NHL Betting
Types of NHL Hockey Bets – A Beginner’s Guide
For a lot of people, winter is about holidays, snow, good food, and spending time with family. However, for sports fans, winter is all about hockey and specifically, the National Hockey League (NHL). While the game is exciting enough as it is, one way to make it even better is to bet on it, which is what a lot of sports fans already do.
However, if you are not an experienced bettor, you might be surprised to learn that betting on ice hockey doesn’t always mean betting on who will win. These days, with technological advancements that we have seen over the past few decades, you can bet on a number of different things, whether we are talking about the entire season or individual games.
This betting flexibility comes in really handy, considering the plethora of different opinions out there. So, time to put your hockey knowledge to work, and, hopefully, win some money along the way. But, before you can do that, you should first learn of all the different types of bets that you can use, and that is what we are going to discuss today.
Different hockey bets
The first thing that we wanted to address is what kinds of bets there are. So, if you are thinking of betting on hockey, you can choose the following:
- Moneyline
- Puck Line
- Totals
- 60-minute line
- Period Wagers
- Parlays
- Grand Salami
- Futures
- Prop bets
- Live/In-Game Betting
Another thing to note is that some of the bets can be quite complex, but their complexity does not affect your chance of winning. This is a common misconception, where some bettors believe that more complex bets make their odds more “professional,” or that simpler bets will somehow rob them of the payouts.
This is completely false, and you should remember that each bet is completely independent. The complexity/simplicity of the bet will not affect the payouts at all. We felt that it is important to note this, so that you would not ignore simpler bets, as they are often the best way for beginners to get into betting. In fact, many professionals also tend to keep things simple and straightforward, and they regularly collect major winnings. All that matters is the accuracy of your prediction, and that is all.
With that said, let’s look into the details of each of the mentioned bet types, and see what they include.
1. Moneyline
Moneyline is probably the simplest type of hockey bet there is, as it simply includes betting on who will win the game. This is also why it is the most popular, meaning that it is most commonly used. So, for example, if you are betting on a game between Team A and Team B, where the odds for Team A are +110, and the odds for Team B are -120, that would mean that Team B is the favorite. If you bet on the favorite, you will have to bet $120 to win $100. However, if ou bet $100 on Team A, you would win $110.
The reason for this is that sportsbooks often offer greater payouts if you bet on the underdog. Their chances of winning are lower, but they come with a greater payout if they win, which is the sportsbooks’ way of balancing the scales and making things interesting. Otherwise, everyone would bet on the favorite and the sportsbook would soon lose the money. Of course, betting also requires you to do the research, meaning to keep track of which teams are playing, which are trending, who is the favorite and why, who plays in each team, what is their save percentage, as well as the number of goals on average, and so on.
2. Puck Line
Next up, we have a hockey puck line. This is a goal spread that is very similar to the baseball’s run line. Essentially, the way bets here work is that they are based on a 1.5 goal spread, and bettors can either lay 1.5 goals with the match’s favorite, or they can do the same while supporting the underdog.
The way this works is fairly simple. If Team A is at +1.5 goals, with the odds of -110, those who bet on it will win if the team wins the game, or even if it loses by only one goal. Alternatively, Team B bettors will only win if their team wins by 2 goals or more. Also, it is worth noting that both sides would win $100, provided that they bet $110.
3. Totals
Our third type of hockey bet is called Totals, or Hockey Totals. This is the type of bet that is based on a total number of goals scored in the entire game. Essentially, you have to predict how many goals there will be. The oddsmakers will give their prediction, and you can bet either that there will be more or fewer than their prediction. So, if the over/under is set at 5.5m then you need a minimum of 6 goals scored in order to win the over, and a maximum of 5 to win the under.
Typically, the totals will be set between 5 and 6.5 for most games, although this can change depending on which teams are actually playing, and more specifically, who are the goalies, their reputation, past success at defending the goal, and so on. One more thing to note is that there can be a third outcome, where the total number of goals is neither over nor under the prediction, but instead, it equals the total predicted by oddsmakers. This outcome is known as Push, and it results in a total refund of the bets. So, choosing totals as your bet type means that sometimes, you will neither win nor lose.
