How to bet on Hockey

When it comes to betting hockey, there are quite a few ways to do it, and some that are definitely more popular than others. Regardless of the type of hockey bets that you make, some of the betting options can be a bit confusing, and that’s where we come in. America’s Bookie’s Hockey Betting section is here to make your life easy, and explain the best and easiest ways to bet on hockey. In the sports betting world, hockey has grown in popularity quite a bit since the early 2000’s, and the types of bets range anywhere from money line bets, prop bets, total bets, future bets, and much more. We’ll explain in-depth each type of bet, as well as give you an example or two to help simplify the bets as well.

Money Lines

When you bet on the money line of a game, you’re just picking which team you think will win the game. When making this bet though, you do need to remember that the odds of the bet will vary. So if you were to pick one team who is much better than their opponent, the odds won’t pay out nearly as well for the favored team. 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 bet:

Carolina Hurricanes +210 vs. Montreal Canadians -180

In this example, the Canadians are the favorites here. If you bet on the Canadians straight up, you would have to bet $180 to win $100. If you were to bet on the Hurricanes straight up though, you would bet $100 to win $210, since they are fairly big underdogs.

Total Betting

Total betting is the exact same thing as over/under betting. Basically what you are doing in this bet, is picking whether or not you think the two teams can score more than the total goal line that is picked. The odds on a total bet typically stay around the same, but may vary depending on how heavily one side is being bet. If one side is being bet incredibly heavy, then the line will just move towards that side. Here’s an example of a total bet:

New York Islanders vs. New Jersey Devils Over/Under 5.5 (-110)

So this means that if you were to bet the over, the two teams would need to score a combined six goals for you to win the bet; and if you bet the under, they would need to score less than 6. The odds showing mean that for every $110 you bet, you would win $100.

Money Line Betting on Periods

When it comes to money line betting, in hockey you can also bet on the money line for each period of the game. With three periods in a hockey game, this would give you two additional times to bet who you think will be winning the game, and then the third would be the regular money line bet. An example of a 1st and 2nd period money line bet, would be if you had the same example above (the Hurricanes vs. Canadians). This would leave the Canadians somewhere around -110 to be ahead after the first period, and somewhere around -140 if you pick them to have the lead after the second period. So betting the money line by period is a great way to make some extra money if you think that one team will lead throughout. Mainly because instead of having to bet $180 to win $100 like above, you would only have to bet $11 to win $10 if you think the Canadians would have the lead after the first period.

Point Spread Betting

Point spread betting (goal spread betting) is common in hockey as well, but isn’t nearly as popular as money line betting. When it comes to point spread betting in hockey, the line is typically set at -1.5 or +1.5 for either side. Meaning that if you make this bet, the side that you choose must either win by more than 1 goal, or lose by less than one goal. The odds on this type of bet will vary quite a bit, depending on which team is favored, but the general idea behind this bet is to get better odds on a heavy favorite. So for example, if a team is favored by as much as -300, betting a line of -1.5 may get those odds down to -200 or -180. Here’s an example of a point spread bet:

Pittsburgh Penguins -1.5 (-180) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning +1.5 (+120)

In this example, the Penguins are favored by 1.5 goals, and must win by 2 to win this bet, while the Lightning must lose by less than 2 to win their side. The odds of -180 for the Penguins mean that you’d bet $180 to win $100, while betting on the Lightning you’d bet $10 to win $12.

3 Way Lines

3 way betting is almost the same exact thing as money line betting, except any overtime and shootout play is not included. So basically, you bet one team to win, the other team to win, or bet a tie. The idea behind this bet is to give you better odds on the favorite in each game, but also make the bet tougher because you automatically lose if the game goes into overtime. It also has good payouts if you are able to hit on a bet like the tie. Here’s an example of a 3 way line, using the money line example above.

Money Line odds:

Carolina Hurricanes +210 vs. Montreal Canadians -180

3 way betting line odds:

Montreal Canadians to win: -120

Carolina Hurricanes to win: +340

Tie: +260

As you can see the odds on everything move quite a bit when it comes to a 3 way line bet.

