If you are already familiar with ice hockey and keen on betting on, say, NHL, you might find it exciting to broaden your opportunities and wager on the other popular ice hockey games. The Kontinental Hockey League or KHL is an international league, combining ice hockey professional clubs in Russia, Europe, and Asia. The league is divided into Western and Southern conferences, with two divisions.
For instance, if you come across KHL lines at US sportsbooks, you might get a significant advantage over the other local bettors if you get some insights into the Russian league.
However, you’re more likely to see KHL odds at Russian, British, or some remote-only sportsbooks welcoming people worldwide.
Overall, betting on KHL is easy: at least you can quickly get all the basics, which we will deliver in this guide.
How to Read KHL Betting Odds?
While US bookies usually focus on NHL, they can also publish the other ice hockey events. However, you might find more fixtures and better odds at European and Asian bookmakers, so it’s helpful to know various odds formats you can come across.
In short, odds express your potential winnings and also indicate chances for a particular outcome to happen.
They always come as some figures, and three main formats are Decimal, Fractional, and American. You can come across some more formats if you sign up with some Asian-facing sites: Eastern bettors tend to opt for Malaysian, Indonesian, or Hong Kong odds, but we won’t consider them here to focus on the basics.
KHL Odds expressed in Decimal Format
We’ll start with the most straightforward one: it is typical for Russian and most European bettors, called the Decimal format. Let’s look at the example:
Ak Bars Kazan vs. CSKA Moscow
- Ak Bars: 1.70CSKA: 2.20
In this KHL betting market, you need to predict who will win the game outright: no other stats or results matter. The odds show two essential things: how much you can win if your bet works out and how probable is your wager to win.
It’s easy with decimal odds: the higher the odds are, the larger your potential payout is, but the team with higher odds has fewer chances to win. Of course, it’s a kinda judgment call: in fact, the odds show a bookie’s opinion on a game’s outcome. However, they don’t put just random numbers and engage large teams of oddsmakers who have strong reasons to suggest particular higher or lower odds.
To know how much you can get from a successful wager, multiply your stake amount by the odds. For instance, you want to follow the trends and back Ak Bars, the favorite. You place a $100 wager, win, and receive $170. Note that this $170 payout includes your $100 stake, so your net winnings are only $70. However, you can win $120 as a net profit if you wager on CSKA: it implies they are very obvious underdogs.
KHL Odds expressed in Fractional Format
The fractional format is a traditional British odds layout. As the name suggests, it looks like a fraction. Here is the same market we already showed you, but with a different odds format:
Ak Bars Kazan vs. CSKA Moscow
- Ak Bars: 7/10
- CSKA: 6/5
Using the following formula, you can read the fraction: how much you win/how much you bet. Thus, if you bet $5 on CSKA, you will win $6, and so on.
KHL Odds expressed in American Format
Finally, American odds. Experienced NHL bettors are usually well-versed in this format, but if you haven’t heard of it before, here is an example:
Ak Bars Kazan vs. CSKA Moscow
- Ak Bars: -143
- CSKA: +120
Negative odds indicate a favorite, and positive is for an underdog. How to read them?
When you see a minus sign coming with odds, the given number means how much you must wager to win $100. Positive odds indicate your winnings from a $100 stake. Note: American odds only show your winnings, not the overall payout.
Betting odds comparisons for other top ice hockey leagues
All the odds formats work the same for all ice hockey leagues. Actually, they remain the same for the most team and single-player sports, so our guide is pretty universal. But is KHL betting somehow more profitable than the other ice hockey lines?
Some bookies offer nothing but NHL and KHL in their lines. In contrast, the others give access to a generous selection of various ice hockey tournaments in Germany, Finland, Japan, Sweden, and more. However, NHL and KHL remain the top popular ones and usually involve more betting markets. For instance, you can find approximately thousands of markets for the National Hockey League and more or less the same coverage for KHL.
