NHL Betting - How To Bet Hockey
The National Hockey League definitely has its spot in your online sports betting books. You can get odds year around, starting with Stanley Cup odds as soon as the current playoffs are done, all the way through the season. Here are four methods of NHL betting that you can do.
NHL Moneylines
Betting on the moneylines in NHL hockey is simple: you bet on who you think will win the game. You can tell which team is the underdog and which is the favorite by looking at the sign before the odds. Pittsburgh, for example, might be favored at -140 at home over Montreal, who are the underdogs at +120. Pittsburgh are the favorites as you can tell by the negative sign before the odds, so if they're at -140, this means you would bet $140 to win $100 on the Penguins. Montreal, as was mentioned as the underdogs, and they have a positive sign in front of the odds. The Canadiens at +120 means you would bet $100 to win $120 on them. The home team tends to be favored more often, and the team with the better goaltender will always get a good look at being favored.When you’re betting the moneyline, you’ll want to take in a number of factors into account such as momentum, rest and how these teams match up against each other.
NHL Spreads
NHL betting's version of the spread bet is the puck line, and it is very similar to the run line in MLB wagering. The puck line spices up the bet by putting a margin of victory in the equation, and it is usually 1.5 either way. So for example, Pittsburgh might be at -1.5 (+170), and Chicago sits at +1.5 (-150). Here, the Penguins are underdog to win by more than one goal, so if they win $170 on a bet of $100. For Montreal, the Canadiens are favored to lose by less than a goal, or win outright; they would pay out $100 on a bet of $170. It just adds a little something to NHL betting if you get bored of moneylines.
NHL Totals
Then you have Over Under betting, in which you're betting on how many goals will be scored in a game. Pittsburgh and Montreal might have a total set for their matchup of 5.5, and you'll be making your wager based on the total coming in over or under the total set by the sportsbook. Here is where the starting goaltenders really come into play and again, it is similar to MLB betting where the starting pitchers are important. In the NHL, most games have a total of 5.5 on the board but sometimes a low-scoring affair will see a total of 5. The rare time in a playoff game it might even hit 4.5. On the other side of it, an NHL total won’t go higher than 6 unless it’s something like the All-Star Game.
NHL Futures
Futures betting is when you're wagering on something that won't happen for a while yet, such as the Stanley Cup finals. You can also bet on conference and division winners, as well as player awards like the Hart Trophy for the Most Valuable Players. But you will be able to get odds for the next Stanley Cup finals shortly after the season is over, so there is always NHL betting to be done. Get your research done early and you can find some good value picks before the season starts, or else the odds will get worse if they perform well.