Hockey Betting Tips: Pursuing Bets on Periods
Hockey, along with football, basketball, and tennis, is one of the "big four" sports for hockey betting — top bookmakers offer the widest choice of events and outcomes in these sports. For the most popular hockey games, the number of markets can exceed a thousand, so the players always have plenty to choose from.
Professional gamblers (cappers) always use some strategies betting on hockey matches, and period bets are one of the most popular. From the perspective of betting terminology, this strategy is a type of "chasing," which is very popular among gamblers. The strategy behind "chasing" is placing each following bet higher after a loss, attempting to eventually "catch up" and end up in profit.
Let's take a closer look at the "chasing" strategy of betting on hockey periods. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?
Peculiarities of Betting on Hockey Periods
A hockey match is always divided into 3 periods, each exactly 20 minutes of playing time in official matches — only "clean" time counts. All breaks, referee reviews, and challenges freeze the clock until the game resumes.
The principle of the strategy is that the bettor places a bet on the same outcome first for the first, then the second, and if necessary, the third period of the hockey match. The bet is placed "chasing," with each losing outcome increasing the bet amount.
If all three periods are lost, the bettor can switch to another game while still chasing. The "chasing" pattern also continues — if you've wagered $20 on the third period of the first match, then you wager $40 on the first period of the second match, and so on. With probability theory in mind, the bettor is aware that sooner or later, a period will end with the desired result.
One of the most significant features of the strategy is that "chasing" usually implies selecting outcomes with coefficients of around 2.00.
Best Strategies for Hockey Period Betting
Experts identify the following approaches as best options among cappers:
Total Result Betting Strategy
The standard pattern of bookmakers' lines is that draw outcomes at the end of the game have quite acceptable odds, whereas draws in periods have much worse odds. Due to this difference, punters can catch the opportunity when total result odds are most profitable.
There are two simple bet types here:
- Betting on the first period result in prematch mode.
- Betting on the end of the second period live.
The advantage of betting on the first half is higher odds, though generally the start of the match is cautious, and so outcomes are harder to forecast.
Total under 2.5 goals is the most widespread bet. Teams begin to "warm up," and experts don't foresee high scoring in the first period. A good variation is an accumulator bet consisting of three events with the same outcome — total under 2.5. It significantly increases the overall odds.
In case the prematch bet on the first period is lost, the bettor places a "chasing" bet on live betting, having a clear notion of the game and what can be anticipated from the teams. Bets on the total result depend on the game situation — for example, if the leader loses in the first period, the team will do its best to catch up.
Low Total Period Betting Strategy
This tactic assumes a small number of goals in a period, with the exact number based on statistical data.
In KHL matches, about 50% of periods end with zero or one goal, and in the other half, two or more goals are netted by players. Thus, it is suitable to place a bet on total under 1.5 goals.
Bookmakers offer 1.70 to 1.90 odds for total under 1.5 in the early periods and they increase as the game proceeds.
Chasing bets are recommended by professionals: if the first period bet loses, increase the stake accordingly to the changed odds for the second period. For example, if the odds for the second period are 2.00, then double the stake. According to the theory of probability, the total under 1.5 has to happen in one of the periods at least, but the bettor needs to have sufficient bankroll for chasing into another match if needed.
Be selective in choosing games. Those games where the favorite is much stronger than its opponent are not suitable. Bet on games where teams are more or less evenly matched, with odds on winning for both of them being less than 3.50.
High Total Period Betting Strategy
This is the opposite of the low total strategy. The player places a bet on an interval of high scoring, i.e., total over 2.5 goals. You can also bet on total over 1.5 goals, but bookies like to provide low odds for this, and hence the profitability will be low.
How to place a bet on the highest total? Analyze hockey league statistics to identify teams with the highest percentages of scoring. Follow their matches to make sure that they score total over 2.5 goals in more than 50% of periods played.
Bookmakers offer 1.90 to 2.20 odds for these outcomes. Unlike the low total method, choose matches in which favorites face outsiders, with tournament motivation being obligatory as well.
Make the initial bet prematch. If total over 2.5 does not happen after the first half, make the same bet on the second half. If all three halves don't provide the required outcome, keep chasing on the subsequent match of the same team. Occasionally, the chasing system needs six steps to succeed in the long term.
Remember, however, if the bet wins in the first period, the strategy for the second or third periods is finished — the bettor takes another game to start again.
Aggressive Chasing Bets in LIVE
It is once more about the chasing approach, its "aggressive" version this time, used when the desired odds are not usually available.
What are the stakes for the "aggressive chasing" strategy? Bookmaker theory distinguishes classic and aggressive chasing. With classic, they stake on events with odds of 2.00, doubling each subsequent stake.
For hockey, total under 2.5 or over 1.5 goals typically have odds ranging from 1.50 to 1.90. Such chasing is called aggressive because the bet needs to be multiplied a number of times. So, even with a small number of steps (3-6), the player needs to have a big bankroll for covering losses.
Aggressive chasing involves special calculators freely available online. The bettor inputs the market odds, lost bets, and desired profit. The system calculates the required stake.
For conventional chasing, punters prefer to start with a stake at 3% of the total bankroll and go higher with losses. Aggressive chasing would involve betting 1% of the bankroll so that the funds would endure all the stages of the strategy, especially in live betting when there is no chance to replenish the account.