PayPal is the world’s oldest e-wallet and a payment method now so vastly adopted and preferred that it would be hard to envisage online gambling without it. Certainly, legal snags abound and punters are often faced with a perplexing latticework of legislations aimed at eradicating any sorts of online gambling. We at eSportsBettingWebsites.com will furnish the answers of the most pressing issues when betting on eSports with PayPal.
There is a lot fine print to go with handling PayPal, but it is an increasingly nifty tool to use in your online betting transactions, particularly when handling electronic sports or eSports. The extra layer of security it provides to your financial information is an additive pro that we think you should not overlook when dealing with money online.
Bookies List That Accept PayPal for eSports Bets 2024
Find the best eSports betting sites offering PayPal payments
| Rating | Site | Min/Max Deposit | Fees | Processing Time | Bonus | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22Bet Review | $10 / No Max Deposit | No Fees | 1-3 Business Days |
100% up to €122 Welcome Bonus |
Go to 22Bet | |
| MELbet Review | $20 / No Max Deposit | No Fees | 2-3 Business Days |
100% up to €100 Welcome Bonus |
Go to MELbet | |
| 1xBet Review | $10 / No Max Deposit | No Fees | 4-5 Business Days |
100% up to €100 Welcome Bonus |
Go to 1xBet | |
| bet365 Review | $10 / No Max Deposit | No Fees | 1-3 Business Days |
100% up to $50 Bet Credits |
Go to bet365 | |
| *Up to $50 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365. Min deposit $10. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. | ||||||
| 888sport Review | $10 / No Max Deposit | No Fees | 1-3 Business Days |
100% up to $50 |
Go to 888sport | |
| 10bet Review | $10 / No Max Deposit | No Fees | 1-3 Business Days |
50% up to €50 |
Go to 10bet | |
eSportsBettingWebsites.com examines the majority of eSportsbooks offering PayPal betting today, neatly gathers the rewards and downsides and gently unearths anything peculiar about those venues of questionable repute.
eSports PayPal betting on all sites
Certainly, understanding the intricacies of PayPal vis-à-vis online eSports gambling is a lot to take in at one go. This is why eSportsBettingWebsites.com has reviewed the most popular and trustworthy bookies out on the market, supplementing that knowledge with useful statistical data about the eSports betting industry as a whole, and ultimately leading you to an informed and winning choice.
eSports Betting and PayPal lock eyes
PayPal has been quick to adopt new trends. As a trailblazer, the electronic wallet service has not shied away from challenges, tackling security concerns and driving forays in the legal grey areas of online gambling. It did pay dearly in the end when a U.S. Federal Court issued a little more than a slap on the wrist, and forced PayPal to cough up the whopping $10m for the service’s alleged abetting of online gambling between 2000 and November 2002.
Nevertheless, PayPal has bounced back since and charted the murky waters of gambling, identifying the legal sweet spots, gently letting in players from Nevada and New Jersey in the United States use its services for online gambling deposits in the country.
In lockstep with innovation, in 2015 PayPal endorsed eSports betting through reputable bookies. The services is only allowed on eSportsbooks, which are properly licensed in the jurisdiction from where a depositor submits their money.
So how developed is eSports gambling and what role does PayPal play there? The answers are ‘business is booming’ and ‘the service is pretty much a linchpin’. If you need convincing why eSports betting has been enjoying the company of traditional sportsbooks, consider that, by one estimate, the total handle from betting on eSports was $649mm in 2016.
How does PayPal work and what does it have to do with eSports betting?
Everything is the short and long of it. Most bookies have been around for long enough so that punters would not doubt their credibility. Nevertheless, PayPal added a little extra when it came to security.
Here is the low-down of PayPal eSports gambling:
The proverbial account creation
Setting up your own account is a seamless process that takes a few moments. Assuming you are new to the whole business of PayPal, swing by the official website. Hit ‘Sign Up’ and follow through with the registration form. We recommend that you fill out your actual details so that you may avoid later entanglements while transferring money to and from your account.
Furthermore, keep an eye out for PayPal’s stern security, because the gents would most certainly give you some hard time and suspect monkey business if the information you have filled out is false.
How to link a credit/debit card to PayPal account
Boons and perceived disadvantages
Whether you are betting on eSports or having a regular stab at a sportsbook, PayPal allows for a quick transaction. As soon as you have your balance figured out, you may move on to place wagers at one of the myriad available bookies. This extra protective layer between your banking information and the eSports website you are betting on is nothing but a fillip to your overall endeavor in cracking the magic eight ball of being a dab hand at eSports gambling.
An additive pro is the fact PayPal allows flexibility through its flawless PayPal apps available on the App Store and at Google Play. These apps are a real wizard in your pocket.
So much as drawbacks are concerned, PayPal may not be available to all bookies out there, but it is a viable option for the ones we have cherry picked for you, namely 888sport, Bovada, Bet365, and Betway. Furthermore, eSports have two main verticals eSports betting and Fantasy eSports. What makes PayPal a particularly tempting offer is the simple fact that it covers Fantasy eSports.
