A Starter's Guide to Hearthstone Betting

With over 159 million players, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft is a cultural phenomenon that, years after its launch, continues to hold a special place in the pantheon of the world's most popular games. It's no wonder that over time, it has spawned a series of titles that expand upon the existing lore. Enter Hearthstone, a fast-paced digital collectible card game boasting over 100 million registered players and fan-favorite WoW characters, locations, spells, and weapons. In this brief guide to hearthstone betting, we'll cover the game's basics, discuss the main bet types, and provide a couple of tips and tricks to improve your outcome predictions.

Hearthstone: Basic Rules

Hearthstone is a turn-based strategy card game with a simple objective: reduce the opponent's hero health before they do the same to you. With a deck of 30 cards and two players, each wielding a hero with unique powers, the game transforms into a fun and dynamic match. Each turn consists of three phases: drawing a card, playing cards, attacking, and passing the turn. Each game has a limit of 89 turns, after which both heroes explode. The game ends when the hero's health reaches zero or if one player concedes. With a range of nominations and awards, including the British Academy Games Award for Multiplayer and The Games Award for Best Mobile/Handheld Game, Hearthstone is a game of resource management, card synergies, and strategic gameplay that is certainly worth a try if you're a fan of card games.

Hearthstone's Biggest Betting Events

Hearthstone is a popular e-sport that has spawned several high-level tournaments hosted by Blizzard and other large companies. Here's a look at the most prestigious events:

• World Championship. The annual event is a pinnacle of competitive Hearthstone. Hosted by Blizzard, it attracts the world's best players, who compete for a prize pool of $500,000 and the world champion title.
• Masters. A series of high-stakes tournaments takes place throughout the year, where winners of entry-level Masters Qualifiers compete for massive prize money and a chance to become a Grandmaster. The Hearthstone Grandmasters is the highest level of the tournament, where 48 Grandmasters compete for the prize pool of $1 million. Eight successful players will later compete in the Hearthstone World Championship.

Main Bet Types

Before rushing headlong into betting, here's a quick compilation of the most common hearthstone bets:

• Moneyline. Predict the winner of a singular match.
• Outright Winner. Bet on the player who will win the entire tournament.
• Handicaps. Hearthstone professional matches are played in a best-of-five or best-of-three format. Handicaps level the playing field, granting underdogs a head start. For instance, if player B has a -1.5 handicap in the best of three series, you'll win the bet if player B wins the match with a 2:0 score.
• Over/Under Totals. Predict whether the total number of games played in one match exceeds or falls behind a specific number.
• Props. These bets come in many forms and are unrelated to the outcome of the match. Bettors must predict an in-game outcome, like which player will rely on the Hero Power the most, which deck archetype is used first, whether a specific card is played in the match, etc.

Keep in mind that not all bets are created equal: while some (like moneyline) are suitable for absolute newbies, others (like prop bets) require a good understanding of in-game mechanics.

How to Make a Prediction

Hearthstone matches combine skills, strategy, and random luck. To predict the outcome of the match or the entire tournament, you must keep in mind a couple of main factors, including:

• Player's Performance. When analyzing players, take note of their current ranking, past performances, and ability to operate under pressure. Players who consistently demonstrate good results are a safer choice than wildcard players.
• Deck Choice. Analyze the decks players use; some archetypes (like Aggro Paladin) show better results in certain matchups.
• Match/Tournament Format. Pay special attention to the format of the match as it determines how games are played between two players. Main match formats include Conquest, Last Hero Standing, Shield-Phase Conquest, and Specialist. Tournament formats determine how participants progress through the tournament bracket and include Single Elimination, Double Elimination, Round Robin, Swiss, and Dual Tournaments.
• Head-to-Head Record. Hearthstone professional scene is pretty close, so chances are that the players have already butted heads in the past. Check if there is any head-to-head record and analyze past matches.

eSports betting on Hearthstone requires bettors to have a good grasp of recent news and changes. If you want to be on top of the Hearthstone events, follow predictive analysis platforms and players that provide great insights. Some resources worth checking out are Vicious Syndicate, Hearthstone Deck Tracker, HSReplay.net, and dedicated Reddit communities and forums like HearthPwn.