How to Bet on Ice Hockey

Although ice hockey doesn’t enjoy the same level of popularity in the UK as sports such as football, rugby, and cricket, there is a section of the population that is dedicated to following ice hockey domestically and in the US and Canada. The Elite League is the UK’s premier ice hockey competition, and thanks to many betting websites found on sites like Find Betting Sites or Google, punters can follow high-profile ice hockey matches from the NHL online. This post will show you how to bet on ice hockey and let you know about the things you should understand before wagering your money.

Understanding ice hockey: the basics

Before betting on any sports online, you should ensure you have a basic understanding of the sport before you bet, to make sure you aren’t wasting your money. Ice hockey is competed between two teams of six, and matches last one hour, which is divided into three twenty-minute periods. Each period starts with a face-off, from which the players try and outscore their opponents, much like many of the other team sports we enjoy. When placing bets on ice hockey, there are many markets to choose from, including:

League/Tournament winners 

As with many sports, perhaps the most common bet you can place on ice hockey is an outright bet on a particular league or tournament winner. Internationally, you can bet on The World Championship of Ice Hockey, which is held annually. You can also bet on your favourite nations at the Winter Olympics, held every four years.

Domestically, there are many tournaments and leagues to choose from, the most popular being the NHL in the US. The NHL is split into conferences so that you can bet on the divisional winner of each conference. The top teams in each conference then compete in an exciting playoff tournament, and you can bet on the winners of the playoffs each season once the standings have been announced. The winners of each conference then go on to compete for the most coveted prize in all of ice hockey: The Stanley Cup.

Match results 

If you don’t want to see a season through and just fancy a bet on a specific match, then you can place a bet on the result of a particular match. But be careful! In ice hockey betting, you need to stipulate whether your bet is for the end of regulation time or including overtime. It’s essential to recognise that draws don’t exist in professional ice hockey, so you will need to pick a winner. If you think a golden goal might settle a match and it’s tight to call, you will be better served betting on the match result after overtime to ensure you don’t miss out on your winnings!

Puck line handicaps 

Puck line handicaps are unique to ice hockey, as the title suggests. However, in essence, they are a form of spread betting, and the same logic can be applied. A point spread is applied to the favourite and the underdog, the latter usually receiving a puck line handicap of +1.5 goals. This means that they must not lose by more than two goals if you are to win, and vice versa if you bet on the favourite. Spread betting is an excellent way of mixing up your betting card, and in ice hockey, if this interests you, be sure to look for puck line handicaps.

Goal totals 

This is a common betting market in football and gives you the option of predicting how many goals are scored in a particular match. If you fancy each team’s offense, then you can bet that more than six goals will be scored, for example, by marking +5.5. Of course, you can predict that each team’s defense will come out on top, and you can bet on less than a certain amount of goals scored. Either way, this can be a great bet if you want to keep a neutral interest in the fixture but still fancy a wager.

Correct score 

This is a popular team sports market and can provide some big odds. If you feel confident that a particular scoreline will occur, you can make a bet that the score will prevail. Again, just be careful that you indicate whether or not you think this result will be the case after regulation time or after overtime. This is essentially one of the only ways you can bet on a tie in ice hockey, as you can predict a draw after regulation time and bet on this market if you desire.