Legally Betting On The Islanders
The New York Islanders are more than just one of the National Hockey League’s teams to make its home base in the New York City metropolis, though technically – as one might guess from the team’s name – the Islanders are based in Long Island and not NYC proper. No, the Islanders, though they joined the NHL as one of the league’s first expansion teams in 1972 after the 40-year era of the Original Six, have carved out a niche for themselves as one of the toughest teams in professional hockey. New York’s streak of four Stanly Cup wins in as many years in the mid-1980s, followed by a never-quit attitude in 90s and 2000s, to say nothing of their decisive rebound in the last few seasons has made fans eager for a means of legally betting on the Islanders.
However, that renewed interest in placing wagers on the Islanders couldn’t come at a better time, as a legal option for doing so has only come on-line in the comparatively recent past. That’s because federal sports betting laws either outright forbade the practice or at the very least made it considerably difficult in placed like New York, which wasn’t one of the four states that was allowed to offer state-sponsored sports wagering options for their residents. However, online sportsbooks sites based in foreign countries are fully capable of legally serving New York Islanders fans because they are licensed and regulated by the gaming authorities in their home nations and are, essentially, outside the reach of US federal anti-gambling laws or even the Empire State’s own laws, which don’t prohibit online betting.
Having said all that, it is nevertheless not enough just to know that websites like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes exist and that they serve New York bettors with the best odds can be found anywhere. With all the misinformation floating around on the internet about sports wagering, we took it upon ourselves to clear the air once and for all, and so we diligently researched the subject in order to provide you, the prospective bettor or returning veteran of the hobby, with the information you need. Our comprehensive guide to legally betting on the Islanders aims to clear up any misconception standing in your way of cashing out big winning tickets. Before you can do that you’ve got to have a thorough understanding of how to read betting odds, the different wager types available and so on, so with that in mind let’s get started!
The first thing you’ll need to know about legally betting on the Islanders is that our highest recommended sites – BetOnline, 5Dimes and SportsBetting – can all be relied upon to consistently list current Islanders betting odds. The fact that the leading only sportsbooks New York residents can count on will offer the industry’s best odds on the Islanders isn’t surprising in the slightest, as the Islanders have proven to be one of the most enduringly popular and highest-regarded teams in the NHL. That is demonstrably true even during the ebb and flow on success on the ice and off, as the Islanders have constantly had to reinvent themselves throughout the history of the club, enjoying a period of unbridled success follow by a long stretch of only middling results before finally starting to swing upward again.
The Islanders started off strong after joining the league in 1972 as one of the first expansion teams, winning numerous conference and division championships and an unbroken string of four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-1984. In fact, the Islanders hold the all-time record of 19 consecutive playoff series wins during that time, an achievement without parallel in any and all professional sports. However, those accolades – great as they were – was ultimately shortlived, as financial mismanagement and woes involving poor decisions from the owners resulted in major problems on the ice: the Islanders did not win a divisional playoff from the 1987-1988 season until the 2016 playoffs.
However, a much-needed move from the borderline decrepit Nassau Coliseum to the Barclays Center in recent years has led to a resurgence in the team’s vigor and is driving enthusiasm for betting on the Islanders. But just knowing that the leading New York-friendly sportsbooks do indeed offer betting odds on New York simply isn’t enough. A smart bettor is a bettor who understands how to read betting odds, so in the next several sections we will take a much closer look at the different wager types offered by our highest-rated sites.
Betting On The Islanders Straight Up
The most basic of all wager types offered for legally betting on the Islanders is betting straight up. This kind of bet is simply a wager on whether a team wins or loses with no consideration for the margin of victory or any other factor. Because the odds in the American betting system are listed in terms of units of $100 risked and $100 won, this form of wager is known colloquially as “moneyline” betting. Whether you call it betting straight up or betting on the moneyline, this wager type forms the foundation of all other wager types available at sites like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes.
