How Does NHL Betting Work?
A Quick Guide to Understanding NHL Betting Lines and Odds
The National Hockey League is known as the fastest major sporting league in the world. The combination of elite athletes on ice results in players reaching breakneck speeds while executing dazzling passing and shooting plays. Hockey is a game of strategy and art, and in itself, is a true spectacle for onlookers. But in Canada, calling hockey the nation’s most popular sport would be an understatement; hockey transcends sport. In fact, when speaking to most Canadians at home and abroad, you’ll learn that hockey is synonymous with Canadian culture. Hockey Night in Canada is the ultimate unifier in the Great White North, as families are brought together from Vancouver to Newfoundland every Saturday night to cheer on their hometown heroes. The mantra in Canada goes that once a child can walk, his skating skills are soon to follow. There’s no debating how important the game of hockey is to Canadians, but when there’s an opportunity enjoy good NHL Odds and make some cash in the process of cheering for your favourite team, hockey reaches a new level of excitement.
Hockey bets, like betting on any other major sporting league in North America, predates the league itself. For generations, backyard games on the pond allowed hockey fans to live out their dreams of scoring the winning goal that captured Lord Stanley’s Cup. Those games were invariably coupled with friendly wagers, and when it came to showing their allegiance to their favourite team, fans were eager to take their love of hockey to the next level by placing bets.
Fans jumped at the opportunity to become personally engaged in games and player performances since the contemporary NHL organized in 1917. Century-old rivalries between teams like the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs pit some of the most passionate fans against one another, and you’re sure to find wagers flying back and fourth when these clubs clash. Who will win the game? Will the Habs make the playoffs this year? Who will finish higher in the standings? These are scenarios that incite passion in all hockey fans and create some of the most exciting bets throughout the season.
While betting options may have been limited in the infancy of the league, which consisted of just six teams during its inaugural year, the popularity of the sport in Canada, the United States, Europe and Russia has resulted in league expansion in the NHL, feverous growth abroad and an explosion of betting opportunities. As a fan of hockey, you know that anything can happen on any given night. Upsets are typical and a team that’s on a roll can come to a screeching halt at any moment. A game can turn on its head, as what seems like a sure win for one team can evaporate within seconds with the flick of a switch by the hockey gods. Everything about hockey makes it the perfect sport to try your luck on.
Bodog Sportsbook is on the cutting edge of all that is hockey betting. We offer moneyline and puckline betting options for every game during the regular season and playoffs. We also offer futures betting for fans that like to play the long game, as you attempt to predict the winners of the Stanley Cup or an individual division. Bodog also recognizes that some fans like to go outside of the box in their betting portfolio; that’s why we offer prop side bets so fans can wager on the performance of individual players or specific occurrences within a game or season. To ensure hockey fans are able to respond to the events of a game while watching it, we’ve created a live betting option so you can exercise your skills while the action unfolds in front of you. To help you navigate these options, we created this NHL betting guide, which aims to get the most out of the wonderful world of NHL betting with Bodog Sportsbook.
NHL Betting
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To increase the action on a game that has caught your attention, we offer bettors a wide array of wagering opportunities in advance of game action, including the moneyline, puckline, over/under, futures and props.
NHL Betting: Moneyline
The basic moneyline is the most popular wager in hockey betting. This type of bet consists of betting on one team to win a game straight up. Each game has an underdog and a favourite, as indicated by negative and positive odds respectively, and these NHL odds dictate how much you would be paid for a winning bet. We’ll look back at the 2018 Stanley Cup odds when the Washington Capitals faced off against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Golden Knights (-160)
Capitals (+140)
As noted by their negative odds, the Golden Knights were the favourite to win the 2018 Stanley Cup at the start of the Final round of the playoffs. In this example, a $160 bet would pay $100 if the Golden Knights came out on top. Conversely, the Capitals’ positive NHL odds means that they were underdogs in the matchup. Since the Capitals won last year’s Stanley Cup, bettors were paid $140 on $100 bets.
NHL Betting: Puckline
Another popular betting option in the NHL is betting on the puckline. Known as the spread in other major leagues, the puckline is a 1.5-goal margin of victory that the favourite must cover in order for the bet to pay out. We’ll use the same 2018 Stanley Cup Finals to illustrate the puckline.
Golden Knights (-1.5)
Capitals (+1.5)
In this example, a fan could have bet that the Vegas Golden Knights would win Game 1 by more than 1.5 goals. Had they won by just one goal, bets on Vegas would have lost. If the Golden Knights scored two goals or more, the bet would have won. For Washington to cover, they would have needed to win the game or lose by just one goal.
NHL Betting: Over/Under
The over/under, another betting option, is a favourite among NHL fans because it provides bettors with an opportunity to showcase their knowledge of teams’ scoring prowess. This bet allows people to predict whether the total number of goals scored in a game will go over or under the oddsmaker’s prediction.
Golden Knights O 4.5
Capitals U 4.5
You’d see the over/under listed after the puckline and moneyline on the game line, with the O representing the Over, and the U representing the Under. Using the same example of Stanley Cup odds between the Capitals and Golden Knights, both teams were thought to likely combine for somewhere between four and five goals. If both teams scored at least five goals, the Over would pay out. However, if they scored four or fewer goals, the Under would pay out.
NHL Futures Betting
Throughout the course of the NHL season, hockey prognosticators update the NHL Stanley Cup odds on the NHL futures page. These are long-term bets that pay out after the championship is won. During the regular season, all teams have unique odds to win Stanley Cup glory, and as teams are eliminated from the postseason, they’re removed from the list. The more likely a team is to win the championship, the shorter their odds will be, and the lower the payout.
NHL Prop Betting
To further enhance the Stanley Cup experience, there are also prop bets, which are like side bets on things beyond the winner of a game or championship. Through prop betting, you can bet on things like the first team to score, whether a specific player will score or the exact score of a game. Bodog also offers the chance to wager on who will win league awards during the regular season, such as the Hart Memorial Trophy for league MVP or the Vezina Trophy for the league’s top goaltender. Props are designed to enhance the overall betting experience for seasoned bettors and novices alike.
Regardless of the betting options you choose to explore, Bodog is your source for the most exciting NHL betting experience on the web. Don’t miss our regular updates and constantly evolving NHL betting lines.
