World of Warcraft (WoW) is a multiplayer online role-playing game which was originally launched all the way back in 2004.
With millions of subscribers and an ‘Arena’ mode tailored for professional competition it’s no betting on World of Warcraft has risen in popularity.
Below find what we believe are the best World of Warcraft betting sites, with the biggest bonuses and best odds.
Best WoW Betting Sites & eSportsbooks
- Widest selection of eSports covered.
- Plenty of markets per event.
- Biggest opening account bonus.
- Highest possible review rating.
- Twitch integration alongside live odds.
- £10 weekly in-play free bet club.
- Uniboost bet boosts (3x daily).
- Solid welcome offer – easy to claim.
- Great bonus for smaller deposits.
- 5/5 Cheeky Punter review rating.
- Wide range of eSports bets.
- See trending & most popular eSports bets.
- Wide range of esports markets.
- Weekly free bet club (£10).
- Welcome bonus a little small.
- Only option for trading eSports.
- Back & lay bets.
- Decent sized welcome bonus.
- Good range of eSports markets & bets.
- Plenty of eSports markets.
- No eSports specific promotions.
- 300% welcome bonus.
- Better eSports options above.
- eSports betting available.
- Lacking some markets
- Can request odds.
- eSports feels a bit of an after thought.
How Does Competitive WoW Work?
Normal WoW gameplay takes the form of Player Vs Environment (PvE), meaning that players create and setup a character to explore the world of Azeroth, defeat monsters and complete quests. The game has, however, always included the possibility for Player vs Player (PvP) fights and it is this element of WoW which is utilised for competitive tournaments and events.
WoW Arena
Professional WoW battles are generally played out in the game’s Arenas, which are instanced areas of the WoW world where teams of players can compete against each other in death match style contests. These arena battles are generally played out on a last man standing basis, with the winning team being the only one remaining at the end of the battle with a live player.
2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3
Given that WoW isn’t really ideally suited to competitive PvP play, there isn’t a great deal more to competitive gameplay. What should be noted, however, is that professional WoW arena battle can be of two different sizes. Both two player and three player teams are able to battle it out in a WoW arena but it is 3 vs 3 play which is most commonly utilised for WoW tournaments, competitions and events.
What Are the Big Events?
In early 2012, Blizzard Entertainment – the gaming company behind the Warcraft franchise and a number of other video games – started its own series of tournaments for World of Warcraft, culminating in the 2012 Battle.net World Championship Global Finals. Those global finals also included competitions involving a number of Blizzard Entertainments other games, including StarCraft II, and proved to be a great success.
In light of that, since 2013 the company have set about establishing a WoW Arena specific World Championship which involves a large number of national and regional competitions, culminating in the WoW Arena World Championship Finals.
National & Regional Tournaments
For any competitive WoW Arena team, the road to each year’s WoW Arena World Championship Finals begins with having to play and excel in national and regional events. These events can be either online arena cups or Blizzard Entertainment approved community events, and larger tournaments of this type can offer impressive prize pools.
Aside from those potential financial incentives, what the events also allow teams to earn are points which are ultimately used to determine which teams will proceed further through the World Championships.
Teams from all over the world compete in these smaller events in the hope of gaining enough points to reach their respective ‘Regionals’ tournaments. Those ‘Regionals’ are held in North America, Europe, Latin America, China and the Asia Pacific region, with four, four, one, two and one teams progressing respectively from each to the WoW Arena World Championship Finals.
WoW Arena World Championship Finals
Held since 2013, the WoW Arena World Championship Finals are unquestionably the premier event on the competitive WoW calendar. In 2017, as we touched upon above, 12 teams from all around the globe will compete in the event which is held at the annual BlizzCon convention.
Boasting its highest ever prize pool this year, the WoW Arena World Championship Finals of 2017 has a pot of $280,000 to split between the 12 competing teams and the winning squad will take home $120,000 all of their own.
What Bet Types are Available?
As we’ve mentioned throughout, due to the fact that the game was initially developed well before eSports was even thought of, WoW and the competitive world of eSports isn’t exactly a natural fit.
The events we’ve talked about, however, have helped to bring WoW more into the eSports fold and some online bookmakers do approach the game in a similar way to other eSports. That is to say that they do provide a small number of WoW betting markets, although it’s fair to say that the selection is limited to simple bets, such as those below.
Arena Battle Winner – As we’ve already discussed, competitive WoW is generally limited to the arena battle feature of the wider game and betting options are largely restricted to this area too. An arena battle winner market is the only WoW option you will find at most online bookmakers and allows you simply to bet on which team you believe will win a given battle.
Special PvE – In the last few months a few major bookmakers, including both Bet 365 and Pinnacle, have started running occasional WoW PvE markets. These are not regularly offered but when they are, they typically involve betting on which will be the first guild within the game to complete a particularly difficult and renowned quest.
Author: David Lenton
