To be in the National Hockey League you will need to choose a trusted online sportsbook for your wishes, decide which kind of bet you’d like to make, and have a little hockey knowledge.
If you’re already a hockey fan and are familiar with NHL teams and players, you’re off to an excellent start. Having way into NHL odds and free picks can also help in particular if you’re not overly familiar with every statistic that could assist you in the decision-making process.
Meanwhile, you have the opportunity to wager on the money line in just about every sport, baseball and hockey are the two team sports that use it as the main betting option. The major reason is that baseball and hockey results have a tendency to be much lower-scoring, with the teams each totaling single digits in runs and goals, respectively, for the most part.
When it comes to money line betting, in hockey you can also bet for each period of the game. Among three periods in a hockey game, this would give you two additional times to put money on who you think will be winning the game, and then the third would be the regular money line bet.
The Goal (point) spread betting is common in hockey as well, but isn’t practically as money line betting. If you make this bet, the side that you choose must either win by more than 1 goal or lose by less than one goal. The chances on this type of bet will vary quite a bit, depending on which team is favored, but the general the idea behind this bet is to get better odds on a heavy favorite.
3-way betting is almost the same accurate thing as money line betting, except any overtime and shootout play is not included. So mostly, you bet one team to win, or bet a tie. The following idea of this bet is to give you better odds on the most wanted team in each game, but also make the bet tougher because you automatically lose if the game goes into overtime. It also has good payouts if you are able to hit on a bet like a tie.
In the meantime, scores ending 43-27 in football or 110-97 in basketball are examples why it makes more sense to use point spreads for those specific sports. In other words, smaller results lead to moneylines becoming the betting option of choice made available by oddsmakers, and larger numbers require them to mainly utilize point spreads.
When betting the total, you will need to choose if the total number of goals scored on the game will go OVER or UNDER the odds maker’s selected number.
When you’re making a bet on the NHL, it can occasionally be hard to find value in a team that’s either seriously favored or is a major underdog on the moneyline. Luckily for us, most sportsbooks give us a puck line, which is the same idea as a point spread in sports such as football and basketball. The difference, of course, is that scores in hockey are much lower and the spread is always set at 1.5. This means that in order to cash a spread bet, a favorite must win by two goals or an underdog must not lose by more than one goal.
A parlay is a hockey bet where you include more than one team, and most sites allow all the way up to 12 or even 15 teams occasionally. A parlay must include at least two teams, but the gain of betting a parlay is that the payout is much higher.
Types of NHL Bets Offered
If you are looking for a bigger payout or better entertainment value than straight bets can provide, try one of the following wagering options offered at most NHL betting sites:
Parlays
A parlay in NHL betting is when you select numerous teams to win their respective games. In order to win a parlay bet, all preferred teams must win their games for your ticket to pay out. If even one of your chosen teams loses, the whole ticket is considering a loss.
Live Betting
Live betting for NHL allows bettors to wager on the outcomes of any game at any point of the game with varied odds depending on the team selected and the timing of the bet.
Props
There are selections of NHL prop bets that can be made prior to the puck drop. Player and team prop bets usually range from which team will score first, which player may score a goal or how many shots an exact player may take in a specific period. High-profile games such as those in the Stanley Cup playoffs have plenty more options and markets.
Futures
Futures are long-term bets that take place at a later date. Predicting the winner of the Stanley Cup final is a great illustration of futures bet for the NHL. Another example would be predicting the Eastern or Western Conference champions and frequently can result in a generous payout.