What is the most popular way to bet on NHL games?
How does NHL moneyline betting work?
What is the average range of totals for NHL games?
What does Puckline mean in NHL betting?
What are the most commonly bet NHL future odds?
What are some other NHL betting tips?
NHL odds
The National Hockey League is the most parity-driven of the four major North American pro sports leagues – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to maximize your betting return. It might require a little more research and a little more luck than other sports, but being a successful bettor in hockey is certainly possible. Above all, it’s about knowing where to find the edges, and how to properly exploit them.
Here is a detailed primer on how to navigate the world of NHL wagering:
What is the most popular way to bet on NHL games?
Betting sites offer a wide variety of ways to bet on NHL games, as with the majority of pro sports. And there are two bet types that tend to stand out above the rest in terms of overall popularity: The moneyline, in which odds are produced for each team based on the expected outcome, and the total (or over/under), which projects how many goals will be scored in the game.
These two betting options are easily the most popular due to their simplicity. With the moneyline bet, all you’re required to do is pick which team you think will win – and if you’re right, you’ll collect. The over/under play is simply a matter of deciding whether you think the teams will combine to score more or fewer goals than the posted total.
How does NHL moneyline betting work?
The idea behind the moneyline is to assign odds for each team based on the likelihood that they’ll win the game. For example, if the home team is a heavy favorite, they might have odds closer to -180 – meaning you’ll need to bet 180 dollars to win 100. Conversely, the underdog team in this scenario might be at +200, meaning a $100 bet would yield $200 in profit.
The key to moneyline betting is to find the best plays on a given slate at reasonable odds. If you make a higher-than-standard bet at -220 because you’re hoping to return a higher profit, and that team loses, you’re sunk. Look for reasonably priced favorites and underdogs (particularly at home, or on multiple days’ rest) with decent shots at pulling off an upset.
What is the average range of totals for NHL games?
While you’re likely to see some reasonably wide totals ranges in MLB (7 to 12), NFL (36 to 56) and NBA (180 to 230), the National Hockey League predominantly sticks to four sets of totals. Low-scoring games will carry totals of 5, while the higher-scoring affairs could wind up as high as 6.5. But the majority of games will carry totals of either 5.5 or 6.
NHL totals betting is an exercise in selectivity and patience. Oddsmakers often draw even on over/unders, and have to be expected to do the same on a yearly basis. Be choosy when selecting which totals to bet, and look at all factors, including who is tending goal, which teams are playing back-to-backs, and how far the visitors had to travel.
What does Puckline mean in NHL betting?
Puckline betting provides a nice alternative to standard moneyline betting by giving the underdog team a 1 1/2-goal buffer, or by handicapping the favored team by 1 1/2 goals. For example, if Tampa Bay is favored at home against Colorado, the puckline would offer Tampa Bay -1.5 and Colorado +1.5 odds in order to generate further action on both sides.
Puckline strategy is quite simple: Unless you like the favored team to win in a rout, you should almost always focus your attention either on the moneyline, or on the underdog team +1.5. A large enough share of NHL games are decided by one goal that even a heavy favorite is a dangerous option at -1.5. That said, those -1.5 odds are tempting – just choose carefully.
What are the most commonly bet NHL future odds?
As with most other professional team sports, the most popular NHL futures odds are based around franchise performance. And they’re generally grouped into four categories: team point totals, odds to win the division, odds to win the conference (and thereby advance to the Stanley Cup finals), and odds to win the league championship.
The majority of futures action centers around the Stanley Cup winner – and no amount of strategy can help with this one, with so many in-season variables affecting each team’s performance. The same can be said for division and conference winners. Team point totals are also hard to handicap, but offer the best chance of a successful research-based pick.
What are some other NHL betting tips?
Goalies Matter Most
The role a goaltender plays in the outcome of a National Hockey League contest isn’t quite on the same level of a pitcher in a Major League Baseball game, but it’s close. A good goaltender – heck, even a goalie on a hot streak – can make or break virtually every bet you make, so pay close attention to who is tending goal on a given night.
Consider other goalie-related factors, as well. Is the goalie playing the second night of a back-to-back? Has he traditionally struggled against this opponent? Is the team in question going with the starting goaltender, or the backup? Is the starter coming off injury or inactivity? It’s worth doing a little goaltender research before making your selections.
Scope out the Sked
Scheduling should always be a critical factor in bet-making. Not all matchups occur in a vacuum: invariably, you’ll have home teams playing on three days’ rest against road teams hitting the ice on the second night of a back-to-back. And while the odds will often reflect these scheduling inequalities, there are still major profit opportunities in situations like these.
Target teams on homestands with rest days in between games, and feel free to fade teams at the end of a long road trip, particularly against the other conference (where the travel will also be a factor.) And if you do take a shot on a team playing the second game of a back-to-back, stick to teams that either play both games at home, or have little travel between games.
Special Teams Impact Totals
The margin for error with NHL totals is so incredibly small, so be aware of every possible edge that exists – and put special teams at the top of the list. Games involving teams with elite power plays and/or poor penalty-killing units are terrific over options, while the opposite is true for matchups invoving bad power plays and/or stingy PK units.
One thing to consider when adding special teams success or failure into the mix: The later into the season you are, the more reliable the special teams trends are. It’s impossible to rely on a team’s power play success rates in the third week of October, so set those aside and wait until you have a much larger sample size before considering them.
Find Profitable Ways Into Good Teams
While parity makes even the most one-sided NHL matchups less of a slam dunk than other sports, there are still a number of ways to capitalize on betting elite teams. The moneyline isn’t the only way to get it done, thanks to the world of props and live betting – and the more invested you are in both, the clearer your path to potential profit.
Consider, for example, taking a favorite to win after it falls behind by a goal; you’ll get much better odds, and the best teams regularly come back from early deficits. There’s also the “win in regulation” wager, which simply removes the ability to cash in on an overtime or shootout win. If you like the team you pick to win in 60 minutes, this bet pays better than the moneyline.
NHL odds
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