- Best Way To Bet On Hockey Tickets
- Best Way To Get Into Hockey Shape
- Best Way To Get Hockey Tickets
- Best Way To Get Cheap Hockey Tickets
- Money line betting is the most popular type of bet when it comes to hockey betting. Every hockey game on the board will offer a money line, regardless of how big of a favorite or how big of an underdog one of the teams is. Here’s an example of a money line.
- Moneyline in Hockey Betting. The ‘Moneyline’ is when you simply place a wager on which team will win the game. This wager includes the overtime period and shootout, if applicable. There are no point spreads to deal with, just pick the official game-winning team.
- Alexei Ivanovich Hockey Betting Hockey Advanced Betting. NHL Hockey Round Robin Bet A “round robin” is a simple way to bet on multiple parlays at one time, and the bet can include; money lines, puck lines, and totals. You can create a round robin in hockey.
Look for teams that end up playing three games in four days or the dreaded four games in six days. This is going to destroy their bodies and make their ability to perform at peak more challenging. You also want to make sure that you look at how far teams have to travel.
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- Betting the puck line is like betting the NHL point spread, but the format is different from other spread betting
- Puck line bets often have better odds than moneylines on the same game
- There are unique strategic considerations to make when wagering the puck line
Puck line betting is the most popular form of hockey betting for both regular season NHL games and during the NHL playoffs.
As the closest thing to an NHL point spread, wagering on the puck line is just like betting against the spread in football or taking on the run line in baseball.
Read on to learn how to beat the books betting on the puck line!
NHL Point Spread Betting, Sort Of…
Hockey games, especially in the NHL, are often very tight affairs. The rigidity of the puck line reflects this fact, and the puck line is always set at +1.5 or -1.5.
As always, the + indicates the underdog, and the – indicates the favorite. Whenever you wager on the puck line, you are betting on the favorite (-1.5) to win by 2 goals, or the underdog (+1.5) to lose by one goal or win outright.
The inclusion of half points on the line eliminates the possibility of a push, or a tie. Clearly, NHL betting sites want to avoid this scenario however possible, and the 0.5 hook ensures that every bet on the puck line will be either a winner or a loser. There are no funky rules in the NHL; a half goal is impossible, under any circumstance.
Whenever you wager on the puck line, you are betting on the favorite to win by two goals or the underdog to lose by one goal or outright. It’s hockey’s version of the point spread, but the spread never changes.
One way to look at this is to take the final score and add 1.5 goals to the underdog’s goal total and subtract 1.5 goals from the favorite’s goal total. If your team wins the game after the score has been adjusted like this, you’ve covered the puck line and won the bet!
Why Bet on the Puck Line
So, what’s the point of the puck line? Why should you choose to bet on hockey’s point spread, rather than simply picking the winner of a game outright?
The puck line levels the playing field between two competing teams, as sportsbooks want to encourage equal action on both sides of the line.
In terms of value for bettors, the puck line often offers far better odds with a higher potential payout than does the moneyline, or picking a winner straight-up.
The puck line often offers far better odds and a higher payout than picking a winner straight-up.
For example, you may wish to wager on a team that is heavily favored to win, only to find the moneyline odds to be heavily skewed to attract action on the underdog. You’ll undoubtedly find better odds betting on the puck line, but you must be confident that the favored team is going to win the game by at least two goals.
If you think the game is going to be close, or that the favorite might not churn out a dominant victory, you can always bet the underdog the puck line. This way, you have a one-goal margin of error to reduce your risk.
Dropping the Puck on the Puck Line
Let’s take a closer look at the hypothetical puck line provided above. The Vancouver Canucks are listed as the underdog in this classic Western Conference matchup, heading to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis to take on a theoretically stronger squad in the Blues.
If you were to place a bet on the Canucks, you would need them to either lose by a single goal or beat the Blues outright. It’s worth noting that if the game goes to overtime or ends in a shootout, the Vancouver Canucks would automatically cover the spread, as a St. Louis victory in overtime or the shootout would guarantee the margin of victory to be just one goal.
