Top Hockey Betting Sites in India
Field hockey is the second most popular sport in India, as the country’s love affair with cricket is still unmatched. However, hockey is by far the most successful Indian sport. India’s men’s team has won eight gold medals at the Summer Olympics, more than any other nation by a significant margin.
It comes as no surprise then that field hockey is also one of the most popular sports for Indians to bet on. India’s Premier Hockey League is among the most prestigious competitions in the world, together with HIL and WSH. All of these competitions and many others are available for betting on a lot of sportsbook websites.
In this article, we are going to introduce you to the best sportsbook sites that offer hockey betting. All of the sites we found not only have field hockey on their list of betting markets, but they are also full of exciting betting features, rewarding bonuses for new players, Indian-friendly payment methods, and more.
As there are plenty of hockey betting sites in India, the job of selecting the best ones wasn’t easy. But, after countless hours of research, Betopin experts have compiled a list that contains only the best and most trusted hockey betting operators on the web.
We will make sure to update our list from time to time as new quality betting sites enter the market. Enjoy!
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Top Hockey Betting Events
One of the main things that we looked at when creating a list of top hockey betting sites in India is the availability of various hockey events. If a given website has field hockey on its list of available sports markets but only covers the world championships, it won’t mean much to the hardcode hockey punter who likes to wager on hockey all year round.
That’s why we followed the “more is better” rule. The more hockey events a given sportsbook covers, the higher the chance for you to find an event you’re looking for. However, this is a bit harder than it seems. Online gambling is in a bit of a grey area in India. Most forms of gambling are illegal, including online sports betting. In other words, you won’t find any Indian-based sports betting websites. Nevertheless, there are no specific laws that prohibit Indians from betting on field hockey using foreign sites that would accept them.
But that creates a different kind of problem. While hockey is a very popular sport in India, it is not as popular in other parts of the world. That’s why many offshore betting websites are a bit limited when it comes to their field hockey offers.
We did our best to find websites that cover as many hockey events as possible. Here are some of the most popular events that you are sure to find on the sites we listed.
Hockey World Cup
The FIH Hockey World Cup is where the best hockey nations meet every four years to decide who will carry the title of world champion. India won the competition for the first and only time in 1975. The country also hosted the event three times and will be the host nation again in 2023.
The group stage consists of four groups of four teams, followed by the second round (cross-overs), quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final, as well as the bronze-medal match. In other words, there are plenty of matches to bet on, and the entire event lasts between two and three weeks.
Summer Olympics
While the Hockey World Cup gathers more attention than any other hockey event, the next one won’t take place until 2023. But, there are other major events that you should look forward to, and the first in line is the field hockey tournament at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Field hockey was first introduced to the Olympics in 1908. It was cut from the games a couple of times before finally being brought back in 1928, and it has been part of the Games ever since. As we mentioned earlier, India is the most successful field hockey nation at the Olympics, winning a total of 11 medals, 8 of which were gold.
India will take part in the 2021 Tokyo Games as well. There will be two groups consisting of six teams each, followed by elimination rounds starting at the quarterfinals. Even though there will be fewer games compared to the Hockey World Cup, the Olympic tournament will be just as competitive and covered by all top sportsbook sites, allowing you to wager on some very exciting matches.
Commonwealth Games
The popularity of field hockey in India can be traced back to the period when India was under British rule. It was the British who made sports like cricket and football popular in the country, and the sports that still tie these nations together are celebrated every four years at the Commonwealth Games.
Hockey was introduced to the Games in 1998. Australia won all tournaments so far (men’s and women’s) except for the two women’s tournaments in 2002 and 2018 that were won by India and New Zealand, respectively. India were finalists of two men’s tournaments in 2010 and 2014.
The next Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham in 2022. Unless there are some changes made to the format, the hockey tournament will consist of two pools with five teams each, followed by classification games, semifinals, as well as the bronze- and gold-medal matches. Again, plenty of matches to wager on, and the competition is going to be tight.
FIH Pro League
FIH Pro League is a relatively new hockey competition (founded in 2017) organized by the International Hockey Federation. Before 2017, the competition was called FIH Hockey World League. FIH Pro League gathers top national teams and is held every year, with the 2020/21 season currently taking place.
