Four Ways To Do 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff Betting

The LA Kings paid big on the Stanley Cup futures odds when they won it all in 2014. (Photo credit: © Bridget Samuels)


Whether you’ve watched every game this season or just get into the NHL during the playoffs, nothing beats 2016 Stanley Cup playoff betting.

Betting on each game is the most common way to do Stanley Cup playoff betting, but there are several other ways to bet on the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs that might be more your style.

Here’s a look at four main ways to do Stanley Cup playoff betting this year, and the pros and cons to each.

2016 Stanley Cup playoff single game betting

Pinny game odds

Biggest Pros: Know the result of your bet that night; more betting options

Biggest Cons: More luck involved in winning or losing a one-game bet

Like we said earlier, single game betting is the most common way to do 2016 Stanley Cup playoff betting. Just bet on how tonight’s game will result, and you’ll either win or lose your bet by the end of the night. With single game Stanley Cup playoff betting, you can bet on who will win on the moneyline, which team will cover the puck line or whether the game will go over or under the total, among other NHL betting options.

Single game betting can bite you sometimes, however, especially if you like to bet on heavy favourites. There’s a reason the Stanley Cup playoffs are best of seven series – you can’t fluke your way into beating a team four times in two weeks. One game can easily be decided by a bad bounce off a skate or a missed penalty call, possibly costing you your bet.

2016 Stanley Cup futures betting

SIA 2016 Cup odds

Biggest Pros: Large returns if you win; opportunities to hedge and guarantee profit

Biggest Cons: Much less likely to win, can take up to two months to win or lose bet

Know how the talking heads on TV talk about how a certain team is the Stanley Cup favourite or another team is a 30:1 longshot to win the Stanley Cup? They’re referring to the Stanley Cup betting futures odds, which is another way to do Stanley Cup playoff betting.

Before the regular season, throughout the year and even once the playoffs are begun, oddsmakers will post Stanley Cup odds for all teams in contention to win it. Even the Stanley Cup betting favourite is often listed at 3:1 odds or higher, so betting on who will win the Stanley Cup can really pay off. You can also bet on a few longshots if you’d like, then ‘hedge’ off them as they advance deeper into the playoffs and their odds begin to get smaller.

The tradeoff for the big potential wins, however, is the increased likelihood of losing. Unless you pick a few teams on the Stanley Cup betting odds, your chances of winning a Stanley Cup futures bet are a bit of a longshot. And even if your team advances all the way to the Stanley Cup final, it will have taken nearly two months for you to know whether your bet has won or lost, tying up some money you could have used to bet on other things.

2016 Stanley Cup playoff series betting

Blackhawks Blues series

Biggest Pros: Won’t lose your bet on one bad bounce; can get better odds in middle of series

Biggest Cons: Locked into bet if star player gets injured; can take up to two weeks to win or lose bet

Series betting is the least commonly known way to do 2016 Stanley Cup playoff betting, but there’s a lot to like about it.

Series betting is when you pick the team that will win the series and advance. Unlike single game betting, you won’t lose your series bet on a bad bounce in overtime. If you bet on a team to win the series and it loses, it’s because the team you picked wasn’t good enough to win, not because of a fluke.

Most sportsbooks will accept series bets at any point during the series. This can allow you to cash in when the favourite loses Game 1 and you can bet on them to win the series at an underdog price. It can also work to your advantage when the visiting team wins one of the first two games in the series and takes over the ‘home ice advantage’, giving it a better chance of winning the series.

Like Stanley Cup futures betting, it will take a while for your bet to win or lose, though a two-week series is much shorter than a two-month playoff run. Series betting can also bite you if a star player on the team you picked to win gets injured, but this can obviously work for you if the opponent’s star player gets hurt instead.

Sports Interaction offers other ways to do 2016 Stanley Cup playoff series betting. You can pick how many games a team will win a series in, with potential for big payoff if you’re right, or you can simply bet on how long the series will last.

2016 Stanley Cup props betting

SIA Props

Biggest Pros: Chance to win big money, fun to cheer for individual players

Biggest Cons: Tough to win props at long odds

If you don’t want to bet on teams all the time, why not check out the Stanley Cup props instead? Sports Interaction does a great job of offering props like Stanley Cup MVP odds (shown above).

And if Conn Smythe Trophy futures aren’t your thing, or you want action every night, sportsbooks also offer props on how many points a player will score in a series.

SIA player props