Hearthstone Explained for Beginners

Hearthstone is quite unlike most other e-sports and online games you can bet on. Instead of directly controlling a character or a team, this old-school-style game uses classic RPG gameplay rules based on cards you can pick up and turnover. This turn-based game is more akin to a trading card game than a genuine video game, but it also has similarities to Warcraft.

Of course, being able to play Hearthstone and bet on Hearthstone are two very separate things. The game is extensive, detailed, and quite tricky to learn for beginners. Fortunately, you won’t need to learn how to play the game – you only need to have a rough idea of how it works and where you can bet on the game. We can help you with both. Let’s start by showcasing a few top Hearthstone casinos and betting sites right here.

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What Is Hearthstone?

At its core, Hearthstone is a head-to-head, one-versus-one battle game. This turn-based game has a role-playing element to it and sees players taking turns to play cards in their hands. As you might imagine with a fantasy RPG, cards include spells, weapons, summoning cards, locations, abilities, and the customary array of other elements associated with these games.

The basic idea behind the game is that you are trying to cut down the opposing player’s hero’s energy (health) to zero. You’ll be trying to achieve this aim before they do the same to you. To assist you with this, players have Mana Crystals. You’ll gain one at the start of each turn after starting with one. You cannot hold more than 10 Mana Crystals. The larger your “Mana Pool”, the more expensive cards you can play.

Here are a few other elements you need to know about:

Turn-Based Action

Because this is a card-playing game, the action is turn-based. This would normally mean that there may be delays in the action, and games could take a while. To prevent that, a 75-second turn timer is used. However, it does allow you to follow the action more closely, which is ideal for learning how the game is played.

One Versus One

This is not a team game. Instead, this is competition between players. This makes it easier to identify the best players and wager money on them accordingly.

How a Match Ends

When one of the players has no remaining health, they are defeated. A player can also concede defeat and “leave” the game. If both heroes’ health strikes zero at the same time, the game ends in a draw. If both players survive the ninetieth turn, the game also ends in a draw. Finally, the Uther of the Ebon Blade, Mecha’thun, and Purified Shard cards will automatically destroy the enemy’s hero.

How to Bet on Hearthstone Online

There are several ways for you to bet on Hearthstone, and as it only offers one-versus-one gameplay, it is easy to understand how these bets work. Allow us to showcase them to you below. They include:

Straight-Up Bet

This is about as simple as it is possible to get when it comes to wagering on Hearthstone. Here, you are betting on one player to be victorious over another. Americans would refer to this as a money-line bet. Keep an eye out for the skill level between players, as this is what provides a great deal of variance in terms of the odds you receive.

Outright Bet

Not all matches are single-event affairs. Some are played over a best-of-three or best-of-five format. If that’s the case, a straight-up bet just won’t do – that will only apply to a single match. Instead, you may want to look at outright bets. These involve wagering on a player to win a multi-match event or even a tournament.

Handicap Bet

This bet gives you a bit of leeway if there are major discrepancies between a favorite and an underdog. For instance, if a favorite is likely to win, a handicap ensures that they must win by “so many points”, whereas the underdog bet may be victorious if they don’t lose more than “X points”.

Correct Score

Here, a player must accurately predict the number of matches a player will win in, say, a best-of-three or a best-of-five event. You can also use totals such as overs/under to bet on how many cards a player may have left, health points, or anything that features numbers, really.

Props

There are basically bets on anything to happen in a game. That may be a player using a specific card or winning in a certain manner. Because of the bizarre nature of many of these bets, you can expect all manner of odds to be available.

What Major Hearthstone Events Can I Bet On?

The games creator, Blizzard Entertainment, runs a handful of top Hearthstone events, but there are independent organizers who run some of the major competitions, too. Ideally, you want the top tournaments as they feature the best players. However, smaller competitions where players are more evenly matched may also see tasty odds come into play. Here is a brief rundown of the major Hearthstone tournaments you can join. They include:

Hearthstone World Championship

As the name of this competition suggests, there is no bigger event than the Hearthstone World Championship. This is held every year at Blizzard’s gaming festival, BlizzCon. Players progress in this championship by earning points as they battle. The prize pool for this competition is often worth $1 million.

Regional Competitions

Before they can get to the Hearthstone World Championship, players will need to compete in regional competitions. These include the Americas, Asia Pacific, China, and Europe sectors. Regional ladders will see players gain entry into the e-sport’s main event.

Team Events

Some Hearthstone players team up. While the game is a one-on-one match, teams can take each other on to win prizes, too. They do this in successive head-to-head games. If you are more familiar with teams than players, events involving some of the world’s leading teams, such as Cloud9, Omnislash, and Team Liquid, may be worth a look.

Top Tips for Hearthstone Betting Online

Before betting on Hearthstone, it helps to understand a few top tips. We don’t profess to be Hearthstone pros, but we do love to dabble and have acquired a fair bit of knowledge wagering on Hearthstone over the years. Here is what we’ve learned.

Study the Cards Thoroughly

The cards are ultimately what decide whether you win or lose in Hearthstone. You can’t realistically hope to bet on Hearthstone if you don’t understand how the cards work. We suggest you study them.

Keep Up with Changing Times

All e-sports can change quickly. A player or team who rules right now may fall flat on their behinds in the next competition. Always be sure that you stay on top of current events so you know who to bet on and when.

Play the Game Yourself

Not everybody can join a team and play e-sports. However, Hearthstone can be played by yourself (against another player at random). This makes it the ideal e-sport to have a crack at and learn how to play. Why would you want to do that? Well, it will make you a better player.

Am I Ready to Bet on Hearthstone?

If you think that you’re ready to bet on Hearthstone, you’ll need somewhere to play. We’ve put together some of our most trusted and recommended betting sites that feature Hearthstone wagers. Many of these accept crypto stakes, too. Scroll up to find our top list of recommended Hearthstone casinos.

FAQS: We Answer Your Hearthstone Questions

Before you wager on Hearthstone, be sure that you understand the ins and outs of the game. Our FAQ guide may be of some assistance.