Online NHL Betting in India: an Expert Guide to Hockey Betting

Betting the moneyline in hockey is very simple, and requires players to bet on who will win the game. This means that inexperienced bettors should focus on learning how this type of wager works.

When you bet on the moneyline, your goal is to guess which team will win the hockey game. The NHL betting lines are marked with an integer, which indicates which team is the favourite and which team is the underdog. Betting $100 on a positive line allows you to win the amount listed on the site.  While betting on a negative line requires you to put the amount determined by the sportsbooks at risk for a chance to win $100.

The difference between betting on a moneyline and betting on the point spread is pretty basic — When betting on the moneyline, you bet on who will win, while a point spread involves how much the favored pick wins by. NHL and hockey betting is mainly a moneyline type of game.

When both teams are being offered at the same price, it’s referred to as a pick’em.

NFL Moneyline Example

For example, let’s say this is the moneyline:

• Red Wings +190
• Maple Leafs -225

In this example, both teams are evenly matched. The bookmaker might set both lines at -110 – in this case, you’ll have to wager $110 for a chance to win $100 regardless of the team you pick.

The payouts for moneyline bets depend on who the favorite is and who the underdog is. The underdog will always offer a higher payout due to being viewed by oddsmakers as the inferior team, while the favorite will offer a lower payout, as oddsmakers expect them to win.

NHL Puckline Betting Example

Let’s say these are the odds:

• Rangers +1.5 1.68
• Canadians -1.5 2.23

However, winning a puckline bet that’s placed on the favorite requires your team to win by two goals or more. On the other hand, collecting on a puckline wager placed on an underdog is somewhat easier, as you win even if your team loses the game by one goal.

Over/under bets are also known as totals bets due to the fact that the purpose of the bet is to predict whether the combined score of both teams will be higher or lower than the number posted by the sportsbook.

In most cases, the total is set at 6. In this example, cashing on the over bet means the two teams combined to score at least seven goals. And the under would payout if the final score was less than 6.

Over/Under Betting Example

Here’s an over/under NHL betting example. Let’s say the total is set at 40.5 for a game between the Maple Leafs and the Canadians:

Toronto vs. Montreal

• Over 40.5 (-110)
• Over 40.5 (-110)

Numbers in brackets show the odds of each bet. Here, both are at -100, which means it’s an even bet. If Toronto wins (sorry, Montreal fans) with a 25-20 score, the total is 45, which means the over hits since 45 is greater than 40.5.

Every hockey-friendly site allows bettors to parlay their bets to offer moneyline, over/under and puck line bets on a single ticket. If one of your predictions is wrong, you lose all the money that you’ve invested. However, the more bets you make on your ticket, the more money you can win.

Consequently, parlays are widely considered to be best suited for experienced bettors who know how to limit the risk.

Parlay Bet Example

Here’s an example of bets that might be on your parlay ticket: You bet on Boston to win an MLB game at -110, Toronto and Montreal to score over 50 points during a game, and you bet on Tiger Woods to beat Phil Mickelson by 10 points.

First period wagers aren’t as popular as typical moneylines or puck lines, but they provide you with an interesting alternative to traditional bet types. In a bet of this type, only the results of the first 20 minutes of the match matter.

Usually, you’re allowed to put your money on a first-period moneyline or a 0.5 spread. But some sportsbooks offer second and third-period betting, which tends to be all about picking the team that has the highest score by that point in the hockey game.

First Period Betting Example

Wager on which team will have the higher score at the first period. For this example, let’s say the Vancouver Canucks are playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Canucks are the favored team. The odds favor the Canucks at (-200), so you place a $100 bet the Canucks will lead in the first period. They do 1-0, so you win $50, for a total of $150 back (you get the money you wagered back, too).

The term “proposition bets,” or “prop bets,” refers to all the bets that aren’t covered by any of the categories listed above. Props allow you to put your money on the many elements of the game that aren’t connected with the final score. For example, many sports betting sites offer props that allow you to wager on the first player to score, the shot totals or the first team to score.

Sportsbooks open lines on a variety of futures bets before the start of every NHL season. Who will win the Stanley Cup, who will win the Eastern and Western conference titles and where will a free agent be playing next season, to name a few. Betting the over/under on a team’s points total for the upcoming NHL season is another popular futures bet.

Futures bets also include individual postseason player awards.  These will also allow you to select a “FIELD” option, offering flexibility if you believe a player stands to win who is not listed as an option.

The top hockey betting sites offer live betting on NHL games. Like the name suggests, these bets are only available after the puck drops and the action starts. You can make all your standard NHL bets, such as moneyline, puckline, and totals. These odds are controlled by an algorithm that centers on the time remaining, score and volume of bets made.

NHL Live Betting Example

The odds and wagers listed for live betting options on an online sportsbook essentially look similar to the examples above, only, live.