
Though hockey betting is yet to gain popularity like some major sports like soccer, baseball, basketball, horse racing, to name but few, there are some very interesting betting types in hockey that are capable of making a significant profit for bettors in returns on bets. Money line wagering is a simple straight bet in which bettors are simply betting on one team to beat the other team. Total goal wagering (or total line) presents bettors with the privilege of wagering on the combined total number of goals by both teams at the end of the whole game. Spread or puck line wagering is simply a straight wager on the goal spread; here, team that bettor wager on must cover or beat the goal spread.
It is not far from the truth to say that hockey betting hasn’t really got much enthusiasm from sports bettors in terms of attention compared to other sports like Soccer, horse racing, F1 betting, and eSports betting, etc. In fact, one can say that many punters may actually consider placing bets in hockey as an additional exercise, something they only do rarely. However, for sports bettors who do take their take and devote considerable amount of their resources to studying and understanding the sport, the result of betting experience in hockey can manifest in form of a sizeable boost to percentage of their wealth that they make from sports betting. Betting systems and tactics in hockey is somewhat similar to those found in baseball. However, given the difference in how these two games are actually being played as well as the differentials in pace of play of these games, bettors should understand that there may be differential impact on the kind of outcome these games will bring.
Research has provided sufficient evidence to the fact that majority of bettors betting hockey actually spend a significant amount of their time handicapping on money lines that are provided by bookmakers for hockey games. Money line is a popular style of betting hockey. In this type of hockey betting, the system is set with a base of $100. Bookmakers then set a higher money line for the favorite to designate just how much bettors planning to make hockey betting in this style will have to put on the line to make that $100 profit. Sports bettors interested in betting hockey using the money lines should know that bookmakers set the money line for the underdog in that same matchup to reflect just how much bettors can win for that same $100 wager. Newbies to hockey betting will probably not make much sense out of what we just discussed. It’s okay! That’s probably because it’s your first rodeo. Newbies or pro, nevertheless, let’s explain by way of a simple example.
Let’s assume a bookmaker has given the following hockey money line for an NHL game:
Detroit Red Wings +120 Chicago Blackhawks -130.
You will notice from the above example that the road team, which is also the Underdog, is the Detroit Red Wings. We can tell it’s the underdog by the plus (+) sign it was designated with. The implication of this is that bettor would net $130 for a $100 bet if the Detroit Red Wings win this game. There is a minus (-) sign in front of Chicago Blackhawks; it designates them as the favorite. This meana that bettors intending to make a profit off this game would have to risk $130 in order to net $100 having placed a bet on the Chicago Blackhawks to win. ´
One important thing that bettors must keep in mind about hockey betting is the benefits that can accrue to a hockey betting punter who carefully studies each team’s goaltenders. The simple reason for this is that hockey is not like some other games like baseball where goaltenders’ performance doesn’t really have that much influence on outcome of the game. In hockey, a well-performing goaltender can strongly influence and dictate the outcome of a game, to a reasonable extent. Thus, knowing the current form of each team’s goaltenders is very important for bettors to make some profit in hockey betting.
In one of our articles, we discuss in-depth on goal bet; there we made mention of a betting type where sports bettors bet on the total, combined scores or number of goals to be made by both teams in a game. You can also check out our article on over under bet for optimum understanding. This betting concept where bettors place their bet against the total number of goals to result from both teams at the end of the game (not necessarily at the end as there are other stop margins; read more about goal bet) is also applicable to hockey betting.
In betting on hockey total lines, bookmakers set a total line for hockey games to reflect betting odds for total scores to be made by both teams. In most cases, total lines in hockey betting are set in a very tight range between five and six goals. The logic here is that an average of three goals in a game is apportioned to the top scoring teams in the NHL, while the best defensive teams in the NHL will have a goals-against average in the range of 2.2 to 2.4.
The fact that betting hockey on total lines often only leaves room for very little variance necessitates that bettors do their research in finding matchups that has potentials for bettors to win some profits. Recall the role of goaltenders we discussed earlier. Bettors paying close attention to details they come across in their research would be able to forecast that a game between top two defensive teams with very competent goaltenders is most likely to result on the “under”. Sports bettors should know that bookmakers often attach a money line to betting on a total in cases like this to compensate bettors.
Bettors interested in hockey betting should know that hockey also has its own version of point spread, adding to the various ways’ bettors can place the bet betting hockey. Hockey’s version of point spread is referred to as puck line. Hockey’s puck line shares a great similarity with baseline’s run line as the former is always set at 1.5. The simple implication of this is that for bettors who bet on the favorite to win, the favorite has to win by two or more goals for these bettors to have some kind of pay off. Punters should also know that odds for money line are always attached to puck lines; however, bettors can make more on betting the favorite in this wager and the risk gets transferred to betting on the underdog.
Let’s use our previous example of Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. The bookmaker may present the puck line for Detroit at Chicago game as follows:
Detroit Red Wings +1.5 (-160) Chicago -1.5 (+140)
From the above example, the simple interpretation of this bet is that bettors willing to bet puck line in this game would have to risk $160 on a $100 bet to get Detroit plus the 1.5 goals. In another vein, bettors willing to give up the 1.5 goals would stand to make $140 betting on Chicago Blackhawks.
Like with those wanting to place cricket bets, or Greyhound bets in US, those who intend to get involved in hockey betting on a serious and regular manner are strongly advised to find and select the correct bookmaker for their betting endeavor. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized. Selecting a substandard bookmaker already throw away any significance chance of winning for bettors. Essentially, what sports bettors interested in betting hockey should be looking for are bookmakers that not only deliver a large choice of hockey betting markets but with consistently great and impressive odds.
This gives a comfort feeling and knowledge for hockey bettors that gaining maximum returns is guaranteed on the occasion that they win. Now, finding the bookmakers with all these aforementioned qualities is no joke. This is why we have gone through the stress and simplify the whole experience for you on our sports betting comparison page. All you have to do is head over to our sports betting comparison page to select bookmakers of your choice with whom you want to make your next hockey betting.
Conclusion: Much ado about Hockey Betting.
Hockey betting has not gained much popularity as bettings in other sports have, like soccer, American football, baseball, basketball, etc. However, sports bettors who are able to get a good grasp on hockey betting can significantly increase the portion of their wealth stream coming from profits from bettings. Notable among betting types that can be placed in hockey are money line wagering, total line wagering, and puck line (spread) wagering, among many other. The significance of finding a standard bookmaker in betting hockey cannot be overemphasized, as we have pointed out in the previous section. Visit our sports betting comparison page to make your hockey betting and enjoy a pleasurable betting experience.Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
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