Payouts are indicated by the odds, which are listed at +160 for the Canucks to cover. If you placed a bet of $100 and the Canucks do cover, you would get $260 in return, including your $100 stake plus $160 profit. If you were to bet $10, you would receive $26, with $16 of that being profit.
On the other hand, the St. Louis Blues need to beat the Vancouver Canucks by a minimum of two goals in order to cover the spread. If St. Louis eeks out a close victory in a one-goal game, or if they win in overtime or the shootout, a bet on them would be unsuccessful.
Since the odds for St. Louis are listed at -150, you would need to bet $150 in order to profit $100. In the end, you’d see a return of $250 ($150 stake, in addition to $100 in profit). If you were to bet $15, you would receive $25, with $10 in profit.
Puck Line Strategy from the Experts
When betting on the puck line, you should consider many of the same strategies for success in NHL playoff betting. Coaching, goaltending, injuries, and statistics such as possession, quality of chance, and shot totals can all be helpful metrics.
However, there’s one factor that is often overlooked but can make all the difference in how an NHL team performs on game night: travel schedules.
Pay Attention to Travel Schedules
Obviously, a rested home team will be the favorite against a road team playing their 6th game in 9 nights, in the second half of back to back. The more research you do, the more accurately you can analyze a team’s travel schedule and the implications it has for their chances of victory.
Hockey is a very physical sport with a very busy schedule: performance in the midst of an intense travel schedule should always be factored into any bet you place.
Hockey is an extremely physical, full-contact sport with a busy schedule that sees each team playing multiple games per week. As such, travel schedules are far more significant in hockey than they are in less physical sports, like baseball, or in those with only a small number of games on the schedule, such as football.
If a team is deep in the throes of a 12 game road trip, there’s a good chance their play is going to lag towards the end of it, especially if players cross time zones throughout the course of the trip. Eastern teams often endure road swings in Western Canada (Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver) or California (Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim, and now Las Vegas).
The chances of even the best teams making it through such a trip unscathed are next to nothing, and you should bet accordingly. Both of these journeys are notoriously difficult and grueling for too many reasons to list, but performance in the midst of an intense travel schedule should always be factored into any bet you place.
The Camera Adds a Few Points
Certain teams historically have better records when they’re on national television. No matter how bad the Toronto Maple Leafs were in their down years throughout the mid-2000s and early 2010s, they always put on a show for Hockey Night in Canada. The same holds true for celebrated Original Six teams like the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks.
Ready to Start Betting on Hockey?
If you’re ready to dive into the exciting world of betting hockey online, you’ve come to the right place. Before putting your money on the table, make sure you’ve also taken a peek at our NHL Betting Basics Guide.
Those wanting to expand their horizons by wagering on a wide range of sports will be well served by exploring the depth of articles available in our comprehensive how to bet on sports series.
Have you considered betting on ice hockey online? It couldn’t be any easier than it is today to get started. The first step is to join one of the best hockey betting sites.
Rank | DE Betting Site | Exclusive Bonus | Get Started | |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Betway Sports | Up To€150 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#2 | 22Bet Sports | 100% Up To€122 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#3 | Spin Sports | 100% Up To€200 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#4 | 10Bet Sports | 100% Up To€50 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#5 | Guts Sports | 100% Up To€50 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
Finding an ice hockey betting site on your own can be challenging. There are dozens of online sportsbooks and bookmakers and not all of them are worthwhile.
Put another way, how much money and time do you want to risk finding the best sites for betting on hockey online? Tens of dollars? Days? Hundreds or thousands of dollars? Weeks or even months?
The time and money’s not even the scary part. What’s scary is spending all that time and money and still not finding a top site for hockey betting.
The good news, though, is that you don’t have to. You can place your first online hockey bet in the next couple of minutes if you join one of the top hockey betting sites we endorse.
Where do our rankings come from?
They’re not just randomly selected, that much is for sure. Our rankings are deliberate. The #1 hockey betting site is there because it trumps all the sites below it. The #2 is better than the #3, #4, and #5 sites, but isn’t quite as good as the #1 site.
