Hockey Betting

Hockey is one of America’s most popular sports, offering up plenty of betting opportunities at US sportsbooks. The National Hockey League (NHL) is the professional US hockey league, made up of 31 teams, 24 of which are based in the US and 7 in Canada. Since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), hockey fans can place wagers on the sport. Betting on hockey can be a daunting task, especially for new bettors, but that’s where we come in. Here at Compare,bet, we have everything you need to know about betting on hockey, from where you can place your bets to a breakdown of the biggest betting opportunities on the hockey betting calendar.

Looking to bet on Hockey in New Jersey? We’ve got a line up of the best sports betting sites available to punters in the Garden State. Compare our expert reviews, scores and the bonuses on offer to pick out the bookie that suits you best. All of our featured sportsbooks are legal and regulated in the state of New Jersey. All that’s left for you to do is make your pick, sign up and start betting.

Guide to NHL Betting

The NHL is the biggest and most famous hockey league in the world so naturally, it’s often the main hockey league of choice for punters to place wagers on. As with most sports, you’ll find a variety of ways in which bets can be placed on each game, so read through our review of the best hockey betting sites and see which suits your requirements. 

Let’s first look at the NHL in more detail. Overall, there are 32 teams across two conferences – Eastern and Western – and four divisions: Pacific, Atlantic, Metropolitan, and Central. 

During the course of a season, each team plays 82 matches before the top 16 progress through to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The season runs from October until the end of April, with the playoffs beginning after the NHL conclusion date in April. Last year the Stanley Cup was won by the Tampa Bay Lightning, following their participation through the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. 

When it comes to hockey betting sites, there will be a variety of betting markets to choose from. As we always recommend, it’s important to stay within the parameters of regulated, licensed sites, such as the best hockey betting sites reviewed by Compare.bet. We only recommend sites that are licensed so you can always feel confident with the selection you make through us. 

NHL Teams

NHL teams are split by conference and division as a way of managing scheduling and playoff seeding. It also creates a strong rivalry between members of each division. 25 of the 32 teams that comprise the NHL are from the US, and the remaining seven from Canada. So it’s a league that not only pits cities, states and regions against each other, but countries too.  

Eastern and Western Conference 

There are four divisions within the Eastern and Western Conferences: the Pacific, Atlantic, Metropolitan, and Central division. At the end of the current season, this is how the top of the Eastern Metropolitan Division and Western Central Divisions looked. 

Eastern Metropolitan Division Top Five

Western Central Division Top Five

Picking a Winner

As with all types of sports betting, there is no such thing as a guaranteed winner when it comes to betting on hockey. While a sportsbook’s hockey betting odds can give you an idea of the favourite team to win, the odds aren’t a failsafe prediction of the result. Although you can take hockey betting tips from tipsters, your best bet is doing plenty of your own research to help you make an educated wager.

Spend time checking out statistics and figures, which can be found on the official NHL statistics page, before placing a bet. Here, the league breaks down various stats such as points per game, penalty goals and team milestones. Not only can you check out a team’s stats, but you can also focus on one specific player and get a snapshot of their performance over time. This is especially helpful when it comes to placing prop bets.

Hockey Betting Markets

In the US states where sports betting is legal, the best sportsbooks offer a wide selection of hockey betting markets. While the market options are varied, some of the most popular bets focus on the total number of goals scored and the handicaps held by each team in order to win. US hockey fans can currently place bets on the following markets:

Match winner

This is a straight bet on the team you back to win an individual game in the season and can be made on both NHL and AHL hockey games.

Outright winner

Another straight bet, but this is on the team you believe will win the league or tournament.

Over/under

Over/ Under bets involve wagering on whether a hockey team will finish the game with more goals or fewer goals than the sportsbook predicts. These markets are usually offered on “Total Goals” at US sportsbooks.

Spread betting

Also known as the “Puck Line” in hockey, spread betting involves putting money on a team to win and either maintain a points advantage or overcome a disadvantage. These advantages and disadvantages will be displayed with plus (+) and minus (-) symbols Your team must win, or lose, according to this margin for your bet to pay out.

