Important Tips to Master Ice Hockey Betting

Ice Hockey is a very popular sport in the northern hemisphere, with leagues in North America, as well as European countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Norway, Czech Republic and Sweden. A fundamental difference between the the NHL and European ice hockey is that you can not bet on a tie if wagering on NHL markets but you can when placing bets on European ice hockey matches. With this in mind, lets have a look at some of the things to watch out for when betting on ice hockey in general.

 

Check The Schedule

Always check the schedule of the ice hockey teams that you are going to place bets on, the way in which the fixtures fall can have a big bearing on the outcome of upcoming games.

For example, it is not uncommon in the NHL for a team to have to play for two nights in succession and there could also be a lot of travelling involved too. Do not underestimate the implications of teams having to play in different time zones in a short space of time.

Although ice hockey players are athletes, they are not robots and travelling across a range of time zones to play a match can lower performance levels. Keep these factors in mind and research them when betting on a team you think ‘should’ be favourite to win a match.

 

The Form Guide

When betting on the majority of sports, form is a key factor and should always be taken in to account when placing bets on sports such as football and tennis. However, in ice hockey, form does not carry as much weight as it does in other sports and can often be quite unreliable, especially amongst the top teams in the NHL and other leagues.

If you have completed your research and think that a team with the longer odds of a match up actually has the better players and looks as though they should beat the opposition but have not been in as good form as their opponents, don’t let that put you off making the bet.

Some great value can be found by doing this and it may seem unwise and against what you would usually do but when you feel strongly that one team is better than the other it can be very worthwhile.

 

Ice Hockey Betting Markets

Ice hockey betting markets can seem daunting to those not familiar with them but as with most sports, there are popular markets that even the most inexperienced of punters can easily follow, some of which include:

 

Outright winner – This market is fairly self explanatory and involves picking which team will win the match. As stated earlier, usually in the NHL, there will only be the option of picking a winner whereas, when betting on European games, the option of a tie may also be available.

Points Spread – This is a type of handicap betting, where the underdog for a particular match is given a head start on the favourite, who usually start at -1.5 and must therefore win by 2 points to cover this. In ice hockey terms this is sometimes known as the ‘puck line’

Total Game Goals – As the name suggests, this is betting on the total number of goals scored by both teams.

The Correct Score – This involves predicting the final score of the game and usually excludes periods of extra time.

Grand Salami – This bet is offered over the course of a number of games and requires the prediction of the total number of goals scored in each game combined.

 

There are other markets available but a lot of them are actually just variables of the ones mentioned above.

In-Play Betting

As with a lot of other sports betting, in-play betting on ice hockey can be very lucrative and exciting but there are a few things to wary of before throwing yourself in to the action.

 

* Be aware of where you are receiving your information from, as goals go in some sources will update this quicker than others. Do not allow yourself to be caught out by leaving bets for too long while you wait for the next update to your game.

* As a further note to the above point, ice hockey is a very quick flowing game, situations can develop very quickly and it’s possible to take advantage of this by reading the game and predicting what will happen next.

* Never panic, whatever the situation is in a game things can turn around quickly so do not get stressed out if a team you are backing is a few goals behind, this can change rapidly

 

By keeping the above tips in mind, it’s possible to enjoy both an exciting and profitable experience when betting on ice hockey, don’t expect massive profits immediately but learn how it works and chances are they will come.