The tournament includes nine national teams (one of which is India) and is played in a league format. Apart from offering a trophy and sizable monetary prizes for the best teams, the Pro League also serves as a qualifier for other major international competitions like the World Cup and the Olympic Games.
The Pro League features 72 matches in a single season, giving punters a chance to place bets on exciting fixtures even when there are no major tournaments taking place. The FIH also organizes a women’s competition, although India has yet to qualify for it.
Hockey Betting Platforms
Most people in India bet on hockey using sports betting websites. However, hockey betting is so prevalent in the country that it goes beyond traditional sportsbooks and can be found on many other betting platforms. The gambling laws in India are forcing punters to focus on the full range of accessible betting websites operating offshore. Among these websites are betting exchanges, sportsbooks, spread betting sites, and more.
If you don’t know much about the differences between these platforms but are interested in how each of them works, the next few paragraphs will come in handy.
Betting Exchanges
Betting exchanges have risen in popularity in India over the last few years, as they offer a whole new take on sports betting. Instead of accepting the odds provided by the bookie, the users of betting exchanges can wager against each other. So, you will be making hockey bets against someone who thinks that the match will have a different outcome. You can take other people’s odds, but also create your own. The main advantage of betting exchanges is that they potentially offer much higher odds for a given event. Of course, you will have to pay a commission to the exchange operator on any winnings, but this still leaves a lot of room for making a profit.
Sportsbooks
Even though many other options exist, by far the most popular betting platform for hockey in India is the sportsbook. There are hundreds of online sportsbooks that you can find on the internet, and our list of best hockey betting sites mostly consists of sportsbooks as well. Betting on hockey through a sportsbook is simple. The bookie will give you fixed odds on a given event, and you will make a bet on the outcome of that event. Of course, there are plenty of different betting markets when it comes to hockey betting on sportsbooks, which is something we will discuss a little later on.
Spread Betting
Spread betting sites are for more experienced hockey punters who are good at predicting the exact score of a hockey match. The way spread betting works is that you will buy or sell the spread that is set out by the operator. The difference between spread betting on spread betting sites compared to other platforms is that the punter is given the opportunity to win their stake multiple times. However, there’s also a chance they will lose their stake multiple times.
In other words, the height of your profits and losses will depend on how far above or below the spread the match finishes. Spread betting is common on financial betting websites, but it can easily be applied to sports as well.
Sports Trading
In the most straightforward way we can explain, sports trading is the strategy of placing two opposing bets so you may end up with a profit regardless of the outcome. The punters who use sports trading sites need to pay attention to how to prices for each fixture move and place bets at the right time. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, as sports trading is a broad topic, so you will have to do more research if you are interested in making the most of these kinds of platforms.
Matched Betting
Matched betting is a somewhat “shady” technique of taking advantage of sportsbooks’ promotions and free bets in a way that guarantees a profit. Nevertheless, matched betting is entirely legal, as it’s merely a process of spotting and using bookies’ mistakes to your advantage. You will place multiple wagers on a hockey game by covering all possible outcomes while using free bets offered by the sportsbooks. Matched betting is not as popular these days as more and more bookies are safeguarding themselves against this strategy, and the profits you obtain will be rather small. Still, you can make plenty of money over time if you know what you’re doing.
Most Popular Hockey Betting Markets
Field hockey is a pretty straightforward game when it comes to scoring. The team that scores the most goals wins the game. There can also be a tie unless the game in question is taking place in an elimination round, in which case the winner is decided through overtime and/or penalties.
By looking at these rules, you might think that there aren’t that many options for wagering on hockey except for placing bets on the outcome. However, betting websites have come up with various ways on how to keep a hockey match interesting for punters. You can make a multitude of different bets on the same game, or even combine your bets on the same payslip.
With that said, here are some of the most popular hockey betting markets that you may run across while browsing the sites from our list.
Moneyline
Moneyline is the simplest of bets. Your job is to predict who will win the match, or if there will be a draw. For example, if India is playing Pakistan and the odds for India to win are 2.00, your ₹1,000 bet will be turned into ₹2,000 (₹1,000 profit) if you bet on your home country.
Moneyline has several other names as well, like match bet and straight bet. Since it’s the easiest bet to understand, you should maybe start with moneyline before you get the hang of some other betting options.
