Find out how to bet on hockey games online
Hockey is one of the most popular sports in the world, especially in Canada, where fans are crazy about their national sport. Today, there are so many different hockey leagues that you can watch, too, that you can almost enjoy hockey action all year round.
The popularity of betting on hockey has soared in recent years, and luckily, there are many places where you can do this as well. If you're looking to learn how to bet on hockey games, follow our in-depth guide below. Follow this guide and get started on betting on hockey.
Find a Legit Sportsbook
There are a lot of different sportsbooks you could choose to bet on hockey games, but not all of them would be great places for you to bet. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scam sites out there today, and they're relatively simple to set up.
That's why it's very incumbent on players to ensure that they're betting at a legitimate sportsbook. One of the easiest ways to tell whether a sportsbook is legitimate is if they hold a betting license from a reputable regulatory agency. Those that do hold these will display them proudly on their homepage and on their apps.
Unibet Canada holds these licenses, which is why it's one of the best places online to bet on hockey games. Having this gambling license brings confidence to players and assures them that their information is protected on the site and that they are not going to be cheated when they're betting on hockey.
In other words, the site is real and will offer players an actual chance to win and cash out when they bet on hockey.
Create a New Sportsbook Account
After you've chosen the sportsbook where you want to bet on hockey, you'll need to set up a new account. This will be a relatively straightforward process that shouldn't take a lot of time. While the sign-up process at sportsbooks will differ slightly from one company to the next, they will all ask for the same basic information.
First, you'll need to provide your basic personal information, along with an email address. You'll be asked to set up a username and create a password so that you can log into the site securely.
Then, you'll need to verify who you are you say you are. Most sportsbooks will do this by requiring you to upload proof via a government photo ID. Once this information has been cross-checked and verified, your new account will be ready.
Take Advantage of a Welcome Bonus
At this stage in the sign-up process, you'll want to take advantage of any promotions that the sportsbook is offering. Many sportsbooks today will offer what's known as a Welcome Bonus to everyone who opens a new account on their site.
Again, while the exact bonus details may differ from one sportsbook to the next, they typically all include the same basic things. The most common Welcome Bonus will act as a match bonus on the first deposit that's made to a new account. Many of these bonuses will match 100% of the first deposit up to a certain amount, say $500.
In this case, if your first deposit into your new sportsbook account is $500, the sportsbook will match that and give you another $500 in your account. If you deposit $700 of your own money, your bonus will cap at $500, so you'll have $1,200 in your account to bet with.
Other potential features of a Welcome Bonus are free bets or risk-free bets, in which you get your bet stake returned to you if your first bet loses. Check you’re the details of your sportsbook's Welcome Bonus offer, as well as the wagering requirements in the terms and conditions section.
Deposit Money
To take advantage of the Welcome Bonus and actually start betting on hockey, you'll need to deposit money into your new sportsbook account. To do this, you'll need to connect a payment method to the sportsbook account.
Most sportsbooks will offer a nice variety of payment methods. Many of the most popular are debit and credit cards, direct bank transfers and third-party payment processors such as PayPal. Of course, you should make sure that the payment method you prefer to use is offered by a sportsbook before you sign up there.
You'll need to connect the payment method of your choice to your sportsbook account on this page. You'll enter in your payment method credentials, and you might have to log in to the other payment processing site to connect the account.
Once this is done and verified, you'll simply enter the amount of money that you want to deposit and click submit. In most cases, this money will be available to use in your new sportsbook account in just a matter of minutes.
Start Betting on Hockey Games
After your deposit has been approved, that amount of money -- and any bonus funds that you qualified for -- will appear in your account. Most sportsbooks will prominently display this total at the top of the website and/or mobile app once you're signed in. You can also check your balance at the cashier page at any time after you log into the site.
At this point, that money is ready for you to use at the online sportsbook, so it's time to search around for the hockey bets that you want to make. If there are games going on that particular day, they might be featured on the sportsbook homepage right in the center of the screen.
If there are no games that day -- or if you want to see all the bets available to you -- you'll be able to navigate to the separate hockey betting page through the toolbar on the left side of the screen.
Simply find the bet you want to make, click on it to add it to your bet slip, enter the amount you want to bet, and click submit. Then, sit back and watch your bet live in action.
Now that you know how to bet on hockey, check out our hockey tips and hockey betting strategies.