Best NHL Betting Site Requirements
Check out our the very best NHL betting sites that the industry has to offer, as well as learning how to place NHL bets.
It can be challenging to know where to start looking to bet on the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2022, there are so many online betting sites that it’s not easy to find a secure and trustworthy site, let alone the best ones. Even finding a secure site doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the correct website for all players. This article will help to explain what the best NHL sites should have and how to identify the best site for players.
Simply understanding how to bet on the NHL doesn’t mean players can now sign up to any betting site. Various factors influence whether a betting site is trustworthy and good, even more so for the NHL. Players should look at several elements, such as the licensing of the site, the compatibility and ease of use, banking and other elements.
Licensing
Real money betting sites can be licensed by the US, or they can hold an offshore license. The US has six states that offer iGaming licenses, namely Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Nevada also offers gambling licenses, but it comes with heavy restrictions for online gaming and sports betting.
While online gambling is a bit of a complicated subject in the US due to federal laws, sports betting is allowed in a lot of states. Hawaii and Utah, which don’t allow sports betting, are exceptions to that.
Betting sites can also hold offshore licenses, which means a non-US gaming authority licenses the site or casino. The most well-known offshore licenses are the United Kingdom Gaming Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Gibraltar, Curacao, Kahnawake and Panama licenses. While there are several others, these are the most popular licenses and the most trustworthy ones. There is a number of offshore sportsbooks included within our collection of the best NHL betting sites.
Ease Of Access
A crucial element for any NHL betting site is that it should be easily accessible. This means that the website should be available on all devices and offer an equal experience across all devices.
The reason bettors wager online is that it is more convenient and they can do it from the comfort of their home. Therefore, a website needs to be user-friendly, with good graphics and use HTML5 elements. This allows the website to load fast, which is especially vital when making a live bet.
It’s also preferable if the betting site offers an app for bettors to use. The app should be available on the App Store or Google Play Store and bettors need to download and register on the app easily. As with the website, the app needs to have a clear layout with easily recognizable elements, including your current bets, live bets, betting pools and lines, etc.
Banking
When betting in the US, bettors need to ensure they know their available payment methods. International betting sites might offer a series of payment methods like Skrill, Trustly, Interac, Neteller, etc., but not all of these methods will be available to US bettors.
Even if they are available, they can often have high transaction fees attached. The best payment methods for US bettors are PayPal, online banking (ACH), PayNearMe, VIP Preferred e-cheque, Play+ card, etc. With many popular banks and credit card companies banning transactions between players and online casinos, PayPal is a way to go around that restriction. It acts as a middleman between the bank and the online casino or betting site, allowing bettors to make deposits and withdraw winnings. Many US casinos also offer a check by mail option for paying out winnings.
Bonuses
When looking for the best NHL betting site, bettors should also consider what bonuses the website offers. The best bonuses for NHL is when the betting site offers a match deposit free bets or risk-free bets. Free bets refer to when a player makes a minimum deposit and receives a bonus between 100% and 500% of their deposit in free bets.
Let’s say a player deposited the minimum amount of $10 and they received a 100% bonus. That means they receive another $10 in free bets, meaning they can use the credited $10 to make bets for free, as well as use the $10 they deposited.
When players receive risk-free bets, it refers to the assurance that players will have their bet total credited back to their account if their bet results in a loss. So, if a player makes a bet of $5 and wins, they receive their winnings as usual. However, if a player loses that bet, they will have the $5 credited back to their account balance.
Both are great bonuses and make it easier to start wagering at a particular site. This is especially relevant if it’s a new or amateur bettor signing up. Bettors should ensure they read the fine print and know all restrictions and requirements, such as the minimum deposit needed, the expiration period, maximum win limit, etc.
NHL Betting Site Expectations
After looking at all the standard elements a good casino or betting site needs, it’s time to look at what the betting site offers in terms of NHL. Specific factors often make one site better than the other for their NHL offering.
NHL Odds
One of the essential elements bettors need to look for is, of course, what NHL odds are offered. A betting site should offer competitive odds on NHL matches and outright markets, especially since NHL matches are so popular.
While keeping in mind what the betting market is saying, the betting site should also do their own research to provide the best odds for matches. Even though most betting sites are close together in the odds they offer, it is even more prevalent when one site has slightly better odds than other sites.
NHL Lines
Bettors want to ensure they have the earliest possible access to NHL betting lines when placing bets. Generally, lines are released the night before or the day of the match. This gives bettors the chance to see what the betting market believes the outcome of the match to be and make a decision on their wager without being rushed to make the deadline.
