Online NHL Betting: 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. NHL betting lines are marked with an integer (+ or -) which indicates which team is the favorite and which team is the underdog. The positive (+) team is the underdog, while the negative (-) team is favored to win.

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.

Betting a “puckline” is hockey’s version of spread betting. Essentially, it is a wager that the favored team will win the game by a set number of goals – or more.

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.

Wager not on the favored team, but if the combined score of both teams is over or under the amount posed by the sportsbook.

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.

Simply put, a parlay means you can place several wagers at once on a single ticket — However, if you lose on even one your bets, you lose all the money you’ve wagered.

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.

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.

Prop bets allow you to bet on elements of the game besides the final score, ranging from which player scores first, to who sings the national anthem.

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.

Wager on the future of hockey, for the NHL, one of the biggest futures going is the Stanley Cup.

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.

Bet on props, over/unders and pucklines once the game begins.