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Best ChoiceWe're going to discuss NHL betting in Arizona in detail and list the best NHL betting sites. Whether it's on the Stanley Cup Final or a Thursday night game at Phoenix in February, you want your Arizona NHL betting experience to be fun and profitable.
How to Choose an Arizona NHL Betting Site
Many things can happen in an NHL game, and it's important when searching for the best NHL betting sites to have a variety of choices in making your wagers. A good Arizona sportsbook doesn't just have a moneyline, puck line and over-under, but many prop, series and futures bet to consider.
We'll get more in-depth on what to look for in NHL betting sites Arizona offers, but reputation — and performance — is everything in the business. When it comes to NHL online sportsbooks, Arizona has some of the most reputable operators including BetMGM Arizona, FanDuel Arizona and others.
Types of NHL Bets Allowed in Arizona
In hockey, the main three bets on games are moneyline betting (outright winner), puck line (win by two or more goals) and over-under bets. But because of available technology, users can have numerous other wagers on their laptops or mobile devices.
Any NHL Arizona betting sites we recommend have been fully vetted for legitimacy and quality in all areas.
Arizona NHL Betting Lines and Odds
In the old days, you had extremely limited options when it came to betting on NHL games. Now, the savvy hockey betting enthusiast has many options to consider.
There are NHL betting apps available with any major sportsbook. Most of the time, the odds will vary some — and maybe a lot — among them. That gives the person who wants to place hockey bets many options to search for the best betting odds in Arizona. The person who enjoys searching on NHL betting websites has a lot to choose from; this is especially an advantage in the Grand Canyon State.
NHL Bonuses And Rewards
When considering operators, you want to feel like they want you to succeed. You want to feel like they're trying new things and really working for your dollar – not just lazily putting out a few lines and taking minimal bets.
Sports betting promos in Arizona – and customer loyalty rewards – are one good way for operators such as DraftKings Arizona to attract customers. The NHL season is a long one, and it's important for Arizona sportsbook apps and sites to spice up things a bit. Included in these offers may be a strong matching first bet, lots of Arizona odds boosts on prop bets, parlay boosts and many fun perks. There are many hockey betting sites to choose from, so they have to keep things attractive or risk losing customers for good.
User Interface
Nobody wants to deal with a buggy, slow, sleepy user interface on a site or mobile platform. That's why Arizona NHL betting sites have to make sure the bugs are worked out before going live and accepting bets on NHL games.
Are bets placed quickly after you hit "submit?" Is it too hard to find the "withdrawal" button after a win? Does the site give you an accurate timeline on when money will hit your bank account? The operators will have that all easily spelled out for you, with a simple, clear user interface.
Deposits And Withdrawals
Each operator, such as Unibet Arizona will make it easy for you to deposit funds into your betting account — and to withdraw your winnings into your bank account. How fast you get your money can depend, but in general, you'll probably pay a 1-percent fee on getting your winnings instantly. Otherwise, any reputable operator will give you your money in no more than 3-5 days.
A good NHL betting site Arizona has to offer will have several different banking options — regular bank checking/savings, PayPal, or other financial institutions.
Customer Support
If you have a question, a problem, or both, it's important to trust that it will be addressed quickly and competently by the NHL betting site customer support staff. The best sites including FanDuel Arizona, will have a live chat option, staffed by knowledgeable agents who can talk to you in real-time. Otherwise, a site should respond to emails within a full business day or two.
They must listen to customer concerns and respond in a language that's easy to understand. There is nothing worse than having a problem, then feeling like you're helpless to get it resolved.
Arizona NHL Betting Apps
Again, great bookmakers are ones that make it easy for you to understand, in plain language and not industry jargon. If you want to place a bet that the Arizona Coyotes will win the next Stanley Cup, then you should easily be able to find the "futures" bets icon for the Stanley Cup. If you want to make a simple bet on a routine NHL regular-season game, you need to have the lines and NHL odds easy to see.
We look for simplicity and reliability when ranking the best hockey betting sites in Arizona, studying all aspects of their product offerings to make betting on the NHL a good experience. Most people prefer betting on the NHL on their mobile devices, but they also need to have good desktop sites.
Is Betting on NHL Games Legal in Arizona?
Betting on the NHL is legal in Arizona. Players must be 21. Bets can be placed at any sanctioned online sportsbook or state-licensed brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.