Parlay Betting

A parlay is a hockey bet where you include more than one team, and most sites allow all the way up to 12 or even 15 teams sometimes. A parlay must include at least two teams, but the benefit of betting a parlay is that the payout is much higher. Typically a parlay in hockey will work a bit differently than in most sports, but below is a list of the general odds of a parlay all the way from two teams to 12 teams. One main thing to remember about parlays is that if you lose one of the bets in an parlay, you lose the entire bet. We’ll explain a bit more in-depth how parlay betting in hockey works.

2 team: 13/5

3 team: 6/1

4 team: 10/1

5 team: 20/1

6 team: 40/1

7 team: 75/1

8 team: 150/1

9 team: 250/1

10 team: 400/1

11 team: 500/1

12 team: 600/1

The reason why parlay betting in hockey works a bit differently, is mainly due to the fact that a lot of hockey parlays will include money line bets which have changing odds. Even if you were to bet the -1.5 or +1.5, you’ll find that the odds on a parlay bet may vary a bit.

Round Robins

Round robins are multiple small parlays that can feature anywhere between 2 and 8 teams. The idea behind a round robin, is that even if one of your teams loses, you won’t lose every bet. It’s a way to be very profitable when betting parlay’s, and essentially is a way to keep yourself from dropping into the negatives. Parlay’s can go multiple ways, with multiple teams, and this in turn can create multiple bets. It may sound very confusing, but we’ll break it down and make it as simple as possible. Below we’ve included an example of a round robin, as well as all of the possible ways and teams that you can make a round robin.

The Boston Bruins are -1.5, the New York Islanders are +1.5, and the Nashville Predators are -1.5, this would be a three way round robin. Here’s how it would look:

Parlay 1:

Boston Bruins -1.5

New York Islanders +1.5

Bet $100 to win $260

Parlay 2:

Boston Bruins -1.5

Nashville Predators -1.5

Bet $100 to win $260

Parlay 3:

New York Islanders +1.5

Nashville Predators -1.5

Bet $100 to win $260

What this all breaks down to, is that you are betting $300 total to win $780.

Picks/Ways/Number of Bets

8 picks/2 ways/28 bets

8 picks/3 ways/56 bets

8 picks/4 ways/70 bets

8 picks/5 ways/56 bets

8 picks/6 ways/28 bets

7 picks/2 ways/21 bets

7 picks/3 ways/35 bets

7 picks/4 ways/35 bets

7 picks/5 ways/21 bets

7 picks/6 ways/7 bets

6 picks/2 ways/15 bets

6 picks/3 ways/20 bets

6 picks/4 ways/15 bets

6 picks/5 ways/6 bets

5 picks/2 ways/10 bets

5 picks/3 ways/10 bets

5 picks/4 ways/5 bets

4 picks/2 ways/6 bets

4 picks/3 ways/4 bets

3 picks/2 ways/3 bets

Parlay Rules

There are a few rules when it comes to betting parlay’s, and they are similar to most sports. One of the first things to take into consideration, is how a sports betting site will handle a tie. Most sites will handle a tie as a loss, of course if you are betting on a team to win, and the game times; then it’s obviously considered a loss because they didn’t actually win the game. But if the total bet on a game is a round number like 5, 6, or 7, what happens if the total goals scored lands exactly on that number? It’s something to check into. Another rule is to check to see if there is a max on parlays. Whether it be a max bet or a max amount that you can win. If you were able to hit a 12 team parlay it could pay out pretty huge, and some sites do have a max amount that you can win on parlays. When it comes to max amount bet, most sites do not put a limit on this, but if they do it’ll inform you when you’re making your bet typically. The other rule in parlays is the number of teams included, which we’ve touched on. Some sites allow only a specific max number of teams in a parlay, and this varies by site.