PayPal works with Fantasy eSports bookies because their businesses are considered to be “skill gaming” under most state laws (45 to be exact). PayPal supports the operators in Fantasy eSports betting in all jurisdictions where it operates.
The TOs and FROs of money transfers (deposits and withdrawals)
PayPal does not stint when it comes to methods for deposits, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are credit card options, to name a few. Debit cards such as Switch, Solo and Delta are also available in the United Kingdom.
The United States runs into a legal wall when it comes to credit and debit card transfers, because these transfers may not be used for gaming purposes. However, the legal quagmire may finally be draining up. Now, Nevada and New Jersey are a sort of a legal paradise that has been opening up to gambling.
Pay your dues
PayPal comes as a particularly nifty tool because there are no associated fees when depositing money via PayPal (another useful feature of PayPal is that users can sent money free-of-charge). However, the service will charge you a 2.9% fee to deposit using a credit card or debit card.
We remind you that you must have a PayPal account before you can make a deposit via the service at an eSportsbook.
- PayPal withdrawal becomes an available option once you have completely carried out a deposit
- PayPal offers a debit card that works with retailers accepting credit cards and may also be used to withdraw cash from ATMs
- When you first register, you will only be able to withdraw $500 per month for security reasons, until such a time you have completed your entire profile and lifted your withdrawal limit
- The service is available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Now, Nevada and New Jersey residents may place wagers on eSports online
- Finally, because of the rather complex security process of the website, withdrawals are somewhat slower than other e-Wallets
From the getgo, PayPal has proven a disruptive and fascinating phenomenon. The virtual repository has allowed for trillions of dollars to be processed annually and has thrown its way in bolstering security online. Overall, few services can boast the accolades showered on them for contributing so much to the eSports betting industry as PayPal.
With tough regulations finally being loosened up, PayPal is slated to expand at a steady and law-abiding step.
PayPal, eSports and betting: Forewarned is forearmed
PayPal has banded together with most reputable bookies today, well aware of the thumping market prospects. Why wouldn’t it? The bookies we have picked in our review are established and legitimate business, based mostly out of the United States where the pesky anti-gambling laws are still proving a tad too disruptive for eSports gambling to take off in full. Remember that PayPal works with websites which are recognized in the jurisdiction in which they are based. Gone are the times when the e-Wallet channeled the hard-earned pennies of offshore-based websites.
But with the PayPal and eSports betting bonanza in full spate, there are a couple of caveats to consider. Gaming, as we told you, has several verticals, eSports betting and Fantasy (eSports) betting. When it comes to “traditional” wagering, there are a handful of staple titles that stand out, to name Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), League of Legends (LoL), and Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) 2.
CS:GO has ushered in a new type of gambling known as skin betting. Skins are in-game goodies which are flogged for anything between a couple of dollars to several hundred greenbacks. Skin betting, apart from being exceedingly lucrative, is also considered somewhat the underbelly of the eSports betting world. The market has plummeted since 2016, when Valve issued cease-and-desist notices to a number of popular websites offering skin gambling, after incurring the wrath of unwitting parents who had just found out their kids had lost thousands of dollars in virtual items.
What does the fall-from-grace of skin betting mean for eSports betting and using PayPal? It means that linking your account to a website, which offers this type of gambling, may result in undesirable consequences. We do not endorse skin betting for several reasons:
- Websites that offer CS:GO skin betting are most likely unlicensed;
- You are disclosing at least part of your financial details to a third-party website which has opted to flaunt regulations, increasing the risk of becoming the victim of a hacker’s attack;
- In addition, you run the risk of PayPal booting you out of the service if they catch wind of you dabbling in shady deals
Perhaps there are a few operators, where you can safely wager on skins, but then again there are no moneyed transactions there, and all you can transfer is skins.
After Valve has put the crack on skin betting, the industry has been sent plummeting into a tailspin. Meanwhile, traditional eSports betting is gaining traction and PayPal will be an increasingly viable option to carry out such transactions.
Esports Betting with PayPal: This is not the end
PayPal is hands down the niftiest tool out there allowing you to make a wager on the outcome of an eSports match or tournament. One of the most reliable and secure e-Wallets, PayPal will be adopted by any new bookie which wants to be taken seriously.
Adding to this, it may be a most suspicious time for eSports gambling as a whole. The legal cold snap in the United States may finally be giving ground to milder seasons, and if gambling is legalized throughout the country, there is a good chance the industry will explode at an unprecedented level, making media, casinos, and punters cackle with delight.
The great potential of eSports betting is there, simmering underneath the surface and awaiting regulators to give the go-ahead so that bookies may tap into the vast riches of the industry. Once this has happened, no levee is going to prove strong enough. Just swim with the tide, and make sure you have PayPal to protect yourself and transfer your money safely.