How to Bet on Ice Hockey: Hockey Betting Odds

Are you an ice hockey fan interested in placing some bets on your favourite winter sport, but are not sure where to start? Look no further than GamingZion’s guide on how to bet on ice hockey!

This guide is made for people who’d like to make some money off of hockey but are overwhelmed by all of the information and statistics in sportsbooks. In our first installment, we’ll be differentiating the different kinds of hockey betting odds available to sports fans from all over the globe.

Hockey betting odds in the US: The moneyline

If you’ve ever taken a glance at online sportsbooks in US or ones aimed at an American audience, you’ll see that they use something called the moneyline, which are numerical odds with plus and minus signs. A plus sign will indicate the underdog, while the minus sign indicates which team is most favoured to win. For example:

Washington Capitals: -130
Philadelphia Flyers: +150

In this example, bettors would be risking $130 on the Capitals for a chance to win $100 in profits. This is a safe bet in comparison to the Flyers, where you’d risk more at the chance to win more, with bettors standing to win $150 in profits for every $100 that they wager. The same formula applies to smaller bets.

Hockey betting odds in the UK: Fractional odds

Fractional odds are those that hockey fans will find on British internet betting websites. In fractional odds, the number in the front of the fraction represents how much money you’re trying to win, whereas the number behind the fraction represents how much you’re risking. For example:

New York Rangers: 4/5
San Jose Sharks: 12/5

In this example, the betting lines favour the Rangers, as you’d be risking $4 to win $5. In opposition, if you bet on the Sharks, you’d stand to make $12 for every $5 that you wagered.

Hockey betting odds in Europe, Australia and Canada: Decimal odds

Decimal odds are the kind of hockey betting odds that you’ll find in gambling news from Europe, Australia, and Canada. With decimal odds, the bet always start at 2.0. This number moves down for the favourite, and moves up for the underdog. For example:

Vancouver Canucks: 1.80
Boston Bruins: 2.30

In this line, if you bet on the Canucks you will be risking $1 in order to win $0.80 in profit, $1.80 total. Whereas with the Bruins, you’d be wagering $1 to win $1.30 in profit, total $2.30. So in this case the Bruins would be the underdogs because you’d be taking more of a risk, but stand to make more profit than if you chose the Canucks, who are a safer bet.