NHL Hockey Betting

NHL hockey betting offers five main types of betting: sides, totals, money lines, proposition bets, and futures wagering.

NHL hockey sides look like this:

Colorado Avalanche -1/2 -110
St. Louis Blues +1/2 -110

This means that if you take Colorado to cover the spread, the Avalanche would need to win by 1 or more goals in order for you to cover your bet. If you are to take St. Louis at +1/2 goal, this essentially means that the Blues must either win the game or tie for you to cover your bet. There can't be any ties when there is a 1/2 as a line. You may also see games with 1.5 goals as a point spread.

NHL Totals look like this:

Over 4.5
Under 4.5

Totals can vary from very low to very high. In the example given above, if you are to place a wager on the OVER, both teams combined goals must exceed 5 to cover your OVER wager. If you take the under, both teams combined goals added together must add up to less than 4 to "cover" the wager and be paid off as a winning bet.

NHL Money line wagers look something like this:

Colorado Avalanche -200
Toronto Maple Leafs +170

This type of wager is one based on a team winning a game. There is NO point spread involved in a money line wager. If you were to bet on the Colorado Avs at -200, all you're saying is that you want the Avalanche to win the game by 1 goal or more. In order to place this bet you will need to lay $200 to win (profit) $100. (or $20 to profit $10). If you're to bet the Toronto Maple Leafs, you would lay (risk) $100 to profit $170 (or $10 to profit $17). Toronto would need to win the game by one goal or more (su = straight up) in order for your wager to be paid as a winning bet. All ties are considered a push and monies wagered are returned to your betting account.

NHL hockey proposition wagers may look something like this:

Brett Hull to score a goal in the game:
Yes -125
No +105

This is self explanatory, your either betting on Brett Hull to score or not to score and laying -125 odds ($125 to win $100) or betting no, he won't score at +105 odds ($100 to win $105). Not all online sportsbooks offer NHL hockey proposition bets but they can be found at solid sportsbooks such as Olympic Sportsbook and many more.

NHL hockey futures wagers may look something like this:

Colorado Avalanche 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup
Dallas Stars 4-1 to win the Stanley Cup.
St. Louis Blues 7-1 to win the Stanley Cup.

If you were to bet on the Avalanche to win the NHL Stanley Cup you'd be betting $100 to profit $200. If you bet on the Stars you'd be betting $100 to profit or win $400. Lastly, if you bet on the Blues at 7-1 odds, you'd be betting $100 to win or profit $700. These types of wagers should only be placed for fun due to the odds being so poor and your chances of winning being very low.

Still have questions regarding NHL hockey sportsbooks? Shoot me an email and I can further explain how to make money betting on hockey this season.