play. There are 35 of these hero characters available
- The heroes can be split into three main categories, based on their team roles and abilities: damage, support and tank class characters
- Abilities are unique for each hero. There are active, passive and ultimate abilities
- A team consists of five players. There are two damage class characters, two support class characters, and one tank character
- Teams can compete in a variety of game modes and maps, each of which presents different objectives, challenges and opportunities
- One thing that makes Overwatch 2 unusual is that players can swap their heroes in the middle of a match. In a lot of other games, the character you pick at the start of a match will be your character for that whole match. But Overwatch 2 players can adapt in real-time to what is happening during a match by completely changing their heroes
If you are curious why the teams now only consist of five players instead of six, it is because Blizzard Entertainment determined that removing a tank slot would improve the pacing and gameplay for Overwatch 2.
One thing that is especially great about Overwatch 2 is that the game is free-to-play. That means as a bettor, you can play it yourself, even if you do not have any money to spend. If you do have some extra cash though, you should consider grabbing the battle pass each season!
Overwatch is available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. So, whether you are on a current or previous generation system, you can play it.
Here you can see the hero Lucio doing his best to heal up the teammates!
Why Bet on Overwatch?
Here are a few reasons to start betting on Overwatch:
- Broad appeal
- Exciting to watch
- Lots of game modes and maps
- Tons of events on the calendar
- Free-to-play
- Money to be made
Overwatch is an extremely popular eSport. Part of the reason for that is that while it appeals to the FPS crowd, there are also some similarities with the type of character selection and team play that you see in MOBA games. That means that whether you like one, the other or both, Overwatch can be a thrill.
The fast-paced, action-packed nature of Overwatch makes it fun to follow.
The variety in both helps to keep the Overwatch viewing and wagering experience fresh.
The schedule for the Overwatch League is quite intensive compared to the schedules for leagues for some other eSports. So, if you want to follow an eSport where there is usually action, then Overwatch is an excellent choice!
Overwatch 2 is among the eSports that are free-to-play. This is a big deal if you want to get some insights into the game to help you bet by experiencing it for yourself. Getting involved in this way also can add to your betting and streaming experiences by making them feel more personal. It is more fun to bet on a match on a map you have played time and again than one you have never played in your life. It makes both the event and your wagers feel less abstract and more concrete.
If you know what you are doing when you bet on Overwatch, then you can profit regularly!
What Overwatch Events Can You Bet On?
Make sure that you go to SportsBetting and check out that eSports Parlay Power Up!
Most competitive Overwatch play takes place through the Overwatch League (OWL), which Blizzard Entertainment itself owns and oversees.
Although OWL is international, the format for the seasons is similar to what you are used to for most US sports. The regular season for each year’s OWL competitions leads to playoffs, and then finally the Grand Finals.
Blizzard keeps its OWL servers up-to-date, modifying them as it does the main commercial servers that everyone else plays on. But it is useful to know there is generally a delay between the updates being applied to the main servers and the updates being applied to the OWL servers. Updates to OWL servers happen every six weeks or so.
So, there may be situations where you do not see a change reflected in an upcoming OWL match that was just implemented in the public servers.
Since the Overwatch League has not been running all that long (considering the original Overwatch game released in 2016 and the first OWL season was in 2018), there is not a lot of data yet to establish patterns in terms of particular teams tending to win the Grand Finals.
Here are the winners of the previous Grand Finals:
- 2018: London Spitfire
- 2019: San Francisco Shock
- 2020: San Francisco Shock
- 2021: Shanghai Dragons
- 2022: Dallas Fuel
It is worth noting that the San Francisco Shock also were the runners-up in 2022.
Overwatch 2 Heroes
To teach you a little more about Overwatch 2, let’s take a quick look at the roster of heroes that players can choose from.
Your character selection screen – choose carefully!
Tank Class
A tank class hero can take a lot of hits without going down. Teams will usually try to attract the enemy to their tanks so that their damage class players can do their thing without getting killed. If there is a chokepoint on a map, you want your tank to be at the chokepoint, rather than your more fragile heroes.
- D.V.A.
- Doomfist
- Junker Queen
- Orisa
- Ramattra
- Zarya
- Reinhardt
- Roadhog
- Sigma
- Winston
- Wrecking Ball
Damage Class
The heroes in this class have one job to do: inflict as much damage as possible on opponents. Alas, they are easy to kill if they end up under fire, so they need protection from the other classes.
- Ashe
- Bastion
- Cassidy
- Echo
- Genji
- Hanzo
- Junkrat
- Mei
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sojourn
- Soldier: 76
- Sombra
- Symmetra
- Torbjorn
- Tracer
- Widowmaker
Support Class
The job of players in the support class is to back up their team members by shielding them from damage, healing them, and performing other auxiliary roles.
