Best NHL Betting Sites

Types of NHL Odds and Betting Lines

Seasoned hockey fans will probably take to betting on NHL games like ducks to water. The only things new bettors might struggle with are the different types of NHL odds and betting lines available. Let's clear that up right away. Read on to learn more about NHL betting odds and the most common wagering lines bookies offer.

NHL Betting Odds

There are three types of NHL betting odds: decimal, fractional, and American. Bookies allow you to pick the odds format that works for you, but, as you can probably guess, the odds format doesn't impact your winnings; it only presents NHL odds differently. Let's use some examples from the NHL to explain this.

Let's say you want to bet on the Colorado Avalanche vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. These are the odds bookies would give you for the moneyline market:

• Decimal odds: 1.95 Colorado 4.33 Tampa Bay 2.80

• Fractional odds: 19/20 Colorado 333/100 Tampa Bay 9/5

• American odds: -105 Colorado +333 Tampa Bay +179

With decimal odds, you multiply the decimal number by your stake. The figure you get is your total winnings (not profit). For instance, backing Tampa with $100 would result in total winnings of $280.

Fractional hockey odds, on the other hand, tell you the profit you will get with a given stake. Let's take Tampa Bay's odds of 9/5. The 9 represents the profit you would get ($9) from a $5 stake. The same is true for Colorado's odds. If you back the Avalanche with a $20 stake, you will get a profit of $19.

Lastly, as you can see, there are two types of American odds, positive and negative. Bookies reserve negative odds for favorites while they give positive odds to underdogs.

Negative NHL betting odds tell you how much you need to stake to get a $100 profit. For example, to get a windfall of $100, you will need to back Colorado with a $105 stake.

In contrast, positive (underdog) odds illustrate your profit from a $100 stake. Backing the underdog in our example with that stake would result in a profit of $179.

NHL Betting Lines

The NHL gives you all the betting lines you need for a successful wager. Here, we will discuss the two most popular ones. The first and easiest one to understand is the money line. This is a 3-way market where you can bet on the home or away team or the draw outcome. There is no point spread or handicap in this betting line, so the final score also tells you the winning outcome in the market.

Another really popular NHL line is the puck line. This line is essentially a point-spread market but modified for the lower-scoring sport of hockey. So, you will most often see a spread or margin of 1.5 goals/points. 

Unlike the money line, in this market, the bookmaker levels the playing field by handicapping the teams. That means the underdog gets a points advantage, while the favorite has to cover a predetermined numerical disadvantage:

New Jersey Devils -1.5 (+128) vs Boston Bruins +1.5 (-167)

As you can see, if you back the Devils in the puck line, the NJ-based side needs to win by at least two goals for you to have a winning bet. In contrast, even if the Bruins lose by one goal, they will still be the winning option in this NHL line. Also, even though the odds for the two NHL teams are quite balanced, they are still notntical. Unlike basketball, the margins available to level the playing field in hockey are more limited.

NHL Betting Markets

If you click on an NHL game after opening your betting account, you will be amazed by the number of markets you will get. These will range from the most obvious ones, such as which team will win the game, to more exotic bets, like player and game props. Let's look at each of these NHL betting markets in more detail to see which one will work best for you.

To Win Game Outright

This is the most straightforward market. In it, you predict which of the two teams will win the NHL game. Here, you have two options, you can bet on the winner in regulation time or after overtime is played.

Puck Lines

As we already mentioned, in puck lines, one of the teams gets a goals/points advantage, while the other team has to win the game by a margin bigger than that numerical advantage. Take the Detroit Red Wings (-1.5) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (+1.5) game. If you back the Red Wings in this NHL match, they will have to win by at least two goals.

Total Number of Goals

Goal totals are also in high demand with NHL betting enthusiasts. In these betting lines, you don't bet on the winner of the game. Instead, you wager on the number of goals scored. For instance, the bookmaker might set a threshold of 5.5 goals for an NHL game. That means you need to predict whether the number of goals scored will be Under or Over that 5.5 line.

Grand Salami

The unusually named Grand Salami market is a variation of total markets and is unique to the NHL. It allows you to bet on the total number of goals that will be scored across all of the games played during a given day.

Player Prop Bets

Player prop bets are another way to get competitive odds and enjoy the NHL action to the fullest. With player props, you bet on individual player performances, such as goals scored, assists, or points. The great thing about these markets is that you can pick a single game and compile a same-game multi where you will combine several player prop bets. That way, you will boost your winnings and profit even with a moderate bet amount staked.

Team Props

With team props, you bet on the performance of one of the teams. For example, you can wager on the number of goals one team scores during the match. You can also bet on how many goals that team will score in the first, second, or third period.

Game Props

Game props are more exotic wagers where you bet on things such as whether the game will end in regulation time or after overtime. You can also bet on whether there will be an Odd or Even number of goals scored, which team will score first or last, etc.

Outright Bets

NHL Outright bets allow you to play the long game and bet on future events at some enticing future odds. Of course, the most popular of these is which team will win the Stanley Cup. Most bookies will accept these bets before the regular season begins, while others will continue taking them even once the NHL season gets going.

NHL Live Betting

NHL live betting allows you to profit from watching the NHL action as it happens. The wide range of in-play NHL bets also helps here.As you know, the problem with pregame bets is that you can try to predict which way a game will go but can never be sure that you will get it right. With in-play hockey bets, however, making that educated guess is much easier, as you have the advantage of watching the game play out in front of you.

Strategies & Tips for NHL Betting

The great thing about NHL betting is that you can use your knowledge of the game to maximize your chances of winning. Utilizing a betting strategy can go a long way too. And it doesn't have to be complicated.

The Martingale betting strategy is a great example of that. You can use this approach on even odds markets such as Odd/Even (if you find a bookie with a minimal house edge on Odd/Even odds). You can also use it on some puck lines and Over/Under totals, provided they come with even (2.00) odds.

With Martingale, you double your bet amount every time you lose your bet and return to your original stake when you win. So, you should be profitable in the long run, as just one win will return everything you already invested and give you some profit to boot.

One drawback of this system is that you need to have a large enough budget in case you get into a never-ending losing streak. Also, as we said, this approach works best with NHL betting markets that come with even odds, so make sure you bear that in mind when picking NHL markets.

Another strategy is to decide whether accumulator or single bets will work best for you. As a rule of thumb, NHL bettors on a tight budget tend to go with hockey parlays, while high-stakes punters prefer low-risk single-game bets.

NHL Betting Tools to Help Your Betting Decisions

Doing your hockey homework is essential when betting on NHL games. For instance, you should always have the fixtures list in front of you, as it is an elementary NHL betting tool. That's because a team might have been playing a super-demanding game. Similarly, an NHL side might be preserving some of its energy for a more important match in the future. In both of these cases, it is best if you avoid these teams.

Your betting inventory should include two other NHL tools - injury lists and team news. You should stay on top of injuries and team news to know which players will take part in a given NHL game, which stars won't be fully fit, whether the morale in the dressing room is high or star players want out, and so on.

Other Things to Know About NHL Betting

Before you go and place your NHL bet, there's one more thing you should check out - head-to-head matches between the teams you want to back. History is not always the deciding factor in NHL games. However, in some rivalries where one of the teams usually triumphs over the other, it can be of great importance. After all, NHL bogey teams are not the stuff of myths and legends. If you ignore them, you are doing that at your own peril.