What about the odds? Basically, it depends on a sportsbook: usually, US bookies give more profitable odds for local events, and pricing for foreign leagues is less lucrative. Still, if you have a chance to visit an online betting site focusing on Russia or Asia, you can find many competitive offers for the KHL playoffs and finals. For instance, let’s compare the top ice hockey betting lines at the 1XBet website, aimed at European, Russian, and Asian bettors:
NHL:
- New Jersey Devils: 1.70
- Arizona Coyotes: 3.80
KHL:
- Sibir Novosibirsk: 1.42
- Admiral Vladivostok: 7.30
The first thing jumping to an eye is a significant difference between the favorite and the underdog odds, and it’s essential for a bettor. The thing is that NHL events rarely have ultimate favorites and obvious underdogs: most teams are considered more or less equal. Besides, underdogs win pretty often in NHL.
Meanwhile, the difference between a favorite and an underdog means much more in KHL, especially if the latter one is going through a losing streak. Outsiders who have lost a significant game series before rarely overcome favorites, so the result is pretty predictable. However, you can come across various situations, so let’s speak about available betting options and how to turn various betting markets into your profit.
Common types of the KHL Bets: Guide by Superbetting
We already showed you the Moneyline, one of the most straightforward betting options ever. You simply wager on who will win and take your money if you were right. However, there are various moneylines: some of them imply you determine the winner outright, and some don’t include overtime. Besides, one popular money line type is 3-Ways betting. In the following paragraphs, let’s speak about 3-ways bets and other top popular KHL betting options.
Three-way bets on KHL
So, what is a three-way Moneyline? It is the same wager on the winner, but it involves three possible outcomes: Win/Lose/Tie. So, you have odds for two teams and for a draw, and this is how it looks in a sportsbook line:
Barys vs. Avangard:
- Barys: 2.74;
- Draw: 3.9;
- Avangard: 2.32
Such a bet type usually includes overtime. It is actually more typical for KHL betting and might give you better chances to win some money, especially if you wager on different outcomes at various sportsbooks. Not that we recommend it: our stand is that betting must be more fun than money-making, and using such strategies might create some kind of gambling addiction.
Besides, European bookies often include a so-called European Handicap bet in their KHL coverages.
It is also a three-way bet, and we’ll speak about it a bit later: right after we explain traditional handicaps, also known as Spread bets.
Point Spread Betting
Points Spread betting means you wager on the winning margin. A bookie gives spread points to even the teams’ chances and offers gamblers to guess if a favorite will overcome the margin or not. You can also bet on an underdog handicap: in this case, they will need to lose with no more points than given as a spread or win. Here is a classical Point Spread in hockey:
- Severstal Cherepovets -1.5: 2.26
- Sochi +1.5: 1.29
Unlike NHL, in which puck line (spread) is always 2.5, here you have more options, usually up to 4.5 spread points. Sharp bettors recommend wagering on favorites with a 1.5 spread: such teams usually score about three-four points more than their opponents. Still, check the stats for a particular event: there’s no all-in-one solution. For instance, some teams perform better when they are a home team, while the others are better off playing away.
Over/Under Bets
To start, what are Over/Under Bets? Over/Under is probably easier to understand than the point spread. However, it is a pretty risky betting market for KHL, and we’ll explain why. They also call it Totals betting, and this wager option implies you must guess the overall number of scored goals. Not precise figures, thank God — just guess if the total score goes over or stays under a given number. Here is how it looks in a KHL line:
Neftekhimik vs. Salavat Yulaev Ufa
- Over 2.5: 1.1;
- Under 2.5: 6.3
Suppose you wager on the Over 2.5 option at 1.1 odds. If the game ends up in 2:1, e.g., with a total score of 3, your bet wins. However, if it is 1:1, the bet won’t work out. In our example, oddsmakers suppose the game will be pretty high-scoring, as the Over odds are not, mildly speaking, high.
KHL sportsbooks offer various total points: from 2.5 to 9.5. Although the latest trends show that the total score is a very unpredictable outcome in KHL matches, there are still some wagering strategies that might help. For instance, according to various stats, the score rarely goes Over 4.5, so rookie bettors should avoid betting on Totals Over 5.5 and more.
