A Basic Guide To How To Bet On Hockey
NHL bettors are a fierce and dedicated bunch. So it should come as no surprise that most sports betting sites give you plenty of wagering opportunities to pick from, and chances to learn how to bet on hockey. Even better, the best hockey-friendly sites go beyond focusing on just the NHL. You are allowed to put your money on the teams competing in leagues across the world like German DEL, Russian KHL or Swedish SHL.
As a result, seasoned hockey bettors are able to compare the odds offered by bookmakers and maximize their profits by going for the best prices. Fortunately, mastering every popular bet type is fairly easy, especially if you’ve ever wagered on other popular leagues like the NBA, NFL or MLB.
Best Online NHL Betting Sites
- What is moneyline NHL betting?
- What is puckline betting?
- What is Over/Under NHL betting?
- What is parlay betting?
- What is first period betting?
- What is an NHL prop bet?
- What is a futures bet?
- What is NHL LIVE betting?
- NHL betting FAQs
NHL Betting Introduction
Moneyline Betting
Betting the moneyline in hockey is very simple. 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 favorite 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.
- Red Wings +190
- Maple Leafs -225
Keep in mind that if 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.
When both teams are being offered at the same price, it’s referred to as a pick’em.
Puckline Betting
Betting the puckline is different than betting the moneyline. The biggest discrepancy is the fact that each game has a -1.5/+1.5 point spread, allowing you to get better odds on the favorite.
- 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 Betting
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.
- Moneyline
- Puckline
- Over/Under
- Parlay
- Period
- First Period
- Prop
- Futures
- LIVE Betting
Parlay Betting
Every hockey-friendly site allows bettors to parlay their bets to offer moneyline, over/under and puck line bets on a single ticket. The payout for a successful parlay bet is much higher than it would be for winning each of the individual wagers. But if one of your predictions is wrong, you lose all the money that you’ve invested. Consequently, parlays are widely considered to be best suited for experienced bettors who know how to limit the risk.
First Period Betting
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.
Proposition Betting
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
NHL Futures
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.
NHL Live Betting
The top hockey betting sites offer live betting on NHL games. As the titles suggest, 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.