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Rivalry eSports betting has you covered for all the most important betting lines on eSports – one of the fastest growing industries in the world.
Rivalry eSports Betting Markets
Rivalry Canada is one of the leaders in the emerging and exponentially expanding eSports betting market. In fact, this is their speciality. They have an extensive cover of esports tournaments you can wager on. In total there is 24 esports to watch and bet on. However, there may not always be a full spread of available tournaments when you visit their site. Having said that, for the games that do have competitions, the betting lines are extensive. For example, there are over a hundred matchups across 15 tournaments for Counter-Strike alone. For each matchup, there are up to 50 different betting options. Other esports have even more betting options. Basically, there is a ton to choose from.
Punters will also find a regular sportsbook on their website as well. Although Rivalry betting serves esports as their main dish, the regular sports sportsbook actually provides more ‘side dishes’. For example, there are many more matches to bet on in Soccer than the esports section put together. Though this may have something to do with the sheer number of competitions in soccer worldwide. Also, since the sportsbook is a proverbial ‘side dish’ the betting options per match are not as numerous as the esports games.
Rivalry betting offers customizable betting. For example, you have the option to make a parlay betting slip combining esports and regular sports lines.
Rivalry eSports betting odds and limits
Our Rivalry esports review shows that their focus is also on providing more competitive odds on esports than they do on their regular sportsbook.
Their esports odds are even a leg up on their main competition within the esports sector itself.
A smart move when you compare their much older and better-established competitors in the sportsbook market who are investing heavily in the esports markets. This shows their clear intention to dominate the emerging esports market. With that said, the drawback of their smaller stature when compared to giants of the industry is the limitations on how much you can bet. Rivalry limits the amount you can win on a parlay for example.
Rivalry eSports betting features
So what are the bells and whistles like in Rivalry betting, I hear you ask. Well, just like in all things, features are great only if they benefit the end user. The cruise control feature in your car is not very useful if you only drive your car in traffic jams to and fro work, for example.
Our Rivalry Ontario review highlights some of the features that bettors will find beneficial and some that Rivalry betting can improve upon. Below are four main features that punters take into consideration when choosing a betting provider.
In-play betting and live streaming on Rivalry Canada
This has to be the staple feature of all sportsbooks. A bread and butter feature, if you like. Once again, Rivalry delivers in the esports section. Users who are registered on their website have the ability to watch live esports thanks to the free service provided by Twitch. Together with the live stream punters can make live, in-play bets at any moment during the game with only a few clicks.
Though as mentioned previously, Rivalry does have some limitations on the amount you can bet for live games. However, streaming live regular sports from their sportsbook is not possible. Further proof that Rivalry’s focus is weighted toward the esports markets. Though considering the Ontario-native company is a new player in the game, we cannot begrudge them for this omission.
When we consider the costs of owning streaming rights for major sports competitions, it makes sense to focus on what their target audience prefers and what makes sense financially.
Rivalry’s cash-out feature (chicken out)
Rivalry betting offers early cash out on wagers with the chicken logo next to the matchup odds. Why the chicken? Rivalry Canada swapped the cash-out label on their website with the Gen-Z-approved name Chicken out. The betting provider has a disclaimer in their FAQ that not all matchups or live games will have the chicken out option. Despite this, after doing our Rivalry esports review we have struggled to find a matchup without the chicken out logo.
Basically, this means that you have the option to chicken out at all times until the proverbial ‘fat lady sings’. This option includes parlay or combo bet slips. Likewise, it is also possible to chicken out from a portion of your bet and leave the rest of your bet to ride out at original odds.
Rivalry eSports betting access on your mobile
The mobile app category has a big, fat, red cross next to it in our Rivalry Ontario review. Not because it’s bad, but because they don’t have one yet. And if you ask us, that is a lot better than having a bad app.
Some slack once again needs to be given to Rivalry considering their newcomer status. We are confident that once they do release an app, it will be nothing short of amazing. This is a claim on the back of their clean and user-friendly website.
Speaking of their website, Rivalry has compensated their mobile-inclined user base by excellently optimizing their website on both iOS and Android handheld devices.
Payments and withdrawals on Rivalry eSports betting
If the mobile app category got a big, fat, red cross in our Rivalry Ontario review, then the payment and withdrawal category got a huge, green, erm… tick. The payment and withdrawal options are some of the most numerous we’ve seen. At the last count, we got up to 19 (!!!) different payment and withdrawal methods.
