Updated: 2024Online bookmakers offering ice hockey betting
Overview of Ice Hockey Betting
Ice hockey is a popular sport to watch and place a bet on, especially in North America, Northern Europe and Russia. The holy grail of ice hockey players worldwide is to play in the NHL (National Hockey League).
NHL is by far the most-watched and financially rewarding ice hockey league in the world. That is even though in the USA, ice hockey comes 4th on the list of the most-watched sports, after American football (NFL), baseball (MBL) and basketball (NBA).
In the United Kingdom, ice hockey is played professionally in an eleven team format in the Elite Ice Hockey League, founded in 2003. Ice hockey in the UK experienced worldwide success, in the beginning, winning medals in World Championships and even gold at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany. However, since the Second World War it has all dwindled down.
While in the most parts of the world the word hockey alone is identical with ice hockey, in the UK it might create some uncertainty due to field hockey, which is played on grass or artificial turf. To avoid any confusion for the remainder of the article, in any instance the word hockey is used, it will most definitely refer to ice hockey.
Ice Hockey Explained
Before you jump in and start betting on ice hockey, it is very important to have a solid understanding of the game.
Quick facts:
- An ice hockey match is played between two teams of six players and the match lasts one hour of regulation time.
- It is split into three periods, each consisting of 20 minutes.
- The goal of the game is to win by scoring the puck into the opponents’ net more times than they do.
- The puck is a small circular disk made of vulcanized rubber that easily slides on ice.
- The net or goal in ice hockey is merely 120 cm tall and 180 cm wide.
An ice hockey game will always end with a winner, some rare exceptions being an exhibition or friendly match. Hockey games that are tied at the end of the regular 60 minute play time, will go to overtime and play on a Golden Goal rule. This makes a difference when it comes to betting on ice hockey, whether to bet on a team winning in regulation time or with overtime included.
Ice hockey is also known as a very physical and violent sport. It has its own structure of penalties and sin bins. For example, if a hockey player is called for a dangerous foul, he is sent to a sin bin for 2 minutes or until the opposing team scores a goal. There is no limit on how many players can be sent to a sin bin at the same time. Also, the 2 minutes penalty can be increased, depending on the level of the player’s infraction.
Ice Hockey Betting Rules
Betting on ice hockey is pretty straightforward. Similar to sports betting in general, you have a choice of who will win, total goals scored and other common markets. However, some ice hockey rules might catch you unprepared if you are not familiar with them. As such, it is crucial to take the time to familiarize yourself with the main rules in order to avoid any mistakes when placing bets.
- Ice hockey matches do not end in draws: this is very important to understand before placing a bet. Unless it’s an exhibition or friendly, ice hockey matches do not end in a draw. An ice hockey match that ends in draw settles by going to overtime and sudden death if no winner is decided in the extra time period. How long and how many overtime periods there are depends on the match, whether it’s a regular-season or a play-off in NHL, in the Winter Olympics or the World Championships. Regardless, pay close attention when you place a bet on the winner or goals in an ice hockey match, whether or not your bookmaker counts overtime or not.
- Power plays: hockey, is largely considered one of the most demanding team sports, where strength, endurance and stamina are essential. A hockey team that’s on ice has 6 players only, of which 1 is the goaltender. If for whatever reason, a hockey player is sent to the sin bin for 2 minutes, it puts great pressure on his team while giving the opponents a chance to dominate. This is even more important to understand if you want to place a live bet on ice hockey during a power play.
- Unlimited substitutions: while a hockey team only has six players on the ice at the same time, the size of its squad is usually around 20 players. Each team is allowed an unrestricted number of substitutions throughout the match. Ice hockey is characterized by its high-intensity intermittent skating, with quick changes in speed and velocity, and numerous body contacts. In hockey, most substitutions are not on an individual basis. Instead, a group of players substitute another group of players in what is called a line change. This can definitely look chaotic especially to the unfamiliar eye.
BetVictor offers competitive odds on NHL and other ice hockey leagues.
Betting Strategy
The biggest ice hockey leagues in the world are the NHL (teams from the United States and Canada) and the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League with teams from Russia, China, Belarus, Finland, Kazakhstan, and Latvia). As a general rule of thumb for bettors, these two hockey leagues will offer the best betting markets.
The best way to bet on ice hockey is to follow two universal rules of betting that apply across all sports and markets: statistical research and a staking plan.
Statistical Research
When you look at a team’s most recent matches and head-to-head results against a current opponent, you might see some trends show up. For example, in NHL the stats for the number of total goals per game are pretty consistent. This gives a bettor some good opportunities to use the stats of a hockey team that is either high or low scoring, and back a bet accordingly. Even more opportunities are in the live in-play markets (some bookies offer live streaming so you can watch the game straight on your betting site). If you see two high scoring teams with high scoring head-to-head stats, who are playing now and it’s 0-0 after the first period, it’s likely the goals will start flowing.
Staking Plan
The staking plan is the very foundation to be successful in betting long-term. The idea is to use your funds wisely and turn them into long term profit. It takes discipline and hard work but it is all worth it. Ice hockey is a fast, intense and very physical sport which makes it highly unpredictable at times. A staking plan is necessary to turn betting on ice hockey profitable in the long run.
The idea of a staking plan is to always only use a percentage of your funds to back a bet. That percentage depends on your level of confidence in the bet and it is set in your staking plan and does not change from bet to bet. It sounds easy but it is challenging, especially for the get-rich-quick bettor. There are many staking plans suggestions with the most common and recommended figures as follows:
| Confidence in your bet |
Percentage % of your funds used to back the bet |
| High | 4-5% |
| Moderate | 2-4% |
| Low | 1-2% |
Taking those figures and putting them in a practical example, if your betting balance is £100, your stake on the most confident bet should be £5.00. That may seem a small amount to back a bet you are very confident will win. That is also the main reason most staking plans fail, lack of discipline and not looking at the long-term picture.