4. 60-minute line
Moving on to the fourth bet type, we have something called a 60-minute line. This is a bet that is fairly similar to Moneyline, but it only includes the results at the end of 3 periods. As such, there is a possibility of a tie. In total, there are 3 outcomes — the victory of Team A, the victory of Team B, and a tie, with the outcome measured at the end of 60 minutes.
Because there is the possibility of the bet resulting in a tie, the odds of betting on a specific team are somewhat higher than what you have with the Moneyline type of bet. However, there is also a risk that the game might end up going into overtime, so once again, a higher reward is accompanied by an increased risk.
5. Period Wagers
Alternatively, you have a type of bet that splits a standard hockey game into three separate periods. This is known as the Period wager, where each period is separated by a halt of play. The winner, in this situation, is decided based on the cumulative goals scored. In other words, the winner will not be decided based on who won two out of three games. That is only the case when it comes to determining the game-winner. However, the situation is different when it comes to deciding who won the bet.
Sportsbooks will always jump on the opportunity to make new and exciting bets, so betting on the teams per each individual period brings additional opportunities for sportsbooks, as well as bettors. For example, you might believe that Team A will start out strong in the first period but then lose in the other two. If that is the case, you can bet on them winning the first period and then shift the bet in the other team’s favor for the remaining ones. Obviously, this information wouldn’t be useful if you could only bet on the outcome of the entire match, but with period wagers, you get a chance to make more precise bets.
6. Parlays
In the sixth spot, we have something called a parlay bet. This is a bet where you wager on multiple outcomes, and while there are big payouts, there is also a massive risk, as you need to predict all outcomes correctly in order to win the bet. This is even more complicated to predict than the outcome of a full game, as it includes betting on two teams and needing them to win their respective games with great precision.
While it is quite possible, and it has been done many times before, you would have to be very knowledgeable of the teams and the bets to get it right, and even then, you also need to be very lucky. Ironically, experts — who have that kind of knowledge — tend to play it safe by avoiding this type of bet.
7. Grand Salami
One of the more popular types of bets is known as the Grand Salami. This is particularly popular among hockey bettors, because it lets them have a deep interest in each game that takes place on a particular night. In its essence, the bet is essentially not that different from the Totals. However, you don’t bet on a single match, but on all the matches that are taking place on one, specific day.
So, if there are 5-6 goals per game, and there are 8 games in the day, the Grand Salami total is likely to sit somewhere between 40 and 50 goals, on average.
8. Futures
Moving on to the eighth type of bet, we have Futures. Futures bets are another popular type that refers to who will win a specific tournament, and the odds here are typically quite high, often going to +700, but also more or less. This means that, if you bet on a specific team’s victory, and you wager $100, you could win up to $700 if your prediction is correct.
Also, as the name of the bet suggests, Futures are offered in advance of an entire season, and they get adjusted as the season starts and continues to unfold. This
9. Prop bets
Nearing the end of the list, we have Prop bets. These work as additional bets that can be related to something called “game props,” which essentially means specific outcomes in any individual game, but also on player performance, which is also known as player props. You can bet on a specific team scoring a goal against another team, or you can bet that Team A will win the game by a specific score, and alike.
These are typically considered to be quite fun bets that let you bet on any such specifics and win some money if you are correct.
10. Live/In-Game Betting
Finally, we have Live/In-Game Betting, which is the extremely useful ability to bet on games as they are taking place. The odds for this type of bet are dynamic, and they change based on the developments in the game. This allows both you and the oddsmakers to experience a part of the game, get a feel for the teams and the atmosphere, and then make your bet. Just keep in mind that the odds will remain dynamic for as long as the bets are possible, and plan accordingly.
Where to Bet
We've made two guides based on your location:
NHL Betting for Canadian Residents
Conclusion
In hockey betting, just like in every other form of sports betting, it all comes down to making a correct prediction. The different types of bets that we covered above do not change much, but they do give you certain flexibility when it comes to betting on hockey, as you can approach any match from any angle, and bet on different aspects of the game, instead of simply going for Team A will win or Team B will win. This is why betting on hockey is extremely popular, especially when NHL comes around, so if you intend to bet on one of the remaining games, take advantage of the flexibility that the sportsbooks offer for this sport, try to make the best of it, and most importantly — have fun and enjoy the games.
