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Betting Guide
While NHL Moneylines can be a great way to bet NHL, they are often not the most profitable bet. You might know that the Sharks are going to beat the Coyotes, but the sportsbooks know that too and they are going to make you pay for it with a high moneyline. That can be difficult to profit from in the long run.
The puck line is very similar to the MLB Runline in that it is always set at 1.5. That line is then adjusted similar to a moneyline.
Betting NHL Puck Lines can be very profitable and this article is going to tell you why. We’ll also show you how to bet them as where as the best place to bet them.
Where To Bet NHL Puck Lines:
America: One of the top places to bet the NHL is Bovada and they have puck lines throughout the season. This is one of the best sites for betting on hockey as they not only have the NHL, but additional leagues like the MHL. You can bet puck lines, moneylines, over/unders, and much more here.
Canada: There is no better place for betting NHL puck lines than Sports Interaction. They have you covered for all of your NHL needs. One of the best things to bet on here is the Grand Salami where you bet on an over/under number for the whole league.
Everywhere Else: A site that I love for betting NHL is Bet365 Sportsbook and they have you covered when it comes to NHL Puck Lines. The odds are posted quickly and always being updated. In addition to puck lines, you can also bet totals and props.
What is an NHL Puck Line?
An NHL Puck Line is similar to a point spread in football in that you have a “spread” that the team needs to beat. In hockey, a favorite will be -1.5. This means that in order to win the bet the favorite would need to win by two goals or more. If you are betting the underdog they can lose, but it has to be by one goal.
The line will always be -1.5 or +1.5. There will then be odds attached to that. While the Red Wings might be a -130 favorite, at the -1.5 line they might be +150. This is because it’s a higher degree of difficulty.
Common NHL Puck Line Questions:
When is the best time to bet a NHL Puck Line?
When a team is a -120 favorite, it might not be the best idea to bet the puck line. While the positive odds that you get when you see this are very intriguing, the low odds tag this as more of a coinflip game and those are often decided by one goal.
The best time is when there is a bigger favorite and you can get their price down by taking the puck line.
Of course, not all games are created equal and there can be times when that is a bad value and the close line is a good value. Context is king.
Why is the NHL Puck Line set at 1.5?
The most common final score in the NHL is a 3-2 finish with the next most likely being 4-2. That tells you just about all you need to know about scoring in the NHL. This is a league where games are close and blowouts are less likely.
It’s such a thin line between a one goal win and a two goal win, that 1.5 is the perfect amount of goals. It forces every game to have a result. Without ties, a game has to be decided in the modern NHL and many are decided by just one so that extra half makes this a very trick bet that you have to be careful when you use it.
How To Bet NHL Puck Lines:
Finding the NHL Puck Line on your favorite sportsbook is rather easy. You simply head to the section that lists that day’s NHL games and browse the games. Here you should see three things: a puck line, a moneyline and a total. You know which one you want to bet.
NHL Puck Line Betting Strategy:
One thing about puck line betting that is important to understand is that if a game goes to overtime, the game is automatically a puck line winner for the underdog. You can’t score more than one goal in OT and the shootout is rated as one goal.
For this reason, you’ll often see the -1.5 as a major favorite like if the Penguins were favored against a non-playoff team. You might see the Penguins line getting as high as +1.5 (-180). That is really a lot of money to put out in a game where you need to win by two or more goals. This is where line shopping comes in. You just need to look around at all the games and find the lowest price on the +1.5 and seek that out.
Of course, it can often be a good value to grab the underdog in a situation like that as well. If you can get +1.5 at nearly +200 price, meaning a $100 bet would pay two-to-one, that can have a ton of value.
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