Similar to the classic geeky card game of old, Magic the Gathering, and created by the same people behind World of Warcraft, Hearthstone had all of the makings of a classic from the outset, which is perhaps why this game was immediately accepted into the gaming and esports communities, and why it is currently one of the fastest growing online card games in the world.
Hearthstone Betting Sites
About Hearthstone
The full name of this game is Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and it is based of the famous Warcraft series, of which the MMORPG World of Warcraft is a part. Hearthstone is available on many operating systems, including mobile ones, and it can be downloaded and played for free. However, to truly make it in this game you need to spend some money in order to buy some cards.
Hearthstone was released in March 2014 and within its first year it had accumulated 30 million registered users. The game itself is similar to Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Ho! and other card collecting games, only all of the cards are virtual and the game is entirely online based. The users can purchase packs of cards and individual cards, and they can also win and lose cards playing the game. There are also adventures that reward cards when players complete them, which makes this as much of a single-player game as it is a multiplayer game.
However, it is the multiplayer aspect that draws the esports betting crowd, and it is the multiplayer, or person-to-person contests that sportsbooks like BetWinner and Pinnacle Sports typically offer markets on.
What is Hearthstone?
Betting on Hearthstone can be done in several ways, but first a brief explanation. The game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a collectible card game and is based on the game World of Warcraft. The game was announced in 2013 and was released a year later. In the game, players can choose from 9 heroes of Warcraft, collect cards and use them to defeat their opponent with powers and weapons. In total, there are 951 different playing cards. Players can create their own card collection from these. For more information, see our detailed explanation of Hearthstone.
How does Hearthstone work?
In the game, players can choose from 9 heroes of Warcraft, collect cards and use them to defeat their opponent with powers and weapons. In total, there are 951 different playing cards. Players can create their own card collection from these. A limited number of free cards can be chosen. After this, new cards can be won or bought with play money or real money. However, cards cannot be exchanged with other players in the game.
The player receives a random number of cards and must use them to try to destroy the opponent's avatar. The cards contain magical actions, characters and bonuses. You must try to hold on to certain cards for a longer period of time and use them at the right time to make good strategic and dangerous combinations. In this way you try to defeat your opponent.
There are three different types of cards. The character cards offer a kind of attack power. Each card has its own power and life bar. In addition to deploying characters, you must also try to eliminate your opponent's character cards. This is because if the characters become too strong, a powerful army is created that can defeat the player's own hero at once.
In addition to the character cards, there are also bonus cards that provide your character with a bonus. Thus, weak characters can suddenly turn into an unbeatable army and extra life points can be earned. The third type of cards are the magic actions. These are opportunities for explosions and life-saving actions. These cards can turn the game around at once, and thus all tactics can be defeated with them.
Betting on Hearthstone
It is also possible to make it even more exciting and bet on this fantastic card game! A good preparation is essential. Make sure you know all the ins and outs of Hearthstone, the latest developments and statistics.
Important competitions
There are several tournaments worldwide in which professional players compete against each other. The best known are of course the international competitions, such as the European Championship and the World Cup. Thijs Molendijk, alias ThijsNL, is a Dutch pioneer in the Hearthstone circuit. The young man from Enschede has already been crowned European champion twice (2015 and 2016) and is among the world's best.
Besides the major international tournaments, there are of course also many regional competitions. However, Hearthstone's game schedule is not yet as extensive as other games, such as CS:GO and League of Legends, for example.
Blizzard Entertainment organizes many tournaments, but third parties do as well. The biggest competition is the Archon Team League, where the eight best teams compete against each other. Team Nihilum, which includes Molendijk, won this competition once.
Types of Bets
One of the biggest bets on Hearthstone is the “tournament outright” bet. Simply put, you are staking your money on the player that you think will win the whole tournament. Because tournaments tend to be very large, with a host of players contesting for the top prize, the odds on all of the entrants are quite high. Obviously, the better the player and the greater their reputation, then the smaller their odds will be, but even then they will still be higher than 5.00. The smaller the tournament, the shorter the odds will be across the board.
You can also bet on individual matches, but bear in mind that the odds will be much shorter, particularly when a strong favourite is going up against an outsider. Also, as much of Hearthstone is played in a knockout format, a winner needs to be decided. This eliminates the “draw” as a possibility, which further decreases the total odds you will be offered for each player.
In bigger tournaments, you may be able to bet on how far certain players will advance. Such bets are typically only found on the players with the biggest reputations, and you can usually bet on whether they will make it to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, or whether they will be eliminated beforehand.
Basic Betting Strategy
A good thing about betting on Hearthstone is that it all boils down to numbers. To be fair, so does it for most other games, but unlike betting on Starcraft 2 or any of the other “skill” games, your APM or aim is not of importance here. You have an allotted amount of time that you can use to decide your next moves. And in addition, there are almost always an optimal move given the cards available and the probabilities that are given. Still, the players has to be able to calculate these on the spot and luck still plays a factor, even though skill wins out over the long run.
In this regard, the game plays much like poker. Sure, on average both players are dealt the same cards, but it is how you play each situation, both the good and the bad, that determines how you will do in the long run. The good thing about this is that it will, like poker, attract a lot of average players that will come back and try their hand as they can always tangle with the best with a little luck.
Betting tips for Hearthstone
As stated under the main page, when betting on Hearthstone, three points should be paid attention to: go by the statistics (how often does a team/player win, how is the form of Esports players), be aware of the latest developments (follow players via social media to stay informed) and be familiar with the game. In addition, you can gamble at Hearthstone in different ways at multiple bookmakers. You can bet money on which team will win the match or tournament, but also which map will be played and when. Final tip: always check Reddit as well. Here there are special pages where fans and gamers meet and discuss the latest developments regarding games like Hearthstone.