Engaging in sports betting on National Hockey League (NHL) games is thoroughly enjoyable and adds even more excitement to the fast, furious action in this exhilarating league.
Choosing the right site is important, however, to get the most out of your sports betting. A reliable site should be safe and give you good odds. Betting on a safe site means the operator will protect your personal information and financial information. You can identify whether a site is safe or not by checking whether there’s a padlock in the bar of the browser. Meanwhile, it’s important to compare the betting odds on different sites so you can get the best deal on your betting.
But what kinds of bets can you place on the NHL? Below is a look at bets you might wish to place while following the league.
Moneyline
A moneyline bet is the most straightforward bet you can place. All you have to do is pick an outright winner. If they win, you win as well. As well as being easy to make, the advantage of this bet is that if an underdog comes up trumps, you can win much more than you originally bet on them, whereas you have to bet much more on a favourite and, even then, they might not return a big profit on your bet.
Puck line bets
A puck line bet is a type of point spread bet. In ice hockey betting, the spread is always +/- 1.5 goals. To win, the favourite must win by more goals, or the underdog must lose by fewer. If you’ve bet on the favourite and they achieve this, you win, and if you bet on the underdog and they accomplish it, you win.
A puck line bet is a terrific bet to place if you think a team is going to win by a significant margin. It will net you a lot of money, whereas betting on the underdog could return only a small win. If you think the underdog is going to make a real fight of it and do well but just miss out on victory, it’s also a good bet to place.
Over/under bets
This is a bet on the total number of goals that will be scored in the game. If the sportsbooks set their prediction at 5.5, the teams must score at least six goals for you to win the over or no more than five for you to win the under. It’s all about predicting whether more goals will be scored than the sportsbooks predict.
Over/under betting offers flexibility. You don’t have to pick a winner, and you have a 50% chance of winning. However, when betting on overs or unders, the odds on likely results can be low. Theory doesn’t always translate into practice.
Period wager
A period wager is an exciting bet in which the game is split into three periods separated by a stoppage of play. The bet is on cumulative goals rather than wins. The advantage of this type of bet is that it’s more precise. You can bet on individual periods and shift the bet in favour of certain periods. If you think a team is going to play strong in the first one or two periods but their performance will dwindle in the remaining one, you can bet on them for those periods and then switch the bet to the other team for the final one.
Grand salami
This bet is popular with ice hockey bettors and allows them to take an interest in all the games taking place on a particular night. The sportsbooks will predict how many goals will be scored in total on a night of games, and you bet whether the total will be higher or lower than it.
Grand salami betting can win you a lot of money if you get it right. Unfortunately, predicting all the outcomes is tough. Not all sportsbooks offer grand salami betting either.
Parlay betting
Parlay betting involves betting on multiple outcomes. The risk is high, but the payouts are massive. You must predict all the outcomes correctly, which is complicated and takes a lot of knowledge of the game and of the teams to do. Get a single outcome wrong, however, and you lose the whole bet.
Props bets
Props bets are quirky bets on different aspects of the game. You might bet on whether the number of goals scored will be even or odd. You might bet on which team will score first or who the player to score first will be. If you’re looking for an entertaining bet, this type of bet is for you. If you don’t know much about the NHL, you might choose to stay away from it.
NHL betting is exciting. If you’re not sure which type of bet to place, start with a straightforward bet such as the moneyline bet. As you learn more about the sport and the league, you might consider placing more complex types of wagers.