Ice hockey betting is where Europe and North America meet on equal terms. The NHL is the richest league in the world, but on this side of the Atlantic we have the SHL, Liiga, the DEL, the Swiss National League and a World Championship every May that stops half the continent.
Hockey is also the sport where one small detail catches out more bettors than any other: whether your bet is settled after 60 minutes or includes overtime and the shootout. Get that wrong and you can pick the winner and still lose.
This guide covers the hockey markets worth knowing, the difference between regulation and full time betting, how the NHL and European leagues compare, and where the soft prices are. Amounts are in euros.
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Every sportsbook prices the NHL. What separates a good ice hockey betting site from the rest is what it does beyond that.
Hockey sits somewhere between football and basketball. Goals are rare enough for luck to matter, but the game is fast enough that the better team usually controls it.
A typical game has five or six goals. That is enough for skill to show over a season and few enough for a hot goalie or a lucky deflection to decide a single night. Even strong favourites lose often, which is why hockey favourites are rarely priced as short as in basketball.
No other position in team sport has as much influence on a single game. A starting goalie resting and a backup coming in can move a line noticeably. Starters are usually confirmed on the morning of the game or in the warm up, and the price moves with that news.
A hockey game can carry dozens of markets. These are the ones worth your attention, and the margins below are rough ranges from the sites we test.
| Market | What you are betting on | Typical margin |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Who wins, overtime and shootout included | 4 to 6% |
| 60 minute result | Home, draw or away after regulation time only | 6 to 8% |
| Puck line | A handicap of plus or minus 1.5 goals | 5 to 7% |
| Total goals | Over or under a line such as 5.5 goals | 5 to 7% |
| Period betting | Winner or total of one 20 minute period | 7 to 10% |
| Both teams to score | Each side scores at least once | 6 to 9% |
| Player props | Goals, points or shots on goal for one player | 8 to 12% |
Backing a favourite at minus 1.5 means they need to win by two. In hockey that often comes down to the last two minutes, when the trailing team pulls its goalie for an extra skater. An empty net goal turns a one goal win into a two goal win, and a lot of puck line bets are decided exactly there. It works the other way too: the extra attacker sometimes scores and pushes the game to overtime.
Most hockey totals sit at 5.5 or 6.5, so there is no push. Check whether the total includes overtime. At most sites it does, and a game that goes to a shootout usually counts the shootout winner as one extra goal in the final score.
This is the single most important rule in ice hockey betting. There are two ways a game can be settled, and bookmakers offer both.
A good share of NHL games, roughly one in five, is level after 60 minutes. If you back a team in the 60 minute market and they win in overtime, your bet loses. The price is higher to reflect that, but many bettors do not realise which market they have picked until it is too late.
In the NHL regular season, a tied game goes to five minutes of three on three and then a shootout. Most top European leagues use a similar short overtime and shootout in the regular season. In the playoffs, both in the NHL and in Europe, teams play full periods until someone scores, which is how you get the famous games that run past midnight.
For a European hockey fan the choice of league is also a choice of betting hours, depth of information and sharpness of prices.
| League | Season | What it means for your betting |
|---|---|---|
| NHL | October to April, playoffs into June | The sharpest lines. Most games start late at night in Central Europe. |
| SHL (Sweden) | September to March, playoffs in spring | Well covered in the Nordics, softer elsewhere. Evening games. |
| Liiga (Finland) | September to March, playoffs in spring | Tight, defensive league with plenty of regulation draws |
| DEL (Germany) | September to March, playoffs in spring | Fewer data sources, prices sometimes lag team news |
| Swiss National League | September to March, playoffs in spring | Big home crowds and strong home advantage |
| IIHF World Championship | May | Mismatches in the group stage and motivation that varies by nation |
The trade off is the usual one. Softer markets come with lower limits and higher margins. Soft means less watched, not free.
Hockey is fast and the puck changes hands constantly, but the stoppages are frequent enough to make live betting workable.
A two minute penalty gives one team an extra skater, and the live price moves sharply at the start of every power play. Much of the value in live hockey comes from knowing which teams actually convert with the extra man and which teams kill penalties well.
A goal often changes the momentum, and it is common to see two goals within a couple of minutes. Live totals overreact to both long scoreless stretches and quick bursts, which is where patient bettors can find a better number.
Hockey bettors tend to lose money in the same predictable ways.
The best one for you labels regulation and full time markets clearly, covers the NHL and the European leagues you follow, and offers a tight moneyline. Every site in our list above is licensed, checked on those points and accepts EUR.
It depends on the market. The moneyline includes overtime and the shootout. The 60 minute result, also called 1X2 or regulation time, only counts the three periods. Always check the market name before you bet.
The puck line is a handicap of plus or minus 1.5 goals. If you back the favourite at minus 1.5, they must win by two or more. If you back the underdog at plus 1.5, they can lose by one and your bet still wins.
Roughly one in five NHL regular season games is level after 60 minutes. That is why the draw in the 60 minute market is a real option and not a long shot.
The NHL has the most information and the sharpest prices. European leagues get less attention from bookmakers, so prices can be softer, especially in second tier leagues and period markets. Games are also played at more convenient hours for European bettors.
Yes. Every site in our list accepts deposits and withdrawals in EUR, and all examples in this guide are in euros.
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