If Bets

If bets in hockey are a great way to manage your money. If bets allow you to place a bet on the first team, and only if that team wins, will the next bet be placed on the next team. These types of bets were essentially created to help players avoid losing large chunks of money over a short span. This gives players the opportunity to manage their bankrolls at all times. Each bet is a stand alone bet, and you can do if bets on up to six total teams. The bet will stop at any time if you lose a bet, whether it be after one bet, or after five. The bets on the different games, do not have to happen consecutively, and can even all start at the same time if you’d like. Here’s an example of an if bet in hockey:

Buffalo Sabres (-140) vs. San Jose Sharks (+120)

Bet $140 to win $100 on the Sabres

if this bet wins, then a bet would be placed on:

Ottawa Senators (+130) vs. Minnesota Wild (-150)

Bet $150 to win $100 on the Wild

Reverse If Bets

In a reverse if bet, you are basically taking two or three double action if bets, and just reversing them. It’s much easier to explain a reverse if bet with an example, so check out the one below. The idea behind this bet is that you could be able to win a higher amount if the picks end up winning.

2 team $50 Reverse bet:

Washington Capitals straight bet $110 to win $100 (if win, tie or cancel)

Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings over 42.5 bet $100 to win $100

Then:

Washington Capitals straight bet $110 to win $100

Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings over 5.5 $100 to win $100 (if win, tie or cancel)

Basically here, if you win both bets you will take home $400, and you can also make money if you get a win and a push or cancel, paying you $200. All other outcomes would result in a loss of this bet.

If Bet Rules

One of the biggest rules when it comes to if bets, is how they handle a tie, push, or cancelled bet for any reason. What this means is that if for some reason there is a push (on the over/under for example), would it count as a loss, a win, or just get rid of that aspect of the bet all together. Most of the time, a pushed bet would result in the if bet not moving on to the next part of the bet (unless it’s a double action if bet). This is a very important rule when it comes to if bets, as you don’t want to get stuck pushing a bet that you think would result in the next part of your if bet being placed, if it doesn’t.

Futures Bets

Another type of bet that is very popular when it comes to hockey betting is futures bets. A futures bet gives you the option to bet on something quite a while before it happens, and gives you much better odds for betting on it so early. These types of bets can include things like betting on the Stanley Cup Finals winner, and betting on the winners of each conference as well. Futures bets offer excellent payouts and are a great way to make money if you know how to bet them. They are pretty risky though, and it’s not recommended to consistently bet on just ONE team to win a futures bet. Here’s an example of a few possible futures bets in hockey:

Team to win the Stanley Cup:

Pittsburgh Penguins: +600

Boston Bruins: +900

Philadelphia Flyers: +1200

New Jersey Devils: +2500

Team to win Eastern Conference:

Boston Bruins: +450

Buffalo Sabres: +700

Carolina Hurricanes: +2000

Florida Panthers: +3500

Team to win Western Conference:

Chicago Blackhawks: +550

Anaheim Ducks: +1500

Calgary Flames: +2000

Colorado Avalanche: +3500

Prop Bets

Prop betting on hockey is just another type of bet which has picked up steam as of late. There are a few different prop bets that come along with hockey betting, things like ”who will score first?”,”which player will score first?”, and also ”what period will the first goal be scored in?” All of these things do their odds a bit differently, so we’ll break it down a bit more. The prop bet of who will score first, typically will just favor either which team is home or which team has been hotter on offense as of late. These odds will vary quite a bit. The prop bet of which player will score first will list a number of players, and offer odds which depend on how often they score goals, and which players have been the most consistent scoring wise. The other option of which period will the first goal be scored in, offers all three periods, with the first typically having the worst odds, all the way to the third period which will normally have the largest odds. Prop bets are all about finding good angles to bet on, and if you can do that; you’ll be a very profitable prop bettor.

That covers every different type of hockey bet offered out there. If you are looking for other articles and betting options on other specific sports, check out the other sports betting strategy articles covered here at America’s Bookie!