Over the weekend I finally got a chance to checkout something my eCulture pals (Ryan) have been raving about for the last couple of weeks. This thing is a website called SaltyBet, and according to its Wikia:
Saltybet is a free 24/7 Twitch stream with a fake-money betting system. The stream runs random CPU vs CPU battles off of M.U.G.E.N a 2d fighting engine with literally thousands of. 100% Bonus: 20x wagering on Salty Bet Casino combined deposit and bonus total (% game weightings and play restrictions apply). Max bonus bet £5 (£10 live casino) 15 days Salty Bet Casino to accept, 40 to complete. £5 bonus: After deposit bonus wagered, selected games only. 1x wagering, 7 days Salty Bet Casino to accept, 7 to complete, max withdrawal from winnings £100.
Salty’s Dream Cast Casino or just SaltyBet for short is a website that embeds a Twitch.tv stream usually of live competitive events like the Evolution Championship Series and allows its users to place virtual bets on said events. When there are no notable competitive events running, the stream runs AI M.U.G.E.N matches and allows people to bet on said matches. Salty Bet is purely for entertainment purposes and no real money will be paid out.
Now at first I found myself shaking my head at their fascination. The live matches I could understand, fake betting on your favorite player could only add to the excitement for the kind of audience that’s into watching streams of fighting video games (Randy). The thing is, the live matches weren’t the aspect that my friends were raving about. Instead, they almost wholly watch SaltyBet for the AI fights.
This sounded ridiculous to me because who the heck actually cares about watching AI players fight each other? It was only when I realized that the version of M.U.G.E.N., a 2D freeware fighter, that SaltyBet is using for the AI fights has literally thousands of characters, some of which result in hilarious mismatches and cross-IP fights, that I started to understand the appeal. This unpredictability in matchups is a powerful hook when combined with the age old draw of gambling and a comment stream that could be a contender for purest concentration of eCulture to be found outside of 4chan.
Speaking of the comment stream, stick around long enough and you’ll learn a few things:
- ALWAYS USE CAPITALS IN THE CHAT, THIS IS THE INTERNET AND THERE IS NO TIME TO CALM DOWN
- ALWAYS BET SWORD
- NEVER BET ANIME
- ALWAYS BET ROBOT
- ALWAYS BET ANDROID
- NEVER BET GUN
- ALWAYS BET MARVEL
- NEVER BET UMBRELLA OR MIRROR
- ALWAYS BET DBZ
- And, most importantly,
ALWAYS BET RARE AKUMA
These guidelines do a great job teaching you the only actual rule of SaltyBet: that, just like in real gambling, no blanket advice is always correct (although always betting on Marvel characters and fighters that have swords did pan out for me, and I think it’s pretty universally agreed that Rare Akuma could be the best character).
Salty Bet Real Money Glitch
Indeed, the only real way to get a feel for the odds of a matchup, beyond watching hours and hours of this madness or setting up a program to log fight information into a database, is to donate 3 bucks a month and see the win/loss record of the two AI contenders during the betting stage. This helps you understand the clear favorite in the often one-sided matches, I watched a few matches where one character one shot-KO’d another, but be careful lest you bet too much and find yourself stuck down in the “Salt Mines” trying to scrape together enough money to bet on the next sure thing.