Hearthstone betting peculiarities
Maksym YushytsynHearthStone is a leader in the genre of collection card online games. The game was released in 2014 by the company Blizzard. Apart from the high quality of the product, the developer made another important thing for popularization of the game — they created a brand new esports stage. Every year tens of major HearthStone events take place. Prize pools of the main tournaments by Blizzard consist of hundreds of thousands dollars. Game popularity made sportsbooks interested and in approximately 2015 the leading companies started to accept HearthStone bets. Today it's easy to find this line in almost any sportsbooks company if there are esports offers.
HearthStone bets are rather specific. As any card game, HS has a high level of random. It's difficult to predict who can win the game, even if a favorite is playing with an outsider. Nevertheless, the most ardent fans of the game make good money while betting. In this article we will tell you what you should know and what you can take into account for the HearthStone bets to be more profitable.
What can you bet on?
The bookmakers HearthStone line is rather small. Usually you can bet on such results:
- winner of the game;
- champion of the tournament;
- player's passing to the final;
- players' comparison — who is higher;
- handicap and total of games in the series.
HearthStone odds are smaller than only other discipline's. It is connected with a number of randoms affecting the game. Equal teams get odds of not more than 1.87-1.9 by sportsbooks. The limits are low as well. Gamblers can place bets of not more than 200 dollars at the top event.
You can make a bet only before the meeting starts. Live in HearthStone almost doesn't exist. Only sometimes some sportsbooks let gamblers make a bet during the break between games of one series, but only at very important matches.
How do HearthStone tournaments take place?
Competitions also have their peculiarities. Part of the most famous players are invited directly to the major tournaments. The other participants get qualified at the qualifiers. Often HS tournaments are held in two stages: groups and playoff. Rarely the event can present a tournament bracket which is held by the Swiss system.
HearthStone matches are also called series or sets. The sets are held up to a definite number of the wins: two (best-of-3), three (best-of-5) or five (best-of-7). HearthStone matches can be in two different formats: «conquest» or «last hero standing». It is of crucial importance to know some tournament peculiarities for those who make bets on the discipline.
«Conquest» has the following rules:
- each player claims 3-7 decks of different classes;
- depending on the number of games in the set the players ban each other’s classes;
- participants choose one deck each;
- the won deck gets removed from a player’s pool;
- the player that wins with their deck gets the upper hand.
For instance, if the match is planned to take place in the bo5 format, so to win, the participant has to win three sets. Consequently, the players claim four decks each (classes cannot be repeated) and ban a deck of any class. To win a series, the player has to win three sets, changing the deck (class) after each win. In case of the loss of the deck, they may use it again. In total there are nine classes with unique maps and abilities in the game. But we are not going into detail of the gameplay in the article.
«Last hero standing» is called «Mountain Giant» among the community. This formt works vice versa. The player changes the class after the loss. They can win the whole set with one best deck. As for the other part, the format is similar to the previous one.
How to make the right bet?
It is difficult for both players and sportsbooks to analyze HearthStone matches. Consequently, almost all the meeting will be held with the approximately equal quotation. It comes in handy for those who place bets. A dan that is good at the professional stage can define what esportsman is underestimated by the sportsbooks and will place a bet on him. You just need to:
- to know the meta of the game well;
- to know what classes dominate;
- to know the power of the teams in match-ups (who wins more often);
- to suppose what classes will be played by the participants;
- to learn the statistics of the previous performances of the players;
- to take into account random factor.
You should place bets on HearthStone only if you play yourself well and know the meta. The game is changed every three months when new updates are released. You need to figure out what classes are stronger at the moment. Also you have to know who wins more often. For instance, if a mage wins over a warlock, it means that you need to lean towards the teams who often play with mages.
It is rather easy to learn the statistics. Here you can visit special portals like EGamersWorld and Game-Tournaments, liquipedia, tempostom and others. There is information about the decks and classes which were used by the professional players at the previous tournaments. But it is difficult to predict what decks are going to be claimed by esportsmen. If we place a bet on the ongoing event, you can watch videos of the matches and to find out all the information. But if you place a bet before the competition has started, it will be more difficult. You can learn about favourite decks of the players in his streams and social media. But still all the HearthStone players stream between the tournaments. Having evaluated all the factors you need to choose who of the two players you lean towards and make a bet. It is better to bet on separate sets, as it is much more difficult to predict the winner of the tournament.
Pros and cons of HearthStone betting
We can see the following pros:
- almost always equal odds for two of the players;
- presence of mistakes in the sportsbook line;
- a chance for a better to win over a sportsbook;
- a chance to make a bet several days before the start.
Unfortunately, there are more pros. The most prominent are not the best odds, low limits, lack of Live, a necessity to collect the information manually. However, for those who like HearthStone betting, it can become not only a great hobby, but also a great profit source.