Hockey Betting: A Beginner’s Guide to Betting on the NHL

Apr 22, 2019

hockey betting, hockey betting tips, free hockey betting picks

Do you love sports and money? If so, then maybe hockey betting is something you should consider. Betting is when you wager to win money based on the outcome of a sports game. Although hockey may not be the first sport that comes to mind when you think about sports betting, betting on hockey could be a very lucrative decision.

When it comes to the sport of hockey, there is no better league than the National Hockey League, better known as the NHL. Therefore, there is also no better hockey league to bet on than the NHL. If you really want to learn how to bet on NHL, there are many things that you need to understand first.

To ensure that you become the best NHL bettor you can be, we are giving you a guide detailing all the different types of bets in hockey and all the tips and tricks of NHL sports betting.

Get ready to become an NHL hockey betting expert!

Hockey Betting Type #1: Money Line

Money line is the most common form of ice hockey betting. In money line hockey betting, you are picking the winner of the game. When betting on the winner of a hockey game, the two options that you have to bet on are either the favorite team to win the game or the underdog team that has a smaller chance of winning.

Like with most NHL sports betting formats, there is usually a difference of 20 between the favorite and the underdog in money line betting. Although the wagering rate for NHL sports betting usually has a difference of 20 between the two teams, like with many other sports, the sportsbooks increase the odds in value when there is an extreme favorite.

The favorite team in the money line betting format has a negative sign next to a number that represents an amount of dollars that, when wagered, you can win back along with the base amount of dollars.

The underdog team in the money line betting format has a positive sign next to a number that is the amount of dollars that, when you wager the base amount of dollars, you can win along with the money you wagered.

Below is an example of the odds of a money line bet:

Calgary – +100

Vancouver – -130

In this example, the sportsbook asks bettors to wager 130 dollars on the favorite, Vancouver, to win 100 dollars, along with the 130 dollars back that they wagered. With the underdog, Calgary, the sportsbook requires bettors to wager 100 dollars to win 110 dollars.

In this example, the base amount of money wagered is 100 dollars. Thus, when figuring out the value of the favorite, or figure with the negative sign next to it, you know that the number displayed is the amount the bettor must wager to win that base amount of 100 dollars along with the 130 dollars that they wagered.

Because the betting difference is 20, the bettor must wager the base amount of 100 dollars for the underdog to win their money back and the amount of money that is 20 below the winning value of the favorite, which in this case is 110 dollars.

Hockey Betting Type #2: Puck Line

In hockey puck line betting, you only win money for the favorite if the team you wagered on to win won by 2 goals or more. You also only win money for the underdog if the underdog team you wagered on to lose loses by 2 or more goals.

Technically, in puck line betting, the team you bet on needs to win by at least 1.5 goals, but since there are no half goals in hockey, the team you wager on must win by a minimum of 2 goals.

Below is the example of the odds of a puck line bet:

Calgary +1.5 (-240)

Vancouver -1.5 (+200)

Like with money line betting, in this puck line example, bettors must wager 240 dollars on the favorite, Calgary, to win the base money of 100 dollars plus the money that they wagered back. Also, like with money line betting, bettors must wager 100 dollars on the underdog, Vancouver, to win the amount of money displayed in the odds, 200 dollars, plus their 100 dollars back.

The only difference between the money line and the puck line form of NHL sports betting is that in this puck line betting odds, Calgary bettors will win only if Calgary wins the game or loses by only one goal, and Vancouver bettors will win only if Vancouver wins by two goals or more.

Hockey Betting Type #3: Totals Betting

Totals hockey sports betting is when you win money based on if you successfully chose to wager over or under an estimated number of goals both teams score combined. The estimated number of goals you wager over/under in totals betting is usually 5 or 6.

Below is the example of odds in a totals bet:

Detroit vs Toronto over 5.5 (-135)

Detroit vs Toronto under 5.5 (+115)

In this example, bettors that bet on the over must wager 135 dollars to win 100 dollars and their 135 dollars back. Bettors that bet on the under in this example, must wager 100 dollars to win 115 dollars and their 100 dollar wager back.

When the amount you wager on the over and the under is the same, it is called a “flat.”

Hockey Betting Type #4: Futures

Futures hockey sports betting is when you bet on the outcome of an event that has not occurred yet.

Hockey Betting Type #5: Parlays

NHL parlays are cards that you turn in two or more of your bets on. To win and receive the money you wagered, you must win all the bets on your parlay card. Because you have to win multiple bets to receive your money, the odds of money that you can receive is usually much larger in NHL parlays.

Hockey Betting Type #6: In-Play Betting

In-play NHL sports betting is when you bet on an event with constantly changing odds live as the event is still occurring.

Final Betting Tips

Like when betting on any of your favorite sports, there is a learning curve when it comes to learning how to bet on NHL. While you are going through this hockey betting learning curve, do not pressure yourself to master each NHL betting style simultaneously. Instead, focus on mastering one or two forms at a time.

Even once you have mastered multiple of the NHL sports betting formats, if you know that you win more often with one format, stick to that format. Because, at the end of the day, the goal is to win money.