How to Bet on the NHL Online in Arizona
Let's face it, it's easier to place bets on your phone than having to gas up the car, fight the crowds and stand in line at a physical sportsbook bet window. It used to be you could only make one bet before the game, and that was it. Now, NHL bettors can make wagers with in-game betting options on their mobile or desktop devices.
To get started, one must go to an online Arizona sportsbook, go through some easy steps to get your name and banking information into their system and, voila, start placing your bets. You'll need to give your driver's license, Social Security number, and bank account numbers. That might sound a bit scary, but the sites we recommend have been rigorously vetted on their track histories with customers. NHL bettors have never had it so good.
Most Popular NHL Bets
While there are many ways to bet on the NHL in Arizona, probably the most profitable and most reliable are on moneyline favorites. Savvy hockey bettors know most games are close, though, and adjust their wagers accordingly to the shifting of hockey odds — either before or during a game.
A sharp bettor who can make a lot of money will be adept at identifying trends during a game. Say the Arizona Coyotes get down by a goal or two early in a game against a team they're favored to beat. Well, a sharp bettor will know just how realistic a Coyotes comeback win might be and place a bet at plus-odds when not long before they were, for example, a -150 pick.
It's always important to gamble responsibly, but by studying the league and hockey games in general, sports bettors can make some real money on the NHL.
Moneyline
A moneyline bet is simply your pick of which team will win the game. Whether the win comes in regulation, overtime, or a shootout doesn't matter. A moneyline win is your correct pick of the winning team.
NHL Live Betting
When betting online, you should have the option of live betting in Arizona — or, more commonly named, in-game betting. The odds are constantly changing with the bounce of every puck, and so you want to have the option of making bets in real-time as events change. In ice hockey, the game moves fast, and you want to bet on the fly as well.
Parlays
Let's say you think that the Arizona Coyotes will win tonight and beat the Colorado Avalanche in another game they're playing. In that case, you'd make a parlay bet involving the Coyotes and Avs. Parlay bet wins usually have better payouts than bets on any single, moneyline bet.
You don't have to stop at two teams on one parlay. You can make parlay bets with 10 or 15 teams on your list. The payout will be huge if all 15 of your teams win, but be careful: the entire bet is lost if just one team loses.
Puck Line
In NHL hockey, the final score is usually close. But not all of them. That's where puck line bets come into play. If you think the Coyotes will beat their opponent by two or more goals, you will want to place a puck line bet. The payout will be much better on a puck line win than a straight moneyline win.
That's why puck line bettors love empty-net goals to seal at least a two-goal victory — and that's often how NHL games end.
Totals Betting
A totals bet is your choice of how many goals will be scored by both teams in a game. This is where your Arizona over-under bets come into play. Most over-under NHL lines are 5.5 or 6.5 goals. It's up to you whether you think the total number of goals will be over or under that amount.
Futures
Again, if you think the Arizona Coyotes are a sure winner of the next Stanley Cup and want to put your money there, you'll place a futures bet.
Most futures bets in NHL hockey are on the Stanley Cup champion, but there are also futures bets offered on NHL individual trophies or on conference or division winners.
Prop Bets
Why stop at just conventional game bets or futures bets? Why not some prop bets? Let's say you think Nathan MacKinnon is going to score a goal in the Avalanche game tonight. Then place a bet that he will in the prop bets section of your NHL betting online app.
Prop bets have better payouts on winners than your more conventional bets. They have longer odds of success, but it can be fun to focus on your favorite player and whether or not he'll score a goal.
Grand Salami
A grand salami bet in hockey is a totals bet, not just on one game, but all of the NHL games for that night. The oddsmakers will set a certain number for the total score for the night and you can bet the over-under on that. It'll have a good payout, usually in the -100 to -120 range.
NHL Stanley Cup Final
The Stanley Cup is the big, gleaming 37-pound silver chalice that every NHL player dreams of hoisting over his head. When placing NHL bets, most people like to make a wager on which team will win the Cup.
Many operators will see their busiest time in hockey betting when the Stanley Cup Finals begin. It's the playoff series that gets the most media attention and prime-time network TV slots. More eyeballs on the games usually make for more bets on the action.
NHL Betting Strategy And Tips
Like anything, the more information you have on your subject, the more knowledge you can gather, the better your success is likely to be.
