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.
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.
How We Review NHL Betting Sites
When looking to find the best NHL betting site, priorities generally vary from person to person. However, our reviews follow a strict checklist criteria of the aspects of a betting site we find most important. Here’s a breakdown of just what we look for.
Licensing
We will only ever review or recommend a site that holds a relevant state license. No license? The review ends straight away. Licensing allows a bettor to feel confident that the site is operating clearly and that their personal data is protected. Never bet via an unlicensed site as you can’t be sure of how your details are being used or whether betting odds or promotions are legitimate.
Variety of Sports
Even if your primary focus is betting on NHL matches, you’ll sometimes want to vary things up a little and this is where it’s important a site offers betting odds for a decent range of sports. The likes of football, hockey and soccer are pretty much always present but it’s nice when there’s a few niche sports on the selection list such as squash or badminton.
Promotional Offers
Welcome offers are a standard expectation at the best NHL betting sites – matched deposit or a few free bets are usually on the cards. Going that extra mile in providing some regularly updated promotions including boosted odds, free bets and loyalty schemes for existing customers is always going to win our favor.
Mobile Capabilities
All of the best NHL betting sites are designed with mobile bettors in mind and as such are created with a technology that adapts to size when logged into via a cell phone or portable device. Taking it one step further, we’re always impressed when a bookies provides a native app to customers, meaning you can place bets, check odds and even receive app-specific bonuses with ease.
Payment Methods Supported
While most bettors still favor debit card options through Visa and Mastercard, there is a huge wave of digital payment methods becoming popular in the betting industry. Many sites are catching on to this and supporting a range of options including e-wallets like PayPal and Skrill, prepaid cards such as Paysafecard and others including Trustly which uses an Open Banking method of transaction.
Customer Service
We expect the best NHL betting sites to provide a range of communication channels for their customers, including live chat, a telephone number, email and social media handles. It’s becoming more common that at least one of these is available 24/7 so this is something we look out for during our review.