Proposition bets

Proposition bets, or prop bets, focus more on the outcome of a certain event during a hockey game. These bets might include, “which team will score the most penalties” or “how many goals will be scored in the first period?” but can cover a range of different possibilities.

Parlays

A parlay wager is a single bet that is linked with two or more wagers. In order to win a parlay bet, a bettor must win every wager in it. The maximum number of wagers in a parlay varies between sportsbooks, with some allowing up to 20 bet parlays.

Grand Salami Betting

Grand Salami betting gives hockey bettors the opportunity to place a bet that covers the scores for all hockey games played on a single day. For example, there may be seven NHL games scheduled for Saturday, for which bettors must estimate the total number of goals across all seven games. You must then decide if that will be over or under the odds set by the sportsbook. Think of it as higher stakes over/under wagering.

Hockey betting markets will vary between sportsbooks and betting sites, with some online sportsbooks offering in-play betting opportunities on live hockey events. It’s up to you to compare hockey betting odds between operators. Even so-called ‘safer’ bets carry an element of risk, so you should never bet more than you can afford to lose

League Bets

As it sounds, a league bet is simply a wager on who will win a particular league.

Totals Bet

This allows the chance to predict the total goals from each team to either fall under or over the bookies odds. For example, you may bet on the Hurricanes beating the Rangers with a total value of under ten. The actual result itself is fairly irrelevant but to win, the total must not exceed ten goals.

Double Chance

This is a great way of ensuring a less risky bet. A double chance offers the opportunity to bet twice on a game, so you may choose one of the teams to win or draw, or even bet on each team to win. 

Other Sports at Hockey Betting Sites

At the best hockey betting sites, you’ll also find a range of other popular sports with which you can place a wager. As with NHL betting, there will be a range of betting markets and odds to choose from. Read carefully through the details on your chosen betting site before placing a bet. 

Let’s take a look at some of the sports you may find on hockey betting sites. 

American Football

Similar to the NHL, the NFL, America’s National Football League, contains 32 teams. NHL betting is now legal in several US states, adding extra excitement to the nation’s biggest sport. Alongside the NFL, there is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) which fields the highest level of college football players in the country.

Basketball

Standing as one of the most popular sports in the world, it is now legal to bet on basketball matches in several US states. This means that fans can place bets on major basketball events such as the NBA finals, which is the concluding point of the most famous basketball league in the world. As with all sports, there are a range of markets and betting types to choose from such as an NBA moneyline bet, or an NBA totals over/under.

Baseball

Another well loved sport in the US is baseball, with the main focus on Major League Baseball (MLB). Hosting 30 teams in total and with a season that runs from April until November, you’ll have plenty of time to check through the betting guides and place a wager on your favorite teams. Have a look through our baseball betting guides and be sure to read up on all terms and conditions before registering to bet.

Tennis

An internationally loved sport with the men’s competition coming primarily from the ATP and the women’s through the LTA. There are dozens of betting types that can be placed on tennis, such as simple match betting, or a more complex handicap bet where you wager on the performance of a player against their expected outcome. This type of bet requires a decent knowledge of the game and adds a real layer of intrigue.

Golf

Aside from the US Open in June this year, there’s a whole host of international golfing tournaments that offer betting opportunities. Take a look through our review of golf betting sites and see which events and betting markets particularly take your fancy.

Horse Racing 

Historically, horse racing is one of the betting world’s most popular sports, with an international racing schedule that’s full of gambling opportunities. Back in 1978, the Interstate Horseracing Act was passed, enhancing the potential of the sport and allowing people to place wagers on off-track horse races across the country. Since then the world of horse racing has developed to include a unique betting market that provides additional entertainment to race track viewers.

Online Hockey Betting in West Virginia

Now that you’re all clued up on US hockey betting, it’s time to get out there and make a bet on the action. Want to know the latest on legal sports betting in your state? Here at Compare.bet, we are tracking the movement of sports betting in America and will continue to provide you with the latest sports betting news and legal developments.