How to Bet
Betting ice hockey starts with one market: the money line, a straight pick of which team wins. Choose an NHL game, take the side you fancy at the price shown, set your stake, and you collect if they win — in regulation, overtime or a shootout. That’s the whole transaction. Everything else is a layer on top, and the skill is reading the game well enough to know when a different market pays better.
Start with the money line
Because hockey is low-scoring and tight, the straight winner is a properly priced market rather than a formality. A fancied home side might sit around 1.65, a live underdog around 2.30. You’re not beating a spread or a handicap — you just need your team to win the game, however they do it. That simplicity is why it carries the most volume and why it’s the right first bet.
One thing to know up front: the standard money line settles on the final result including overtime and the shootout. A game tied after sixty minutes goes to extra time, and whoever wins there wins your bet. If you only want the regulation result, that’s a separate, three-way market — back it by mistake and a late equaliser can void what felt like a winner.
The puck line, when you want more
When backing a straight winner pays too little, the puck line is the step up. It’s hockey’s handicap, fixed almost always at 1.5 goals:
| Your bet | What has to happen | Why you’d take it |
|---|---|---|
| Favourite -1.5 | Win by two or more goals | You expect a comfortable, not just a narrow, win — and a bigger price |
| Underdog +1.5 | Lose by one, draw, or win | You think they’ll keep it tight even if they go down |
The trap is the one-goal game. Hockey is full of them, and an overtime winner is by definition a one-goal win — so a -1.5 favourite who wins in extra time still loses your puck-line bet. Take -1.5 only when you genuinely expect daylight, not just a win.
Read the goaltenders, not the badges
The single biggest edge in hockey is the goaltender. One team can carry a hot starter and another can be on a tired backup at the end of a road trip, and that gap moves the line more than the names on the jersey. Before you bet, check who’s confirmed in net — a star goalie rested for a back-to-back can flip a price you thought was value.
The same read drives the totals market, where you bet over or under the combined goals, usually around 6 or 6.5. Two sharp goaltenders and a defensive game point at the under; two leaky nets and an end-to-end style point at the over. You’re betting the keepers and the pace, not the attacking reputations.
A worked example, in rand
You like a strong side at home against an opponent on the second night of a back-to-back, with their backup goaltender confirmed in net. The money line on the home team is 1.65, so a R100 stake returns R165 if they win in any fashion. You think the tired keeper means a comfortable win, so you push to the -1.5 puck line at 2.05: now R100 returns R205, but only if the home side wins by two or more. They win 3-2 in a tight one — the money line bet lands, the puck line doesn’t. That one-goal margin is the whole lesson: more value on the puck line, but the close finish that hockey loves takes it away.
Where the markets go live
You place all of this at Scorebet — pick the game, tap the price for the money line, puck line or total, set your stake and confirm. Hockey markets settle fast: the money line pays as soon as the final result is official, and winnings land in your wallet for withdrawal on local rails once your account is FICA-verified. Keep your stakes flat and sized to a sum you’d be fine losing, because a long NHL season swings hard on single goals.
Once the basics click, see every bet type for the full market menu, or read the Stanley Cup angle for how the playoffs change the maths. You can bet ice hockey at Scorebet whenever you’re ready.
Frequently asked
How do you bet on ice hockey for beginners?
Start with the money line — a straight pick of the winner. Choose the NHL game, take the team you fancy at the price shown, set your stake, and you collect if they win in regulation, overtime or a shootout. It is the simplest and most-bet hockey market.
What does -1.5 mean in hockey betting?
It's the puck line, hockey's 1.5-goal handicap. A team at -1.5 must win by two or more goals for the bet to land; the underdog at +1.5 wins if they lose by one, draw at full time or win outright. It rewards backing a side to win comfortably.
Does the money line include overtime in hockey?
Yes — the standard NHL money line settles on the final result including overtime and the shootout, so a team that wins in extra time wins your bet. Period and regulation-only markets are the exception and settle on 60 minutes alone.
Why is confirmed goaltender news worth waiting for before betting?
The starting goaltender is the single biggest swing in a hockey price, and on back-to-back nights a team will often rest its star and start a backup. Lineups firm up close to puck drop, so betting before the net is confirmed means you might be backing a price built around a goalie who isn't even playing. A few minutes' patience can save you from a value bet that evaporates.
Why does hockey being low-scoring make it different to bet than soccer or basketball?
Because goals are so scarce, a single one is a huge share of the result, so the favourite is rarely as dominant as the badge suggests and one bounce or one save decides plenty of games. That's why straight money lines carry real prices on both sides and why the handicap sits glued at 1.5 — a bigger spread would make the market lopsided. Variance is high, so flat staking matters more here than in higher-scoring sports.