KHL Futures Bets
Futures are the bets you make on some long-term event: for instance, on a winner of the league’s season finals. While the most popular NHL Futures are made on Stanley Cup winners, the same-scale event is called Gagarin Cup in the Continental League. Besides, you can place Futures on the conference winner, and of course, players titles: the League’s MVP of the year.
Traditionally, Futures’ odds are very high: you can get a great payout, especially if you made the right decision in the early stage when the first bookies just published the line.
For instance, here is what a part of the Gagarin Cup Futures looks like three months before the finals:
- CSKA Moscow: 8.00 (+700)
- SKA Saint Petersburg: 6.00 (+500)
- Ak Bars Kazan: 10.00 (+900)
- Traktor Chelyabinsk: 10.00 (+900)
- Avtomobilist Sochi: 10.00 (+900)
- Avangard Omsk: 10.00 (+900)
Parlay KHL Bets
Of course, there are more betting markets available for KHL: you can wager on such outcomes as Both Teams to Score, 3-Way 60-Minute, Correct Score, and more. Besides, there is a way to make your betting experience even more thrilling and sometimes profitable: we are talking about multiple bets.
When you select a particular outcome, like a team winning a match, and add it to a bet slip and then confirm this wager, you make a single bet.
It’s straightforward: one market — one stake — one bet. It is the less risky option: you just need one event to happen. You can place several single bets: if some of them lose, but the others win, you will get a payout for successful ones.
However, you can opt for another way of betting and select different picks, which is called a multiple bet. For instance, you want to pick a spread bet for a Severstal-Sochi game, a money line from Metallurg – Avtomobilist game, and another money line from a Dinamo-Torpedo matchup. When you add them all to a bet slip and choose to combine them in a multiple bet, you get all the odds multiplied and a chance for a better payout.
There are different multiple bet types, and the most widespread one is called Parlay. The point of Parlay is that it wins only if all your selections are correct. If at least a single pick loses, you lose the whole bet, so it is a pretty risky thing to try, especially if you are playing at large stakes. Sharp bettors tend to refuse to make parlays and prefer sticking to single bets; still, sometimes, it can be an interesting alternative.
Besides, bookies often offer some parlay insurances: for instance, they allow you to have one wager lost and still get your winnings from the rest of the selections.
Conclusion
Being the second world-popular ice hockey tournament, KHL has gained an immerse pool of viewers and sports bettors globally. With so many betting options and various strategies, multiplied by the unpredictable game outcomes, it might become your next favorite sport to wager!
This guide gave you the very basics, but it’s more than enough to give KHL betting a try. As you become more experienced, you will learn various exquisite strategies or even invent your own ones — it’s fun. Don’t forget about the responsible gambling principles (to avoid a gambling problem, e.g. addiction): control your budget, don’t place too many bets in a row, don’t try to win back your losses during a losing streak immediately, and keep wagering a hobby — not a job.
You are welcome to read our betting guides and sports wagering sites reviews if you need more details — and we wish you luck and happy bets!
FAQ
Like the other odds, KHL odds show the probability of the outcome and the potential payout. If you use Decimal odds, you multiply your stake by the odds to see your full profit (stake+winnings). The American odds might come as positive and negative. If the odds have a minus sign, they show how much you must wager to win $100; positive odds show your potential winnings from a $100 stake. Fractional odds are easily read through a formula: how much you win/how much you bet.
Basically, no. The odds work the same for all sports, so the main difference is the profit you can get from them. In US sportsbooks, focusing on local sports, the odds are usually higher for NHL games, while KHL might give worse payouts. Besides, both leagues have different trends and stats, so you need to consider them when making your decisions.
The top KHL odds are usually offered by Russian and European sportsbooks: you can try shopping the lines at 1Xbet, BetWinner, Melbet, or Pinnacle. Besides, you can always check the latest KHL lines at our SuperBetting odds section. There will be less lucrative options at the US sportsbooks, for instance, those registered by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, but you can still check them just to give it a try.
The betting odds differ at various bookmakers. The initial line is usually considered as the most accurate and fair; then, as the first betting pool is collected, the line begins to fluctuate. We recommend checking the initial line and tracking the odds history to find the most profitable options for particular markets.
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