- Ana
- Baptiste
- Brigitte
- Kiriko
- Lucio
- Mercy
- Moira
- Zenyatta
Every single one of these heroes has a unique set of abilities. Teams will work to put together a well-balanced team that has complementary abilities. Of course, some players also excel far more with certain hero classes and abilities than they do with others, so they will also generally try to play whatever they specialize in.
Overwatch 2 Game Modes and Maps
Like other first person shooter games, Overwatch 2 has a number of different game modes, plus a variety of maps. Before betting on Overwatch 2, you will want to be familiar with these maps and modes.
Overwatch 2 features the following game modes:
- Push
- Control
- Escort
- Hybrid
- Capture the Flag (CTF)
- Elimination
- Deathmatch (DM)
- Team Deathmatch (TDM)
Let’s learn a bit more about each of these and check out the list of maps available for each.
Push
This is a new game mode in Overwatch 2 (as of the time of this writing). The mode features a robot that both teams are fighting to control. The objective is to get the robot to the base of one’s opponent.
Here are the Push maps:
- Colosseo
- Esperanca
- New Queen Street
Control
In “Control,” there is a central objective point that both teams are battling to control.
Control maps in Overwatch 2 include:
- Busan
- Ilios
- Lijang Tower
- Nepal
- Oasis
Escort
As the name suggests, this is an escort mission. For each round of Escort, one team is assigned to deliver a payload, while another team is assigned to attempt to prevent them from getting it to a specified point on the map.
Here are the Escort maps you can play:
- Circuit Royal
- Dorado
- Havana
- Junkertown
- Rialto
- Route 66
- Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Hybrid
This game mode is a variant on “Escort.”
Hybrid maps in Overwatch 2 include:
- Blizzard World
- Eichenwalde
- Hollywood
- King’s Row
- Midtown
- Numbani
- Paraiso
Capture the Flag (CTF)
Capture the Flag is a classic FPS game mode, and it works the same way in Overwatch as it does in most other games. Each team has a base, and on each base, there is a flag. The goal of each team is to capture their opponent’s flag and bring it back to their base, whilst simultaneously preventing the opposing team from making off with their own flag. If a team can have successfully bring the opposing team’s flag back and deliver it to the designated spot where their own flag is, they score.
Elimination
Teams of one, three or six players can compete in a game of “Elimination.” The goal is simple: eliminate your opponents while attempting not to get eliminated yourself. If a team wins three rounds, they are victorious.
Team Deathmatch (TDM)
You might assume that this is the same thing as “Elimination,” but it is not. Once again, two teams are fighting, and you are trying to kill members of the other team. But whereas Elimination rounds end each time a team is fully eliminated, TDM is time-based. Whichever team has the highest number of kills when the clock runs out is the winner.
Deathmatch (DM)
Traditionally in an FPS game, a “Deathmatch” is often when two players compete one-on-one. But in Overwatch, this is instead what they call a free-for-all (FFA). That means that many players may be fighting each other all at once. There are no teams. The first player to achieve 20 kills is the winner.
I have not listed maps for some of these game modes for the simple reason that many of them are variants on the maps we already listed for other game modes. Though there are some additional maps that I did not list here that you may see for certain game modes.
Try to find out the rotation of maps and game modes that are going to be featured in the event you are betting on.
A player or team that excels at one map may struggle on another, and vice versa, so it is good to know what each team’s strengths and weaknesses are. You will want to try and guess the specific strategies they are likely to employ given the mode, map and opposing team they are dealing with.
Types of Bets You Can Place on Overwatch
While not Overwatch 2, this is what it looks like when you’re at Bovada placing some To-Win bets.
There are a few different types of bets that you can commonly make on Overwatch 2 matches. Here are the ones you are most likely to run into:
- To-win
- Outright
- Totals
- Props
- Live bets
- Accumulators
Bet on which team will win a match of Overwatch 2. With this type of wager, you are just betting on the outcome of a single match, not an entire tournament.
Bet on the winner of a whole tournament. So, with the Overwatch League, that means you are placing a wager on which team is going to win the Grand Finals.
These bets are also called over/under wagers. They are bets on whether something will be over or under a particular amount (i.e. a team’s score at the end of a match, or an individual player’s total kill count, etc.)
Wagers that do not specifically have to do with match outcomes are called “prop” bets. An example of an Overwatch 2 prop bet would be wagering on what class the player will be who achieves the highest number of kills.
When you place bets on an Overwatch 2 match that is live, then you place this type of wager, also called an “in-play” bet. As you can imagine, this can be a particularly fun and interesting type of bet given the fact that Overwatch 2 players can swap their heroes. You may be amazed at some of the crazy things that can happen over the course of a match as players race to adjust to each others’ tactics and abilities.
An accumulator bet is one where you combine multiple selections. So, you can add more than one Overwatch 2 bet to the same slip, and if you win all of those wagers as part of the accumulator, then you win the whole bet. But you lose the entire accumulator if you lose even one selection. The payoff if you win, however, can be huge.
What Skills Do Overwatch Players Need?
