Puck Line Bet

The favourite needs to win the hockey game by two goals that make a puck line bet on an underdog a winner. Puck Line Hockey Australia FAQs. What is puck line betting? Puck line betting in the NHL is a point spread with the odds of +/-1.5. This method balances both hockey teams. What does the +1.5 puck line stand for?

The point spread is a straight bet where a team gets or gives points based on if they are the favorite or underdog, while the money line adjusts the payout for each team winning regardless of the margin of victory. However, baseball run line and hockey puck line. The Puck Line is a bet created solely for hockey. And because hockey games are usually low scoring affairs, the Puck Line is a mixture of a point spread bet and a moneyline bet. The point spread is typically only 1.5 goals (-1.5 for favorites, +1.5 for underdogs) and then the odds. In ice hockey, a puck line is a unique bet made in lieu of moneylines. Generally speaking, most bettors have no preference either way. However, most people probably don’t know why this type of wager exists. Allow us to explain with this comprehensive puck line betting guide. We’ve gathered the differences and compared the value of each bet.

Looking to get started betting on hockey with the 2021 NHL season? Our NHL betting guide breaks down all you need to know to place hockey bets with a look at all the various betting markets, terms and strategies. We’ll also showcase daily NHL betting odds from the top legal US sportsbooks.

The 2021 NHL regular season runs from Wednesday, Jan. 13, through Saturday, May 8, and will have all 31 teams playing a 56-game, regionally-based schedule. The Colorado Avalanche enter the season as the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup, with the 2019-20 champion Tampa Bay Lightning right behind.

NHL betting odds

NHL Betting Guide: Best betting sites

Legal sports betting is expanding across the United States, and bettors should particularly be aware of these sportsbooks:

DraftKings Sportsbook — Available in NJ, CO, PA, IA, IL, IN, NH, TN and WV
FanDuel Sportsbook — Available in NJ, CO, PA, IA, IL, IN, TN and WV
BetMGM — Available in CO, IA, IN, NV, NJ, PA, TN and WV

Each of these sportsbooks will have a wide selection of special offers and promotions for the NHL aimed at both first-time and existing customers.

NHL Betting Guide: How to bet on hockey

NHL moneyline

Unlike football and some other sports, hockey betting revolves around the moneyline. In a moneyline wager, a bettor simply selects the winning team with payouts being less depending on the odds.

In hockey, bettors only have to pick the winning team no matter the margin of victory. There will always be a favorite and an underdog, with payouts adjusted on which team you select.

For example in a matchup between the St. Louis Blues and Avalanche, the book may list the following:

• St. Louis Blues +125
• Colorado Avalanche -152

This means the Avalanche are favored and a bettor would have to risk $152 to win $100 (or $15.20 to win $10). A bet on the underdog Blues would bring $125 for a winning $100 bet. Obviously, a bet on the underdog brings more money than a bet on the favorite.

Unlike in other sports, point spreads don’t enter into traditional hockey wagering. Got a hunch on a team? Simply open your sports betting app and make a selection. It’s that easy.

NHL puck line betting

This offers bettors another interesting bet with a potential for some better returns depending on the side you bet. The puck line (similar to the run line in baseball) is usually set at 1.5 and is a version of point spread betting applied to hockey.

In an average hockey game, final scores usually are decided by a goal or two. These wagers offer some extra action on teams taking that scoring into mind.

So when considering a puck line wager, bettors are basically weighing whether a team can win by two goals or more.

For example, in a matchup between St. Louis and Colorado, the Blues may be +1.5 (-240) and the Avs at -1.5 (+190).

A $100 wager on the favored Avalanche would earn $190 if they can win by 2 or more. On the other side, it will take a $240 bet on the Blues to return $100.

For the most part the puck line is usually set at 1.5, but that can drift as high as 2.5 depending on the matchup. A poor defensive team against a top-notch offensive opponent might see the puck line move up.

Betting the puck line offers some extra incentives for picking a winner – especially when selecting a favorite.

NHL totals (over/under)

The over/under is a traditional bet based on the total number of goals scored between two teams. This is similar to wagers a bettor would find in other sports.

The bettor is making a choice whether the total goals will go “over” or “under.” For example, a marquee offensive matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers might be set at a total of 6.5.

A 4-3 win by the Flyers would reward “over” bettors with a win because the total score in the game was 7. A 3-2 Penguins win would pay the “under” bettors instead.

It’s important to note these lines can move depending on the betting action on either side. The sportsbook is looking to balance the amount of money bet on each side so that it doesn’t have too much of a liability.

Sportsbooks profit by taking a percentage of the total bet – the vig or juice. Totals can be good wagers, especially if a bettor has some insight into each team’s offensive productivity.

NHL parlay wagering

Like in other sports, parlay wagering can offer a fun sweat on multiple games or event outcomes. In a parlay a bettor makes multiple selections on one wager.

To win, all those selections must hit for a bettor to score a win. Lose on one of those and the entire bet is a loser. However, hitting on a parlay can pay much higher odds than wagering on a single game or outcome.

For example a bettor may place a parlay wager on the Stars, Devils, and Sharks. If all those teams win, a bettor could earn around 6-1 for that wager. A $100 bet would score the bettor $600, but that may depend on the selections and if they were favorites or underdogs.

Parlay wagers can be made on two teams or up to 10 or 12. Along with simply selecting teams, bettors can also mix in totals and even other sports at some books to make it even more interesting.

NHL futures wagering

This is one of the most popular forms of sports betting and futures betting offers a lot for hockey fans also. When betting on futures, a player is looking toward the end of the season for a certain outcome to occur.