We review and rank every online betting site using a list of criteria. Most of our criteria is the same for every category we endorse sites for.
- Gambling license
- Reputation
- Secure software
- Banking methods
- Customer support
- Sports betting promotions
- Mobile betting
- Terms and conditions
We share all this information in our reviews. This info tells you whether the betting site is safe and secure, if they have banking options you can use, and promotions you want to claim.
If the site fails miserably here, or in key areas like the gambling license or reputation, we won’t recommend them. It doesn’t matter how great their hockey betting lines are.
If everything checks out here, we move on to how great they are for people who want to bet on hockey games. Below, you’ll find a general idea of what we look for.
- What leagues they cover, like betting on the NHL, AHL, ECHL, NAHL, etc.
- Whether you can bet on playoff games and championship games, like the Stanley Cup
- The types of bets you can make, such as moneylines, futures, props, and totals
- The betting site’s features, such as if you can cash out early, live stream games, or gain access to league, team, and player data
- Whether you can bet on live hockey games
The criteria we mentioned earlier makes a difference in whether we’ll endorse a hockey betting site at all. But how relevant a site is will determine whether we’ll endorse them as one of the BEST ice hockey betting sites.
The bottom line is, we put a ton of effort into our reviews and rankings. For that reason, we know that you’ll have a great time betting on hockey for real money at any site we endorse.
You won’t find a better list of hockey betting sites online than these. We hold every site to a high standard and won’t hesitate to remove one if their standards drop.
It all starts with safety. We only endorse real money gambling sites that are worthy of our Seal of Approval. This is our guarantee to you that the site you’re about to join is safe and secure.
Why does safety matter so much? Think about it. You can join a betting site that has hundreds of hockey markets, promotions worth thousands, and all the bells and whistles. But does any of that matter if they rip you off?
No way. That’s why we start with safety and, if everything checks out, we move on to ranking them in other categories as described earlier.
What we want you to take away now is that you can’t go wrong joining any of the sites we recommend because, if anything, they’re safe and secure.
It just so happens that they’re great for ice hockey betting, too.
Why Bet on Ice Hockey Online?
You can bet on hockey games offline. There are casinos, sportsbooks, and betting shops all around the world that will take your action.
But we recommend you bet on hockey online instead. There are many benefits to online betting. The following are a few of our favorites.
Don’t like crowds? We hear you.
That’s one of the many reasons why online betting is king in our books. You don’t have to travel anywhere and brave the crowds. All you need is an account with one of the betting sites we endorse, and you can make your bets without ever getting off your couch.
You don’t have to worry about traveling, inconsiderate people, or dressing to impress people you don’t know, much less care about.
Price Shopping Is a Breeze
One thing every sports bettor must learn how to do is price shop. Compare odds at more than one sportsbook to find the most valuable ones.
Have you tried to price shop at a brick and mortar sportsbook? You have to go from one bookmaker to the next. By the time you reach the second or third sportsbook, the odds have likely changed at the ones you just left.
Price shopping is so much easier online. For example, while writing this, we opened a of couple sportsbooks and compared the lines for the NHL All-Star Game. We found a discrepancy right away.
Betting Site A | Betting Site B |
Pacific Division -110 | Pacific Division -105 |
Central Division -110 | Central Division -105 |
Sure, this is a nominal difference, but it’ll add up the more money you bet and the more bets you make. What’s more is that it can take seconds or maybe minutes to find the best price.
Think of how much extra you’re saving or making for a couple of minutes worth of work. Don’t you think it’s worthwhile to find the best prices?
We think so, and it’s a piece of cake when you bet on hockey online.
Another struggle you’ll experience betting offline is the variety of wagers you have to choose from. There isn’t a single sportsbook we know of that offers every single hockey bet you can make.
This is true for online betting sites, too. But there’s one advantage you have when you’re betting on hockey online.
You can join multiple sportsbooks and have them open simultaneously. Not only does this help you compare odds, but the more betting accounts you have, the larger the variety of bets you have to choose from.