Essentially, the bookies will list odds beginning with a minus sign (-) for the favorite, indicating the greater likelihood that the favorite will win the bet and meaning a bettor will have to stake some amount of money greater than $100 in order to win another hundred bucks. On the other hand, the underdog in a given matchup will most often have odds beginning with a plus sign (+) in recognition of the reduced likelihood of the underdog winning the game. Odds starting with a plus sign is an indication that only $100 has to be wagered for an amount greater than $100 to be won upon a successful wager.
If you want to read more about betting on the Islanders straight up, you can head over to our understanding betting odds page for additional information.
Betting On The Islanders Point Spread
When you place a bet on the point spread, you have to take into account the amount by which your team wins or loses and not merely whether they got the W or the L. Though this wager type is correctly called point spread betting no matter what sport you’re wagering on, in hockey specifically, point spread betting has a few different appellations. Point spread betting may be referred to as betting on the “puck line” or – owing to the strong influence exerted by the Great White North on the development of the sport of ice hockey – betting on the “Canadian Line” if you’re interested in legally betting on the Islanders.
The puck line is usually, but not always, set at 1.5 goals, meaning the favorite will need to win by 2 goals or more, while the underdog can still lose so long as it’s by less than 2 goals, in order for a wager to count as a winning one.
Betting On The Islanders Over/Under
Unlike the other two wager types we’ve already looked at, legally betting on the Islanders via the over/under method (also known as betting on the points total) doesn’t involve wagering on one team or another, nor does victory or defeat in the matchup matter at all. Instead, betting on the over/under means placing wagers on whether the combined total score of both teams is greater than (over) or less than (under) the number predicted by the bookies when they list the betting line. In the event that the actual final combined total score matches the projected amount exactly, all money staked on the over/under betting line will be refunded to those who placed the wagers – this is called a “push” in gambling slang.
Being that this wager type isn’t concerned with victory or defeat, it is often seen as a popular and viable strategy to bet on the total score as a means of “hedging your bet” against an upset. Bookies love listing totals odds on the betting board for just that reason: they tend to balance out the book even in the event of a mismatched or one-sided matchup.
One of the most popular ways to go about legally betting on the Islanders (and really any other team, for that matter) is to place wagers on prop bets, which, unlike the other wager types we’ve already examined, are based solely on the performances of individual players or on the team. However, there’s a twist: this variety of bets don’t take into account whether the team wins or loses, which makes wagers of this type a viable means of extending your winnings or covering your main bets in the event of an upset.
As previously mentioned, there are two principal types of prop bets – player props and team props. Player props are, logically enough, based strictly on the individual statistical performance of a solo player, whereas team props are based on how the team does as a whole or in part. In the latter case, team prop bets can sometimes overlap with futures bets, particularly if it’s a question of whether or not the team wins a conference title or even a league championship, as the Islanders did for four straight years in the early ‘80s.
Just to clear up any lingering confusion about these two exciting betting types available for legal New York NHL betting like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes, we’ll give provide some samples of just a few of the most common examples of player and team prop bets in the next few sections. However, a word of advice: before investing your money in prop bets you will want to have a thorough understanding of the Islanders’ capabilities on an individual and team level, so investing time on the front end could end up saving you cash on the back end. Adopting that strategy will go a long way toward helping you develop into a much more successful long-term bettor than you might otherwise be if you didn’t do your homework.
Islanders Player Prop Examples
Center Total Shots On Goal Vs. Buffalo Sabres
- Over 3 Shots On Goal (-140)
- Under 3 Shots On Goal (-110)
Goalie Total Saves Vs. New Jersey Devils
- Over 30 Saves (-105)
- Under 30 Saves (+120)
Islanders Team Prop Examples
Margin Of Victory Vs. New York Rangers
- Islanders By 1 Goal (+700)
- Rangers By 1 Goal (+650)
- Islanders By 2 Goals (+800)
- Rangers By 2 Goals (+750)
- Islanders By 3 Or More Goals (+500)
- Rangers by 3 Or More Goals (+450)
Will The Islanders Win The Stanley Cup?