Obviously the most NHL futures wagering will be on the winner of the Stanley Cup. Books will offer odds on all 31 teams to win the championship.

For example, the Tampa Bay Lightning were the odds-on favorite to win the Cup before the 2019-20 season. Those for the team to win the Cup were +750 or 7.5 to 1.

A $100 bet on the Lightning would have brought a bettor $750 with Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup win. A wager on the Winnipeg Jets at +2800 would have paid a bettor 28-1 – a return of $2,800 on a $100 bet.

The Stanley Cup isn’t the only wager available for futures betting. Odds may be offered on:

• Conference winners
• Over and unders for points in the standings for individual teams
• Regular season point totals for individual players
• Team leading scorers
• Postseason awards such as the Vezina Trophy

NHL live betting

Some sports bettors looking for even more action may enjoy live betting. Many online sportsbooks offer this feature and it’s a way to have more bets going in the middle of a matchup.

That could include totals, puck line, and other wagers available during the first and second intermission. Bettors can add other wagers as the game plays out on the ice and adjust their betting trends as needed.

When betting, it may be important to follow the action in regards to several facts when placing those wagers. Those could include:

• Injuries
• Scoring leaders
• Ability of one team to close out a game
• Ability of a team to hold a lead

The NHL offers up fast-paced action with plenty of talent on display, which leads to plenty of goals scored in today’s era. If you’ve been a hockey fan throughout the last few decades, you would definitely know about the dead-puck era and the common idea that playoff hockey is tougher and harder to play in than the regular season. While part of the ideology holds true, the deeper into the season/playoffs you get, the one constant is the need to bet on the puck line. Goal scoring is up by nearly a goal and a half compared to the early 2000s, and that alone adds another factor into the NHL handicapping equation, especially if you are trying to get the most bang for your buck betting on hockey.

What Does Puck Line Mean in Hockey Betting?

When the majority of the betting public bets on hockey, they usually stick to the moneyline or total options and call it a day. The sharper hockey bettors are the ones who look at the puckline in hopes of finding value. The puckline is essentially the point spread of the game, except the term “point spread” is usually used within basketball and football discussions. Since the scoring in the NHL is much lower than football and basketball, the puckline isn’t a crazy number. The majority of games have a puckline of 1.5 pucks and stay that way no matter how much action it takes. Sometimes you will see a 2.0, but that spread is usually reserved for the big mismatches. In order to win a puckline bet, the favorite team would need to win the game by two or more goals, while the underdog would cash your ticket with an outright win, or a one-goal loss.

Example of a Puck Line:

An NHL moneyline looks like this:

Toronto -150
Columbus +130

While the puck line would look like this:
Toronto Maple Leafs -1.5 (+165)
Columbus Blue Jackets +1.5 (-190)

In this case, the linemakers expect the Leafs to win by one goal. The puckline has now turned the Leafs into the underdog to win by two or more goals, which means there is more value on them if you believe they win by 2+ goals. If you believe the Jackets can keep the game to a one-goal game (perhaps an overtime game) or win outright, you’d have to lay nearly 2/1 to get that extra half goal insurance.

Is there Value in Betting Pucklines?

Since goals are hard to come by in hockey, the value of a puckline bet is undecided. The only positive about betting the puckline, especially when betting on favorites, is that is presents the favorite with a much more appealing price tag. A hockey favorite might be -200 or higher, but on the puckline, you could get them at even money or better. Obviously wagering on the puckline favorite brings in a lot more risk to the equation. Goals are hard enough to come by, but now you are asking a team to win by more than two goals in a league that may just have the most parity top to bottom. It’s a tough ask.

The negative aspect of betting the puckline lies with betting the underdog. Typically speaking, an underdog is an underdog because they are the inferior team. They will likely lose the game outright, often time by more than one goal. If the underdog is down by one goal late in the game, they will pull the goalie and the likelihood of giving up an empty-net goal and losing by two goals is extremely high. The other problem with betting the underdog is the price tag. Underdogs of +1.5 pucks usually start at (-150) and get worse. So, at the end of the day, the value is undecided based on which side you are wanting to play.

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Puck Line Bet365

Tips from Doc’s Sports NHL expert Handicappers:

“The NHL plays an 82-game schedule, and there are always going to be certain spots throughout the season where you can predict a team will come out flat or have that little extra motivation to do well. I recommend finding these spots and using the puck line in your favor. You can likely cash a ticket on the underdog +1.5 goals if you take them against a good team coming off a big win against another elite team or a division rival. Similarly, you can grab the better team -1.5 against a bad team coming off an upset win since the letdown spot will be evident.” – Doc’s Sports

Bet365 Puck Line Meaning

“Even though the playoffs always a different vibe and feel, one aspect should be familiar. In the early rounds (before the conference finals) watch for underdogs that can potentially skate faster than their opponents, are more skilled in puck possession, and have a goaltender in a good groove. Speed is the name of the game in hockey today with less hitting. Generating odd-man rushes can lead to scoring chances. Being able to control the puck sets up any squad to generate more offense. Of course, a hot goalie can turn any series. As the series progresses, watch for teams that either get the puck out of their own end easily or those that really struggle to do so, that could determine a game or two.” – Doug Upstone

Puck Line Betting Explained

“A hot goalie can ruin everything, especially during the playoffs. A team may be ranked in the upper part of the league in goals scored, and laying a puck-and-a-half may be the only way to get them at a reasonable price. However, if they run into a hot goalie (especially in the playoffs), all puck line bets are more than likely lost before. Riding a hot goalie can add a few extra wins to the bankroll if played the right way” – Vernon Croy

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