One of the great things about sports is that they’re mostly harmless. Sure, you could argue that sports sometimes promote violence, and some people even get carried away and act out their sporting passions, but for the most part, sports are good for you. If you’re watching a game and you’ve got some money on the line, you’re likely to become more engaged with the action, right?
Hockey is an incredibly popular sport around the world. In Canada alone, there are over 800,000 registered hockey fans and over 300,000 active players. While hockey isn’t officially sponsored by gambling companies, a lot of people have taken the game more seriously financially. After all, money is always a motive for people who are betting on sport events!
If you’re a fan of the game and you’re looking for a way to make some extra cash, you’ve probably considered betting on hockey. Unlike other sports, hockey is often considered a little more “risky” when it comes to betting. What exactly is it that makes hockey so difficult to predict?
Physical Intensity
Hockey is a physical game, and there are a lot of heavy hitters who play the game. With over 200 active players per team, the game is chock-full of big bodies who are more than willing to end a bet once they get on the bad side of a trade dispute or in the middle of a fight. There are also a lot of head injuries in hockey, and even when they aren’t deadly, they’re typically very serious and leave the players with long-term effects. Just this past season in the NHL, there were 561 minor injuries and 96 major injuries, resulting in 17 players missing at least one game and 4 players who required surgery!
Some people consider hockey to be a combination of soccer and boxing, and with good reason. Not only is it a physically demanding game, but its hits can be brutal. What’s more is that the ball can be really hard to track. Add to that the fact that it’s usually played on ice, and you’ve got a pretty intense game. As a result, injuries in hockey are common and it’s not uncommon for fans to see their favorite players miss the majority of the season due to injuries.
The Skills Of The Game
Aside from the physicality of the game, another big factor that contributes to the “risky” nature of hockey betting is the fact that the game is so dependent on skill. Unlike most sports, where the outcome is mostly determined by physical strength and speed, in hockey the skill of the player actually makes up a bigger chunk of the outcome than their physical attributes. Most people who play hockey consider themselves to be extremely talented at the sport and see nothing but success ahead of them. While this may be true, it also means that as the game becomes more popular and people want to bet on it, the odds will become more “flavorful”, making the game more volatile.
The Strategy
Even when you take all the above into consideration, there’s still another factor that makes hockey a little more unpredictable than other sports. While the outcome of a football or baseball game is usually determined by a simple matter of who scores more goals/runs/hits, in hockey there’s a lot more strategy involved. The pace of the game is different and even the way that the players position themselves on the ice is subject to strategy. This could mean that the “set up the play” factors more than anything else into the outcome of a game. If you want to take a more aggressive approach and try to gamble on this factor, you could do so, but it’s not always easy to determine how much this factor contributes to the overall outcome of a game.
The Crowd
One of the most unique aspects of a hockey game is the atmosphere that it creates. As we’ve established above, hockey is a very physical sport and there’s a lot of action packed into each game. While this may be appealing to some people, it can also mean that there’s a lot of passion in the stands as well. When the game is rough and tumble, fans sometimes get into it and even participate in the action. In other words, when the game is really fast-paced and intense, the crowd can make it that little bit more unpredictable as well.
An Unforgettable Experience
For those of you who want to take a more passive role in your betting and just let the games come to you, you can do so. Of course, this isn’t for everyone. If you’re a hardcore hockey fan and you want to see your team win more often than not, you should consider getting into the game. In most cases, this can be done passively with online betting, where you place your bets based on the outcome of the game, without needing to influence the game in any way. In some instances, you might want to bet on total goals or hits, in which case you could go a few rounds of betting and eventually lose a significant amount of money, or you could just walk away with a nice profit.
At the end of the day, none of these things matter if you don’t have the skill to back it up. If you want to bet on hockey, you should do so with someone who knows what they’re doing and can give you the best possible outcome. Otherwise, it’s a case of throwing money away, whether you think the game is worth betting on or not. Ultimately, the decision is up to you.