- Yes (+600)
- Yes (+600)
In addition to the more commonly available wager types available at the leading legal New York sportsbook sites like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes, there are other ways to enjoy legally betting on the Islanders as well. Some of these alternatives are different wager types altogether – notably futures betting lines such as team props regarding far-off events like the outcome of the NHL championship for instance. Others are entirely new means of placing wagers on the Islanders like live in-game betting, where the odds are subject to being changed in real time in accordance with the action taking place on the ice. This latter wagering type is a very recent development in the world of sports betting in that it upends the usual system of calculating and listing the odds on a given matchup days or even a week in advance of the game in question.
As we’ll discuss at greater length later on in the FAQs section, mobile NHL betting apps are also available at our highest recommended sites as well, giving hockey fans in the Empire States more opportunities than ever before to place wagers on their favorite teams. The rarest, but perhaps one of the more intriguing ways to really pad out your ticket and earn a huge payday are specials, which are only offered sporadically even at the industry’s top offshore betting shops serving New York bettors. Specials bets are usually only available when a particular matchup – most probably the next installment in the long-running feud between the Islanders and one of their intense rivals like the New York Rangers or the New Jersey Devils – is drawing a lot of attention. Sometimes special betting lines will be offered in the event that off-the-ice events like a home venue change or even the details of a particular player’s love life is the topic of popular debate.
Is Betting On Sports Legal For New York Residents?
Everything we’ve gone over in this comprehensive guide to legally betting on the Islanders is predicated upon the assumption that our readers know betting on sports is legal for New York residents. It isn’t so much a catch that this is only possible at New York-friendly sportsbook sites like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes as it is a feature of the way these wagering platforms are set up. Federal gambling laws like the Wire Act of 1961, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) do indeed make it illegal for sports wagering to take place in all but four states – of which New York isn’t one – but legal betting is still possible.
How so? Well, it’s because New York state law doesn’t list online betting among its prohibited gambling activities (that’s despite explicit bans on line-selling and book-making), and since our top-ranked sports betting sites are all exclusively found online and based in foreign countries there’s no way for law enforcement authorities to punish their users. Bettors who use the sites we recommend have the added benefit of using sites that are licensed and regulated gaming outlets backed up by security features and reliability that shady local bookies (and even Vegas casinos) can’t match.
Is Betting On The Islanders Unethical?
The people that come out against gambling, and especially sports betting, do so for all sorts of different reasons, some of which have a little more validity or leave more room for argument. While we’ve already thorough debunked the perhaps well-intentioned but ultimately baseless claim that sports wagering is illegal in New York, a perhaps even more spurious allegation is often thrown around by anti-gambling types: that, somehow, something makes betting on the Islanders unethical. If you find yourself being worried that legally betting on the Islanders isn’t ethical even if it doesn’t break any laws (which it doesn’t), rest assured that you’re in the clear.
Sports wagering is no more unethical than paying grown men to ice skate with sticks in their hands for a few hours playing a game that was mostly developed just for fun in the first place. We bring up the example of paying professional athletes because, while everyone acknowledges the hard work and dedication of pro hockey players and the substantial risk they voluntarily expose their bodies to, it nevertheless begs the question: why are any athletes expected (and compensated to the degree they are) to devote their lives solely to playing sports? If the answer is simply that we, the public, value the higher level of competition and entertainment provided by seeing pros play the games we love to watch, then how can it possibly be unethical to make wagers on which team is going to win?
Ultimately the question of the ethicality of sports betting is a question each of the individual persons interested in trying out the hobby has to answer for themselves. We aren’t here to tell our readers that they have to bet on sports – that would be ridiculous – but also aren’t going to tell you that you definitely shouldn’t do so unless you’re comfortable breaking some sacrosanct moral code either. Simply weigh your options, do some self-reflection and decide on your own if sports betting is right for you. When or if you’re ready to get started, legal sports betting sites like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes are here for you, providing a safe, legal and ethical option for those interested in getting in on the action.
