How to bet pro & college hockey

Dave Carney 2/10/2021

What’s on the table today?: How about some ‘puckin hockey ey?! Like that do ya? Good, because today we’re going to discuss the THREE most popular ways to bet on hockey.

This morning on the show I talked about two of these three ways to be hockey, but for good measure wanted to throw the third out as well because, well, with no more NFL football for a while we might as well take a stab on the ice.

Thanks goes out to our friends at DraftKings for providing some great hockey info! https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/how-to-bet/hockey-betting-guide/

Moneyline: In hockey, like in baseball, basketball or football, betting on the moneyline is simply betting on who will win the game. This is also the most popular method of betting on the NHL. For example, if the moneyline has Minnesota at +110 and Pittsburgh at -120, Pittsburgh is the favored team and you would need to bet $120 to win $100. If you place a $100 bet on Minnesota and they pull off a win, you would win $110.

This is essentially the same exact format as the other sports will use, but with hockey it’s really important when making moneyline plays to check who’s the goalie that night, how have the save percentages for said goalie been looking, and how many games during the week the team your betting on has played.

Puck Line: A hockey puck line is a spread and is similar to the run line in baseball. Bets are based on a 1.5 goal spread (same as baseball) – bettors can either lay 1.5 goals with the favorite or take 1.5 goals with the underdog. So if Minnesota is at +1.5 goals at odds of -110, Minnesota bettors will win their wager if Minnesota wins the game or loses by one goal whereas Pittsburgh bettors will only win their puck line bets if Pittsburgh wins by more than one goal. In this scenario, a $110 bet on either side would win $100.

Totals: Hockey totals are bets based on the total number of goals scored in a game, just the same as the total points in football or basketball, and total runs in baseball. You bet on whether the total goals will be over or under the number set by oddsmakers. If the over/under for Pittsburgh and Minnesota is 5.5, you’ll need at least 6 goals scored to win the over and a max of 5 goals scored to win the under.

Hockey totals are typically set somewhere between 5 and 6.5 depending on the teams playing and the goalies in net. In situations where the final goals scored equal the total (if 5 or 6), this is called a “push” and the bet amount is refunded. Placing a hockey total bet with a whole number means that occasionally, there will be no winners or losers.

**For more info on TOTAL plays, OVER/UNDER, and PLUS/MINUS plays, TEASER cards and more, check back through some previous columns for detailed information**

REMEMBER – don’t bet based upon my recommendations. Do your research. Stay in your lane