Maximum arena reward, stop after 9 wins?

Everytime I play the arena, I wonder how good the rewards can be and when you should stop playing the arena and claim your rewards.

Does the reward for winning in the arena become any better after you get the top tier master key after 9 wins?

Solution 1:

Note: This answer is now outdated, as the December 12th, 2013 patch increased the number of reward levels to 12.

The arena is concluded once you get to 9 wins (or 3 losses / retire).

What is a "better" reward is personal preference.

If you mostly are after gold, then it is best to retire at 8 rather than 9. This is because you get more gold stacks (4 instead 3) as reward at 8 than 9. If you want card packs, dust or a gold card, it is best to win 9.

Obviously this is all subject to change as the game is still only in beta and a number of people have brought up this issue with Blizzard.

These two topics on the Hearthstone forums explain the current issue regarding rewards quite well:

• 9 wins better than 8
• Arena 8 wins > 9 wins