When it comes to NHL betting odds, it pays to really study all the lines of the various betting sites. A smart NHL bet will be one that had a lot of knowledge going into it. Did you find out the starting goalies for a particular game? Did you miss that the team you bet on had to scratch its leading scorer after warmups? Did you realize that the team you bet on is playing its fifth game in eight nights and had to travel on the day of the game? Knowing — or not knowing — these kinds of things likely will determine your overall success when betting NHL games online.
Sure, anyone can get lucky on a random bet, but as Hal Holbrook's character told Bud Fox in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street," the "steady players make it through the bear markets." Anyone will eventually hit a slump or a "bad beat." But the more information at your disposal and in your noggin, the fewer the slumps, most likely.
Bet the Puck Line
Let's say I think the Coyotes will beat the St. Louis Blues by at least two goals tonight. I will place such a bet on the puck line. Just click on that designated icon and place your wager. Then, if the Coyotes are ahead by a goal with a minute left and the Blues have the goalie off for the extra skater, I will start praying to the empty-net gods.
Pay Attention to Line Matchups
Every 30-45 seconds in a hockey game, teams change personnel on the fly. It's important for those who pay attention to NHL odds also to know how line matchups can matter in a game. If one team has a dominant first line (three forwards) and the other team doesn't have a very good "checking line," you will be more enticed to bet on the team with the great first line.
In hockey, the home team coach has the last change, meaning he can change the line personnel he wants after the other coach has put his chosen troops out there for a particular shift. That's one of the bigger advantages home teams have, and smart hockey bettors know good defensive teams often make the best choices on home-ice conventional bets.
Find Value Bets
Sure, it's easier to pick a winner when the quality of the teams is out of balance. But you're going to have to wager a fair amount of money to make a decent return. The name of the game in sports betting is to find bets with good value, like the underdog pick or the team that is favored to win – but not too heavily favored in the official odds.
Betting the "reverse puck line" is often a good value play as well. This is where you're betting on a team not to lose by two or more goals. If you make a bet on the Coyotes on the reverse puck line against Colorado, you win if either the Coyotes win the game or lose by only one goal.
Get Familiar With the Schedule
A normal NHL season is a long one – 82 games spread over about seven months, then another two months or so of playoff hockey. It's important, therefore, to know the rhythms of the NHL season and how certain teams might look at it.
I've found that veteran teams with players with lots of playoff experience tend to play better in the second half of the season. A young, rookie-ish team might get off to a hot start, but will they become tired and unprepared for the second-half grind? Keep in mind, not every game of the season is the same. Yes, some teams will be more prone to "taking nights off," and you need to pay attention to the parts of the schedule when that might occur. The last game of a long road trip is often a tough one for teams, but so too can the first home game after a long road trip.
Choose Hot Goaltenders
For NHL betting types, it's a great feeling to bet on a hot goalie. Just like the red-hot starting pitcher in baseball, a hot goalie can almost single-handedly win games by themselves. A team that was dominated in all aspects of the game might still win because of their hot goalie who came up with a lot of saves.
It's important to study goalies probably more than any other position players. Identifying a "hot goalie" can make a difference in real money for the sharp hockey online bettor.
Avoid Unlikely Prop Bets
So, you think the defenseman that hasn't scored a goal in 55 straight NHL games is going to put one in the net tonight? You can play the hunch and put some money on that guy in a prop bet, but realize your chances of success are low.
If you want to blow a lot of money, you can make all kinds of exotic prop bets. Sure, one of them might come through – and the payout will be sweet. But you're going well against the odds here, and so use these kinds of bets judiciously.
How To Use NHL Power Rankings
Most big sports news sites and organizations like to trot out weekly "power rankings." Are they of any use to NHL online bettors? Meh. I'd say beware of placing too much credence on power rankings. Most of the time, they are done by some overworked staffer who is just taking a quick look at the standings and making a replicated list in another form. Most of the time, they are just filler content for a site.
AZ Hockey Betting FAQ
Author
Adrian Dater writes about the NHL for BetArizona.com. The longtime NHL writer spent 25 years at The Denver Post, 20 of which as the beat writer of the Colorado Avalanche. He also covered the Avs for BSN Denver and was the lead NHL columnist with Bleacher Report from 2013-16. Dater has written six books, including the best-selling hockey book "Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche, The Inside Story of Pro Sports' Best and Nastiest Rivalry of its Era," and was a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated from 2011-13.
