The Swedish Hockey League offers a compelling betting market for those willing to look beyond the NHL. With 14 teams playing a 52-game regular season running from mid-September through March, followed by a playoff stretch into May, the SHL provides a dense schedule that generates consistent wagering opportunities. Scoring tends to be slightly lower than in the NHL, with tighter defensive structures and European-sized ice surfaces creating a more tactical, possession-oriented game. This translates to more low-scoring affairs and a higher frequency of one-goal outcomes, making moneyline, puck line, and totals markets all worth close attention. Three-point games — where overtime and shootout losses still award a point — add a wrinkle to standings-based and season-long prop betting.
Vig on SHL lines tends to run wider than what bettors encounter in major North American leagues, largely because the market draws less volume and fewer sharp bettors are hammering the lines into efficiency. Books have less incentive to sharpen their margins when handle is lower, so comparing odds across multiple sportsbooks becomes especially important. The difference between a -115 and a -105 line on an SHL match can meaningfully impact long-term profitability, and those gaps appear more frequently here than in the NHL or Premier League. Bettors who shop aggressively for the best number gain a measurable edge in a league where soft lines persist longer before correction.
Seasonal dynamics matter in the SHL. Early-season lines can be particularly soft as books calibrate rosters reshaped by NHL cuts, CHL returns, and offseason transfers. The Champions Hockey League, running concurrently in the fall, creates schedule congestion and fatigue that oddsmakers sometimes underweight. Home-ice advantage is notable — Swedish arenas are passionate environments, and travel across Scandinavia in winter months adds fatigue for visiting clubs. Injuries to key import players, particularly top-line forwards and starting goaltenders, can swing lines dramatically given the thinner roster depth compared to the NHL. The playoff period, with its best-of-seven format, tends to attract sharper money and tighter margins as book attention and betting volume both increase.
Analysis updated October 11, 2026. Odds data above refreshes hourly.
↑ 7-day trend: SHL average vig has worsened by 0.08 percentage points over the past week (from 5.47% to 5.55%). Odds margins are widening, meaning bettors are getting less value per wager.
Cross-Sport Vig Comparison
SHL averages 5.55% vig across 4 sportsbooks. Here's how that compares to other active sports:
Vig Rankings
| # | Sportsbook | Avg Vig | Grade | ML | Spreads | Totals | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DraftKings | 4.38% | B | 4.36% | 4.42% | 4.37% | 7 |
| 2 | 888sport | 5.30% | C+ | 5.28% | 5.29% | 5.35% | 7 |
| 3 | theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) | 6.27% | C | 6.37% | 6.19% | 6.26% | 7 |
| 4 | Pinnacle | 6.27% | C | 6.27% | — | — | 7 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which sportsbook has the lowest SHL vig?
DraftKings currently has the lowest vig at 4.38%, earning a grade of B.
What is vig (vigorish) in sports betting?
Vig — short for vigorish, also called juice or overround — is the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. It's the difference between the true probability of an outcome and what the odds imply. Lower vig means you keep more of your winnings on every bet. For example, a standard -110/-110 line has about 4.76% vig.
How often is this data updated?
We pull fresh odds from The Odds API every hour, on the hour (UTC). Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds. The timestamp at the top of the page shows the most recent refresh.
How is the vig grade calculated?
Each sportsbook is graded on average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exchange-level pricing, A (2–3%) very competitive, B+ (3–4%) above average, B (4–5%) the industry standard, C+ (5–6%) slightly below average, C (6–7%) below average, D (7–8%) high vig, D− (8–10%) very high, F (10%+) predatory.
Why does lower vig matter for bettors?
Lower vig directly impacts your long-term returns. A bettor placing $1,000 per week at a book with 4% vig loses roughly $40/week to the house edge. At 2% vig, that drops to $20/week — a $1,040 difference over a year. For serious bettors, shopping for lower vig is one of the most reliable ways to improve profitability.
What sportsbooks do you track?
We track both regulated US sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars) and offshore books (Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, BetUS, LowVig.ag, BetAnything). Data comes from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed sources.
How We Calculate These Numbers
- Data Source
- All odds on this page come from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed US and offshore sportsbooks. We track moneyline, spread, and totals markets across every sport with active betting lines.
- Update Frequency
- We pull a fresh snapshot of every tracked market every hour, on the hour (UTC). Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds for a given event. The timestamp at the top of each page tells you exactly when the data was last refreshed.
- Vig Calculation
- Vig (short for vigorish, also called juice or overround) measures the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. We calculate it by converting the odds on each side of a market to implied probabilities, summing those probabilities, and subtracting 100%. For example, a market priced at -110/-110 implies 52.38% on each side — a total of 104.76%, meaning a vig of 4.76%. Lower vig means better value for bettors because you keep more of your winnings.
- Per-Market Breakdown
- We compute vig separately for each market type: moneyline (h2h), point spreads, and totals (over/under). The "average vig" shown for each sportsbook is the mean across all market types weighted by the number of events sampled in each market.
- Grading Scale
- Every sportsbook receives a letter grade based on its average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exchange-level pricing. A (2–3%) is very competitive. B+ (3–4%) is above average. B (4–5%) is the industry standard — a -110/-110 line is 4.76%. C+ (5–6%) is slightly below average. C (6–7%) is below average. D (7–8%) is high vig. D− (8–10%) is very high vig. F (10%+) is predatory pricing. See the full Vig Index Methodology for formulas, worked examples, and known limitations.
- Trend Tracking
- We store daily snapshots for 30 days, allowing us to show 24-hour and 7-day vig trends. A downward trend (improving) means sportsbooks are tightening their lines — often in response to increased competition or higher betting volume as a season heats up.