Rivalry understands the digital nature of modern-day currencies so they expanded this hulk-sized feature. They accommodate up to six different types of currencies, depending on your region, of course. This means that there exists a possibility for bettors to have multiple wallets (accounts) in various currencies. For example, you could place bets with Rivalry in Canadian dollars, US dollars, Euros and BitCoin among others.
However, it is not yet possible to transfer money between wallets. So all winnings in, say BitCoin, must be withdrawn in BitCoin. Also, some more obscure payment and withdrawal methods will incur fees. While the more prominent methods will be free thanks to Rivalry covering those costs on our behalf.
Rivalry eSports’ other products
Rivalry Sportsbook review
Our Rivalry Ontario review has repeatedly proved that the young company’s target market is in the esports sector. Thus we can then loosely define the regular sportsbook as the ‘other’ product. Of course, the regular sportsbook will certainly occupy a large chunk of Rivalry’s total revenue. But it has to be said that the esports market definitely occupies a lot more time in the thoughts of those at the top at Rivalry.
Nevertheless, Rivalry stays competitive in the regular sportsbook sector with some of its more storied… ahem, rivals. Their market spread is quite broad and they offer great odds, once again, in line with their competition. Likewise, they offer in-play live betting just like in the esports section, however, they do not offer the possibility to stream matches on their website.
Rivalry also limits the betting amount to $250 for in-play betting in the regular sportsbook. This is more of a risk aversion policy, rather than a lack of market priority over esports, as the same rule applies to the esports sector.
Just like esports, Rivalry offers the chicken-out feature for regular sports. However, in our Rivalry Ontario review of their sportsbook, we did see a few matchups without their (in)famous chicken next to the line. For example, none of the baseball competitions had the early cashout option. This is another indicator that the esports offering is slightly more solid than the sportsbook. Despite this, the sportsbook maintains its strong presence amongst the competition. This suggests Rivalry offers quite the package.
Casino and multiplayer games
In lieu of the classic casino offerings provided by their competition, Rivalry offers only two (but way more interactive) games than your average run-of-the-mill pokies games. Rightly so, Gen-Zers would be more inclined to play Rivalry’s very own Rushlane than any one of those tired, pirate-themed slot poker games.
One game is you pressing a button and seeing gold coins, pirate hats, number sevens (for some reason) and treasure chests arrange themselves randomly across five rows and columns on your screen. The other, Rushlane, is a video game where you race against other, real humans avoiding traps and seeking jet boosts on a futuristic-dystopian-gotham-city style aerial highway to win money.
Yeah, we know which one we would choose too. The race track and obstacles change with every race ensuring that there is no advantage to players with more experience over the newcomers.
The other game in their repertoire, Aviator, is not a Rivalry creation but is also quite good. The premise is quite simple, you’re betting on the elevation of odds via a plane taking off. The point is to cash out before the plane flies away with your winnings. Oh, and you are seeing other live players cash out during each game.
Rivalry eSports betting FAQs
Rivalry is legit. It holds numerous betting licenses from various countries, including the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario.
Yes. The company was founded and made in Toronto, Ontario.
Since April 2022 only Ontarians have had the luxury of opening an account on Rivalry. The rest of the country will likely get the opportunity sometime later in the year.
Our Rivalry esports review shows that only BitCoin is available from the cryptocurrencies.
Our Rivalry esports review shows that it is not yet possible to transfer money between your wallets (accounts/currencies).
According to our Rivalry esports review, contacting Rivalry support staff is quite easy. They offer 24-hour live chat support on their website. Alternatively, you can contact them by email (support@rivalry.com) or by phone (+44 20 3966 1374)
Summary of our Rivalry eSports review
In a sea of foreign entrants, Rivalry is one of the very few local sportsbooks to start operating in Ontario from April 2022. They are a self-proclaimed ‘esports betting platform made for gamers by gamers’. There is evidence of this claim throughout their platform. Our Rivalry Ontario review shows us they have a vast selection of esports markets with plenty of betting options per matchup. Likewise, you have the option to stream and place live in-play bets on all the esports.
While their regular sportsbook is not as thorough as their esports section, Rivalry still manages to hold its own with the more established competition with great odds and good market spread. However, live streaming of regular sports is not available. Rivalry is still yet to bring out its own standalone mobile app. However, they have compensated for the lack of an app by doing an excellent job of optimizing their website for mobile phone users.
Finally, we had a lot of fun during our Rivalry Ontario review when we came across their ‘casino.exe’ category. Though they only have two games, their very own creation Rushlane certainly makes up for the lack of casino options.