Will New York Sportsbooks Keep My Financial Information Safe?
Though the last two questions we looked at have an element of uncertainty (for some people), one dynamic of the highest-rated legal offshore sports betting sites like 5Dimes, SportsBetting and BetOnline that is absolutely beyond reproach and past any kind of question is that our top-ranked New York sportsbooks keep your financial information safe. This is simply a matter of doing good business, and, at the end of the day, the betting shops we recommend for our readers just want your business as a sports bettor, so they’re willing to do what it takes to keep their paying customers’ financial and personal information safe from prying eyes. Beyond that, the best online sports wagering platforms, being hosted in and operated out of foreign countries with more permissive (but certainly not lax) gambling laws, have to hold up their end of the bargain when it comes to security for their account holders if they want to keep their licensure through their home nation’s gaming regulatory authorities.
Our most highly recommended legal offshore sports betting sites enable users to safely and legally bet on the Islanders because of several security protocols including multi-mode encryption software and offsite data storage. In addition to these technology-based approaches of securing their users’ sensitive information, legal New York sportsbook sites like those we suggest you use utilize common-sense security practices such as simply asking for multiple forms of personal identification before processing payouts and accepting deposits. In summary, New York-friendly sports wagering sites based in the European Union and in the Caribbean like the ones mentioned throughout this guide prioritize creating a user-friendly and safe betting experience for their account holder, so give them a try next time you see the Islanders on the betting board.
Can I Use My Smartphone To Bet On The Islanders?
Like we said earlier, our highest-recommended sports betting sites not only make it safe to legally bet on the Islanders, they also make it as convenient for their account holders as well. These sites do this through various means, but one of the most readily apparent – especially given that we are now well and truly living in the age of the smartphone – is the development and promotion of the use of legal mobile sports betting apps offered by betting shops like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes. These mobile sports wagering apps are available for free directly from the sites that correspondingly developed them, and they have been designed to work trouble-free on devices running either Apple’s iOS or the Android operating system.
While other sports betting apps in the marketplace exemplify the strategy of creating an entirely new user interface for mobile users, our highest recommended sites take the opposite approach. Already confident that their respective sites offer the best and easiest-to-use layouts of any operators in the hotly contested sports betting segment, the sites we suggest most often for NHL fans in the Empire State have simply made their mobile betting apps extensions of their desktop versions, optimized for smartphone or tablet access. The broad availability of reliable high-speed data streaming services makes using these wagering apps a breeze, enabling users of the industry-leading sites we mention throughout this guide to get in on the action of betting on their favorite teams whether they’re stuck in traffic or stuck at their kids’ peewee hockey practice.
What Is The Best Deposit Method At New York Sportsbooks?
Bitcoin, the web-only “cryptocurrency” has done more than start a revolution in the world of currency exchanges, it has also revolutionized the way sports fans in New York and elsewhere in the world can enjoy their sports wagering hobby free from government interference (that is, without running the risk of running afoul of the law). Bitcoin is, in essence, a form of currency that is “mined” by means of the processing of long strings of encrypted algorithms spread across multiple servers all over the world, with the effect that no one individual and no government financial regulatory power is necessary to be imposed, nor can such control be exerted upon it.
Bitcoin is perfect for making deposits at New York sportsbooks because it is not subject to federal sports betting laws like the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which place prohibitions on US-based financial institutions for processing credit card transactions related to gambling online. This means that users of sites like SportsBetting, BetOnline and 5Dimes can easily get around this ban and use their own money as they see fit. Investing in Bitcoin is also a wise move (perhaps even a mild form of gambling in itself, really) as there seems to be no ceiling on just how much value the cryptocurrency will climb to, even on a daily basis. The next time you’re interested in legally betting on the Islanders, you should definitely consider bankrolling your sports wagering account using Bitcoin, and the leading sports betting sites will sweeten the pot, offering new deposit bonuses in some cases worth thousands of dollars in free bets.