NHL Bets
While it seems obvious, bettors should ensure that the betting site offers all types of wagers for bettors to make. Moneyline bets, Total Goals bets, Puck Line bets, etc., should all be available to the bettors. Players should also be able to make live bets.
Live bets, also known as in-play bets, refer to real-time wagering when a player makes a bet while the match is ongoing. With live bets, the odds are continually updated throughout the game as new variables come into play. It allows for a potential high-play bet to become possible.
The bookmakers can also create new betting lines as the game progresses, with bettors getting in on the action. If a hockey player scores two goals, a new betting line may pop up wagering on whether that player will make a hat-trick. It could even go further if they score three goals, with the possibility of a Texas Hat trick popping up.
This allows bettors to be more involved in the match than simply waiting for the outcome. It also allows bettors to make multiple wins on one match instead of one pre-wagered win. As such, the best NHL betting sites all offer live bets as well.
NHL Betting
To understand what to expect from the best NHL betting sites, players first need to know more about the NHL and how to bet on it. There are odds, betting lines, puck line betting and more that needs to be understood. This is especially true for any new and amateur bettors, as it’s easy to lose money unnecessarily by not understanding the betting lines.
Moneyline Betting
NHL moneyline betting is the most simplistic form of wagering. Players simply have to choose who they expect to win. When making a moneyline bet, it is also easy to see who the favorite is for the win and who is the perceived underdog.
The higher the odds, the more the bookmakers believe their chance of winning. If a team has the odds of -250, it means that to win $100, players have to bet $250. If the team is the underdog and has odds of +200, it means that if the bettors bet $100, they stand a chance to win $200 if the team wins.
As the underdogs, that team has less expectation of grabbing a win and so, if they do win, bettors get more profit from it.
Total Goals Scored
With this type of bet, the bettor wagers on the total number of goals scored by both teams during the game. The bookmakers will set the expected number of goals and the player will bet whether the end total will be over or under that total come full time.
Let’s say the bookmakers set the total goals as six and the bettor bets it will be under it. Should the end score be 3-2, then the bettor wins, as the total of 5 is under 6. If the end score is 4-3, then the bettor loses, as the end score of 7 is over 6.
Puck Line Betting
Puck line betting is a combination of the first two types of bets. NHL is a highly competitive sport and teams often win by a narrow margin. This means there is usually a goal or two difference between the winning and losing team.
As such, bettors can bet on which team will win or lose and by how many goals. Generally, the favorite team to win has a puck line set at -1.5, with the underdog team’s puck line set at +1.5. This means that the favorite team is challenged to win with two or more goals. Meanwhile, the underdog team is challenged to either win or lose with less than a two-goal difference between them and the winning team.
NHL Online Betting FAQ
Can I Legally Bet on NHL in the US?
Whether it’s legal to make NHL bets online depends on your location. Sports betting is still illegal in states like Hawaii, Utah, South Dakota, etc. However, most states have legalized sports betting and bettors can also use offshore licensed betting sites.
Why Should I Bet Online?
Betting online is more convenient than betting at a land-based bookmaker. Bettors don’t have to travel anywhere and they can make bets even when they wouldn’t have been able to travel to a physical bookmaker.
Are There Any Other NHL Bet Types?
Yes, there are several types of bets. Parlays refer to making a wager over several hockey games to secure a more significant win. However, to win, every bet of yours in the Parlay must win.
Futures refer to making wagers on results like odds to win for the Stanley cup or individual player honors. Prop bets refer to bets made on individual game elements and aren’t generally tied to the game’s result. This includes live bets, player performances, etc.
Can I Bet on the NHL on Multiple Sites?
Yes, nothing is limiting you from signing up to as many or as few NHL betting sites as you want. Some bettors make it a strategy to bet online on hockey at several different sites to ensure the best odds of winning.
Start Betting On NHL Now
By keeping the common elements and expectations of a new betting site in mind, bettors can find the best NHL betting sites for their preferences.
If bettors want access to the best statistics and information, it’s better to prioritize the more focused NHL betting sites, as they will offer more in-depth and well-researched statistics. If bettors are new to the betting world, they might instead want a bigger bonus to familiarize themselves with betting online.
While many elements determine how good a site is and especially how good it is for specific bettors, it is relatively easy to find one that works for the bettor’s purpose. Bettors don’t have to worry about wagering on untrustworthy sites as long as the research on the sites is done.
The good news is that dozens of reviews list the best NHL betting sites and does in-depth research on all betting sites. So bettors have no trouble when it comes to finding the best NHL betting site for them.