Hockey is one of the most popular sports in the world. However, there is an opinion among bettors that it is very unpredictable. Thus, in the middle of the 2018/2019 season, St. Louis was in the last place in the standings and eventually won the Stanley Cup. However, successfully betting on hockey games is difficult only for those who are not familiar with working strategies. There are quite a few of them, so in this article, Telecomasia will talk about some effective tactics on How to make profitable bets on hockey.
Pros and cons of betting on hockey
One of the advantages of betting for players is the frequent comebacks, which are not so many, for example, in soccer. If something like this happens there, the media write about such an event as something amazing. In hockey, comebacks are so frequent that you can even get tired of them.
Betting experts believe that the sport’s unpredictability becomes a virtue. If the bettor made the correct prediction for the game, then he has every chance to receive a decent reward for his work, because the odds will be very high.
Another advantage of hockey is that the NHL schedule is usually very tight (as in the national championships of European countries). This means that the bettor will never have problems finding a match for bets because there are always a lot of options.
Among the disadvantages is that it is sometimes difficult to find the broadcast of the desired match (if you bet on popular championships, this will not be a problem). Also, bookmakers often set low bet limits on hockey and put quite a large margin in the odds.
What to bet on in hockey
Recall that before making a bet on hockey matches, you need to carefully monitor the statistics of clubs’ performances. Check out winning streaks, losing streaks, club performances in home and away matches, pucks scored, as well as individual player stats and the latest news on injured players. Usually, all the necessary information that will help you make an accurate prediction, taking into account important factors, can be found on the official resources of the league you are going to bet on. For example, the NHL website provides all the information a bookmaker needs.
One of the most popular bets is on the outcome. According to statistics, the home team wins 45% of the matches, the away team wins 33%, and 22% of the matches end in a draw during regular time. The overall goals scored average is 5.5, while the individual goals per club range from 2.5 to 4.5. In the NHL, the home team wins every third game with a two-goal advantage, while the visitors win every fourth game.
The hockey match is divided into three periods of 20 minutes each, so you can bet on them, having previously selected the most productive for each club. Also, in most bookmakers, bets can be made on shorter time intervals (for example, from 1 to 10 minutes).
Over or Under is the second most popular bet in hockey games. You can bet, for example, on the total number of pucks that will be scored in the game. The bookmaker offers several options (for example, 4.5 and 5.5), and the bettor needs to indicate whether the teams will be able to score more or less than the specified number in regular time.
You can also bet on which club will score the first goal, the individual total of each team, individual player, the time of the first goal and other events of the match.
Hockey betting strategies
To profit from bets, you need to adhere to a certain strategy. Experienced players often create their tactics, the secrets of which are rarely shared with others. We will tell you about the most popular and effective ones.
Combining Outcomes
This strategy is very popular among bettors. As you know, it is impossible to bet on a single match in most bookmaker companies, and therefore players prefer to place bets on combined outcomes. Usually, two elements are combined, the result of the game and the total of pucks scored.
Consider the game of Florida and Colorado as an example. The bookmaker offers several combinations for this match, one of which looks like this: Florida win + TU 5.5 at odds of 2.60. Also, you can bet that Colorado or Florida will win + TO 5.5 at odds of 3.78. In this case, a draw in regulation time is excluded.
Betting on combined outcomes can be very successful if you carefully analyze the teams’ matches.
Strategy for betting on the underdog
You can bet on the victory of the underdog in the NHL both in regular time and taking into account overtime and shootouts. If you are going to use this strategy, consider the following indicators when selecting a match:
- The underdog must play on home ice;
- For the favorite, this must be the second game in the last two days;
- The game does not involve two or more players from a strong team’s main roster;
- The underdog has won more than half the games of the season;
- The underdog has not played in more than two days.
If all five criteria are met, the bettor will expect success. The difficulty is that such a coincidence does not always occur, and to find a suitable match, you will have to work hard.
