Betting (Minus) 101
With the NHL regular season (and Illegal Curve FREE handicapping contest) beginning in under a week, now is a good time to review the basics of hockey betting.
Types of Bets: General
A straight bet is a wager on the outcome of one game.
A parlay is a wager on the outcome of multiple games.
A futures bet is a wager on the outcome of an event in the future – for example, who will win the division, conference, and championship.
Types of odds
American Odds are expressed using a + or a –.
European Odds are expressed using decimals.
UK Odds are expressed using fractions.
Example: a team that has a 50% of winning can be expressed as +100 (American), 2.0 (European) and 1/1 (UK).
The rest of our article will only discuss American odds.
Types of Bets: Hockey
Betting the moneyline is a wager on a team to win a game.
Betting on the puckline is a wager on a team to win a game with a handicap (usually +/- 1.5 goals).
Betting on the total is a wager on whether the game will have over or under a certain number of goals
Understanding the Moneyline
A positive moneyline represents the amount of money to be won from a $100 bet.
A negative moneyline represents the amount of money to be wagered in order to win $100.
The team that is favored to win will have a negative moneyline because more money is required to be wagered in order to win the same amount.
Example
Here is a line that you could see during the regular season:
…………..Team…………….Moneyline(1)……Puckline………Total
.
Away…Calgary Flames……+130(2)……….+1.5 -200(4)…O5.5 -120(6)
.
Home Ottawa Senators……-140(3)……….-1.5 +180(5)….U5.5 +110(7)
.
Note: shootout and overtime wins count as 1 goal for the winning team.
(1) The difference between the home and away moneylines is known as the juice (sportsbooks profit from the juice). A ten-cent difference between lines is known as reduced juice, while a twenty-cent difference between lines is the industry standard.
(2) Betting $100 on the Flames would net you $130 (your $100 back plus an additional $130).
(3) In order to win $100 on the Senators, you would need to bet $140 (a bet of $100 would net you ($71.43).
(4) For this bet to win, Calgary must either win or lose by 1 goal. You would need to bet $200 in order to net $100.
(5) For this bet to win, Ottawa must win by more than 1 goal. A bet of $100 would net you $180.
(6) For this bet to win, more than 5.5 goals must be scored. You would need to bet $120 in order to net $100.
(7) For this bet to win, less than 5.5 goals must be scored. A bet of $100 would net you $110.
Still have questions? Send me an e-mail or post your questions in the comments section
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NHL Point Totals Props
People have all kinds of crazy opinions about which teams will surprise and which teams will disappoint. When I am asked to make a pre-season prediction on how teams will do, the first place I turn is the NHL Regular Season Points proposition. These lines are taken from
CaribSports (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Thoughts?
Other hockey betting news and notes:
– Bet365 and Betsson are offering a prop on who will score the most points this season.
– Pinnacle is offering props on how many points Crosby and Ovechkin will score.
– Stan James, Unibet, Betsafe, Victor Chandler and 5Dimes are now offering division odds.
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