How to Bet on the NHL

Hockey Bets

Hockey is back and it’s time for us to start cashing in. Betting on hockey can be very lucrative for sports bettors.  There are 1230 games in the NHL regular season with each game offering at least three different ways to bet and most major sportsbooks will have 5-10 different prop bets for every game. Let’s have a look at some of the bets that the popular sportsbooks are offering.

Moneyline – Moneyline bets are the easiest to understand wager offered by sportsbooks, all you have to do is pick the winner and you can start counting your cash.  To read a moneyline there will be a minus sign beside the favorite and a plus sign beside the underdog.

The numbers represent what you will have to risk to win $100 if you take the favorite or how much money you will win if you choose the underdog.

Have a look at this example, by selecting the favored Toronto Maple Leafs you will need risk $140 of your money to win $100 of the bookies money. If you are thinking the Redwings will upset you will win $120 from the bookie by risking only $100.

You will notice a $20 difference in the lines; this represents the bookies commission for taking the bet. Often called the juice or the vig, it’s how the bookmakers are paid.

Detroit Redwings             +120

Toronto Maple Leafs      -140

Puckline – The Puckline, sometimes known as the Canadian line is identical to a run line in baseball. The Puckline has a fixed spread of 1.5 goals. If you choose the underdog, you can lose the game by a single goal and still win your wager but if you take the favorite, your team has to win by two goals if you want to cash your ticket. These have become extremely popular since the inception of the shootout. If you are betting these you will have to pay a premium to get the extra goal and a half, conversely you can get a nice payout giving up the goal and a half but remember last season 282 or 22.9% of the 1230 games went to overtime or shootout.

Totals – The game total in the NHL works just like MLB, NBA or the NFL, you have the option to choose whether the combined score of the two teams is either over or under total goals given.

One thing to remember is moneylines, totals and Pucklines will vary from sportsbook to sportsbook so it’s very important to have money in multiple sportsbooks. This way if you like the under in the Maple Leafs – Detroit Redwings game, you can compare the totals between your chosen sportsbooks. If a couple of sportsbooks have the total set at 6 goals but another sportsbook has the total set at 6.5, you can place your wager with the book that has the total at 6.5. By doing this, if the score of game is 4-2 you win you wager with the 6.5 total, if you placed the wager with the first 2 you would have pushed the wager.