This includes making wagers like moneylines, futures, over/unders, and props, on games from leagues like the NHL, ECHL, and the NAHL. You can even bet on the Olympic ice hockey games when that comes around every four years.
Think of betting online like eating dessert at a buffet. You’ll have so many betting opportunities to choose from, you won’t know where to start first.
![Bet Bet](/uploads/1/3/6/5/136572240/898473627.jpg)
![Shape Shape](/uploads/1/3/6/5/136572240/927079328.jpg)
Think about the last time you made a bet in person. Did the casino or sportsbook offer you a free bet or a deposit bonus valued at hundreds or thousands of dollars?
We’ve been going to brick and mortar casinos for years and can’t think of the last time that ever happened to us. Oh, that’s right, because it never has.
But it happens all the time online. Join one of the best sites for hockey betting and you can claim promotions like these.
- Deposit Bonus – The betting site matches a percentage of your first deposit.
- Free Bet – Make a hockey bet. If it loses, the betting site will reimburse you.
- VIP Perks – Earn points for every bet you make. Exchange the points you earn for cash back, exclusive bonuses, and other perks.
- Dime or Nickel Lines – Many hockey betting sites run a promotion where you pay -105 instead of -110 for hockey moneylines. This is a great way to ensure you’re always getting the best odds.
These are the most common promotions hockey bettors can take advantage of. They’re hit or miss at subpar betting sites, but not at the hockey betting websites we endorse.
The bottom line is that you can’t go wrong gambling on hockey online. You can bet from home. You can make bets for as little as $1. And you can switch sportsbooks in a matter of seconds.
If you haven’t made the leap yet, you should create your first online hockey betting account now. You won’t regret it.
How does the spread work in hockey betting?
When you bet the spread, your team must either win or lose by so many goals.
For example, if the Oilers are +1.5, they need to win by any score, or lose by less than 2 goals. Or if the Maple Leafs are -1.5, they need to win by 2 goals or more for the bet to pay off.
Yes, because goals scored in shootouts and overtime count towards the final score. So, this will affect any sides, totals, over/unders, and other bets you make.
Can a hockey game end in a draw?
This depends on the league. Many leagues do NOT end in ties. They have overtimes and shootouts if either team fails to score during regulation.
Fun fact: Nick Bjugstad of the Florida Panthers scored to beat the Washington Capitals after a record 20 scoreless shootout rounds in December 2014.
Yes, and you should. There are many benefits to joining more than one of the best hockey betting sites.
For example, you’ll have access to more leagues, types of bets, markets, etc. You’ll have more promotions to choose from as well. And you can price shop and arbitrage bets with multiple accounts.
What’s the best way to bet on hockey?
Best Way To Bet On Hockey Tickets
There are so many ways you can go about it. It depends on your goals, experience, and expertise betting on hockey.
One tip is to bet on the team with a hot goalie. A goalie on a streak gives the rest of the players the confidence to take more chances to score since they don’t have to worry about defending the net.
Best Way To Get Into Hockey Shape
That’s one tip. We share nine more tips on how to bet ice hockey on our blog.
All kinds. Some of the best you can make include moneylines, totals, sides, puck lines, over/unders, and props. Here are the common hockey bets you can make.
What is a three-way bet in hockey?
A three-way bet is a moneyline bet where you have the option to bet on win, lose, or tie.
Three-way moneylines can offer more value (sometimes) since the win and loss odds are longer.
This is subjective. The hockey gambling sites we recommend are the best as far as we’re concerned. They have the best coverage of leagues and tournaments, largest variety of betting options, fairest prices, and more.
Can you make money betting on ice hockey online?
Yes. People make money betting hockey all the time. But only you know whether you can make money betting on hockey. It takes a lot of effort to profitably bet any sport consistently. Have you put in the work?
Best Way To Get Hockey Tickets
If not, the following section will show you where to get started.
Best Way To Get Cheap Hockey Tickets
Use the following pages to improve your chances of making money betting on hockey online.