Double Chance
Hockey is a relatively low-scoring game, and ties happen often. If you are unsure whether your favourite team will win the match, you can make a double-chance bet and wager on two different outcomes. The available results include a home team win or a draw (1X), an away team win or a draw (X2), or a home team win or an away team win (12).
Because your bet will have two out of three possible outcomes covered, the odds will be lower than they are on moneyline bets.
Over/Under
Apart from betting on the winner, you can also predict how many goals will be scored at a given match. However, instead of guessing the exact number of goals (although this too is offered by some betting websites), the bookie will provide you with a line, and you will be guessing whether the total number of goals will go over or under that line. That’s why this type of bet is called over/under or point spread
For example, the point spread line for the match between India and Pakistan is 3.5. The line is always going to be at half a goal because there are only two possible outcomes. If you bet on over, you will be hoping that there are four or more goals scored in the match. Because the bookie always estimates that the number of goals will be close to the line, the odds for both outcomes are usually even.
Handicap
Handicap bets are very useful when there’s a clear favourite to win the game. Since the outcome is predictable and the odds on the favourite are minuscule in the moneyline market, the bookie will give the underdog some handicap points to even things out. For example, an underdog can get 2.5 goals in advance. If you bet on the underdog, your bet will be successful if they win the match or lose by less than three goals.
Similar to the point spread, you can expect the odds for handicap betting to be evened out between the teams. However, in the case of teaser bets, the bookie might make slight changes to the number of handicap points given, thus creating lower or higher odds for one of the teams.
Outright
So, let’s say that you unsure about the outcome of any of the individual matches but you have a hunch about who will be the outright winner of the entire competition. In such a case, you should make an outright bet and wait for the competition to play out.
Since outright bets are harder to predict, the odds will be much higher, especially if you’re betting on a team that’s not considered a clear favourite. Outright bets can also let you predict how far a given team will go in the competition, like, for example, whether India will make the semifinals at the next World Cup.
Props
Proposition bets, or props, are all of the oddball bets that we didn’t mention above. Instead of focusing on the outcome of a match or a competition, they give you a chance to wager on specific occurrences that take place in the game itself. For example, you can guess the correct time of the first goal, who the goalscorer will be, whether there will be any penalties, yellow cards, and much more.
Conclusion
As you can see, hockey betting in India gives you an excellent opportunity to turn your knowledge of your favourite sport into some sizable profits. Even though it’s not the most popular sport for betting, hockey is still an irreplaceable part of every reputable sports wagering platform.
Our list of the best hockey betting websites in India is there to help you start your sports wagering campaign on the right foot. Here at Betopin, we take great care when creating lists of betting sites for various sports and markets. Our experts always make sure that the websites we feature have extensive coverage of field hockey betting markets, offers rewarding welcome bonuses for new players, and an abundance of exciting betting features like in-play betting, mobile betting, live streaming, accumulators, bet builders, and more.
If you have any other questions or would like some clarification on what we discussed so far, feel free to check out our FAQ section below. Other than that — good luck!
FAQ
Is betting allowed in India?
India has stringent laws on gambling. Apart from horse racing, any form of sports wagering is forbidden throughout the country, including placing bets on hockey. However, there are no specific laws that prohibit Indian players from accessing and playing on offshore websites. Therefore, you just need to find a trusted betting site that accepts customers from India, and you will be able to enjoy hockey betting without worry.
What does +1.5 mean in hockey betting?
This means that one of the teams (the underdog) has been given a handicap of one and a half goals to even the matchup between two uneven teams. If you bet on that team, you will be hoping that they either win the match or lose by less than two goals. If you bet on the opposite side, your bet can only be successful if that team wins by two or more goals.
What is the best betting app in India?
There are plenty of mobile betting apps that you can use in India. The sites we listed have some of the best and most responsive mobile platforms that work on all modern iOS and Android devices. There are two ways in which you can bet using your mobile phone or a tablet. Either enter the operator’s mobile site and place your bets from there or download and install a mobile app if available.
Can Bet365 be used in India?
Yes, Bet365 is available in India and accepts Indian players. This is a reputable online sportsbook that has plenty to offer in terms of hockey betting.