To be able to handicap Overwatch players successfully, you need to understand the challenges they are facing and the skills they require in order to win. To that end, here is a quick overview of what Overwatch players need to be able to do well:
- Precise and accurate aim
- Situational awareness
- Fast reflexes
- Motor skills
- Endurance
- Teamwork
- Tactical thinking
- Adaptation
The most obvious skill that is useful when playing Overwatch is the ability to aim accurately and to do it reliably. Now, just how critical that is depends very much on the hero that a player is using. Some heroes require great aim, while it is not nearly as important for others (especially in a support role).
No matter what hero a player is using, they must at all times have a strong awareness of everything that is happening in their surroundings. That includes the environment immediately around them as well as elsewhere on the map. Additionally, they need to be aware of other things like their cooldowns and how soon they will be able to re-use each ability.
Like players of traditional sports, players of eSports such as Overwatch need to be able to react fast to events. Even the slightest delay in a reaction can lead to the other team scoring.
Of course, good reflexes will not get Overwatch players far if they do not have precise and rapid motor skills to match. When they need to take action in an instant, they must be able to properly execute their moves with the mouse and keyboard. Mistyping a key or making an uncoordinated move with the mouse can cost them a chance to score, or lead to being eliminated by the opposing team.
eSports are notoriously draining since they demand many hours of competition and practice. Because Overwatch has an especially fast-paced tournament schedule with back-to-back competitions, players need to be able to hold up to some pretty intense fatigue.
Except when played in a free-for-all mode, Overwatch is a team-based game. That means that players need to be able to coordinate effectively and harmoniously with their teammates in order to leverage the abilities of every team member to the fullest. Those who are fractious or who want to take all the glory for themselves will not be good Overwatch players.
Overwatch is a highly tactical game that requires strategizing on a team and individual level. Those who excel at tactics will have an advantage over those who do not.
This is one of the most important skills that an Overwatch player can possess. Players need to be able to adapt to maps, game modes, different opponents, and different heroes. Since hero swapping in mid-match is a thing, they also need to be able to do the latter on the fly, as their opponents, teammates, and even they themselves switch to different heroes.
She may not look deadly here, but she’ll sure take on anyone that’s looking for a fight!
Tips and Strategies for Betting on Overwatch
We have given you some idea what skills Overwatch 2 players need to be successful. But what do you need to do in order to place profitable wagers on this FPS eSport? Here are a few recommendations.
- Do your research
When you bet on Overwatch, you will need a research routine similar to the one you would use to wager on any other sport or eSport. Take a look at each of the following before you bet:
-
Stats for teams, with particular emphasis on recent performance
Stats for individual players, with particular emphasis on recent performance
Head-to-head data
News posts
Social media posts
It is really important to be aware that eSports players have a high rate of burnout. That means that team composition can adjust radically from year to year as players retire and are replaced.
- Stream Overwatch
There are lots of Overwatch matches you can stream. These include competitive professional events as well as general recreational play. Streaming Overwatch is your chance to learn more about the game as well as individual players. The more you see them in action, the easier it will be to handicap accurately.
- Play Overwatch
I really cannot emphasize this enough: you really should be playing Overwatch yourself if you are betting on it.
Since the game is free-to-play for everyone, there is really no reason not to do this so long as you have a device that can handle it.
Here are some of the ways in which playing Overwatch yourself will help you to place more accurate bets:
You will get to know every single Overwatch 2 map inside and out. If all you ever do is watch the game, you might miss some nooks and corners that have tactical importance. As a player, you can figure out yourself how you can make the best possible use of each environment, as well as how opponents may respond.
Playing Overwatch 2 is also your ticket to getting to know the heroes and their abilities well. You will develop intimate knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses, how they fit with other heroes on a team, and what skills are needed to use each of them effectively.
As you play Overwatch 2, you can experiment with different roles on a team, and find out firsthand how a team needs to coordinate and strategize in order to be successful. You will also become aware of the pitfalls that can hold a team back.
There is nothing like actually playing Overwatch 2 to understand the situational awareness that is required in this fast-paced shooter.
Even spending a single afternoon playing Overwatch 2 will give you a huge jump forward in your knowledge over what you would spend weeks or months trying to learn just by watching.
- Bet sure to shop for value
Each sportsbook online uses a different handicapping system to set its odds. That means that the odds at one site for Overwatch 2 may be more competitive than they are at a different site.
Shop for value opportunities by signing up at more than one sportsbook and checking the odds at each against those you calculate yourself. If you can find value consistently, it will go a long way toward helping you profit.
Bet on Overwatch 2 Now
Having finished reading this guide, you now should have a pretty solid beginner’s grasp on Overwatch 2. As we have discussed, however, you really should consider playing the game yourself to get a strong grasp for the maps, game modes, heroes and tactics.
If you are ready to place your first bets on Overwatch 2, then click any of the links in this post to visit my recommended sportsbooks. Claim your welcome bonuses, shop the odds, and have fun!
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