Here is your complete NHL online betting guide for states where you can legally wager: AZ, CO, DC, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, MI, MS, NV, NJ, New York, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, and OH. This guide will teach you how to read betting lines and understand popular NHL bet types and strategies.
How to Bet NHL Online?
Often referred to as the fastest team sport in the world, hockey can be as challenging to bet on as it is to play. Unlike the other major North American sports – baseball, basketball and football – the NHL is played at a breakneck pace. It takes an educated fan to keep up with the action and to follow and understand the nuances of play.
Likewise, betting on hockey requires both knowledge and skill. First off, let’s look at the types of bets that are available to play on the NHL.
Moneylines
A straight win bet on the outcome of the game, moneylines are calculated based on $100. The moneyline would read Philadelphia Flyers +145 at Boston Bruins -175. In this example, the Flyers are the underdog. If you bet $100 on them and they win, you’ll garner a $145 profit. At -175, you’d need to wager $175 on the Bruins to realize a $100 profit on your bet.
Pucklines
Similar to football’s point spread, the puckline is generally -1.5 on favorites and +1.5 on underdogs. Bet the underdog and you’re getting a 1.5-goal lead to start out. Wager on the favorite and you start out with a 1.5-goal deficit.
NHL Totals Bets
Also called the over/under, with this wager it doesn’t matter which team wins the game. All that counts is the number of goals scored. If a total is set at 6.5, bettors then wager on whether the final score of the game will be over or under that total.
Props Betting
Props are wagers on outcomes within the event. It could be a team prop, such as which club will be leading the game after one period of play. There are also player props, such as over/unders on shots on goal during a game.
Futures
Future book wagering is for the patient bettors in the bunch. They’re willing to trade the chance to wager a little to win a lot in exchange for having to wait until the end of the season to see if their bet will cash. They might be wagering on the winner of the Stanley Cup. Or it could be a player future, such as who will lead the NHL in goal scoring.
NHL Parlay Bets
The parlay is similar to the future bet in that you can bet a little and win a lot. Only you don’t have to wait nearly as long to find out if you’ve won. Parlays combine a number of outcomes into one wager. Bettors can put together a parlay card with different games, or they can choose to play a same game parlay, in which multiple outcomes from one game are assembled. Remember, though, that all legs must come in for the parlay wager to cash.
Grand Salami
The grand salami is the total wager on steroids. With this wager, bettors are playing an over/under wager on the combined total goals from every game on that day’s schedule. That can be intimidating, considering there could be as many as 16 NHL games played on one day.
NHL Live Betting with NY Sportsbooks
The newest form of online sports betting, live or in-play wagering is just what it claims to be. You’ll be wagering on outcomes within the game while the game is in progress. It could be a bet on which team will score next, or which player will be assessed the next penalty. If one bet doesn’t cash, another opportunity to make a play is upcoming in a matter of moments.
Now, let’s take a look at where you can bet on hockey. Use Betrivers NY promo code to bet on NHL games with a free bet. Alternatively, check out other betting apps for New York, such as betMGM or Caesars sportsbook.
How Important Are NHL Betting Trends?
When it comes to betting on NHL games, there are going to be certain trends that will be listed as tried and true. Are they, though? Which trends hold up when tested and which are nothing more than fables?
Let’s look at some popular NHL betting trends and see if they stand up to the test of scrutiny.
Truth: The Total Is A Sucker’s Bet
Sharp bettors don’t mess with gimmick plays such as the over/under. There are simply too many uncontrollable factors to make this a wise play. An off-night from a goalie, a rash of penalties, or a key injury and suddenly what looked to be a tight defensive struggle is turning into a shootout.
The data shows that the total in NHL betting is split almost virtually down the middle when it comes to the over/under.
Myth: Home Ice Advantage Matters
There was a time when home ice was truly a difference maker. Rinks such as Boston Garden and Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium were problematic for visiting teams because the ice surfaces there didn’t measure up to the NHL standard of 200×85 feet. At Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, the visiting dressing room was situated next to the boiler room, leaving the road team inside a sweat box when not on the ice.
The noise was so loud at Chicago Stadium that visiting players couldn’t hear each other speak. And the ghosts of the Montreal Forum certainly haunted the opposition.
With every NHL team now playing in state of the art rinks, there are no longer such perks for the home team. The arenas are cookie cutter in style and visiting teams are offered all the amenities of home. No wonder then that the winning percentage for home teams is hovering around 53% the past few seasons.
Truth: Underdogs Are A Great Bet Against The Puckline
Betting underdogs win outright less than 37% of the time. However, they are very effective performers when it comes to covering the spread.
The underdog in the NHL cashes on the puckline more than six times out of 10. So if you want to make a play on an underdog, take the puckline action.
When it’s a home underdog, you can ramp those expectations of success to spectacular. Home underdogs cover against the spread in two out of every three NHL games.
Myth: Favorites Win the Stanley Cup
The Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup as the preseason betting favorite to do so was certainly going against a hockey betting trend. The Avalanche are just the third opening-line chalk to win the Cup over the past 12 seasons.
Bettors shouldn’t be afraid to seek out value when making a Stanley Cup futures wager. Don’t get too carried away, though. Over that same 12-year span, only one team – the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues – won the Cup at opening odds in excess of +1600.
Truth: Rested Teams Are A Wise Bet Against Tired Teams
The NHL schedule is a unique animal. Certainly, the league’s 82-game slate is the most demanding of any of the major North American sports.
Getting rest is a vital component in team success And rested teams facing a tired opponent are among the best bets in the NHL.
Since the 2005-06 season, teams playing with two or more days of rest against opponents who are playing for the second time in as many nights have won over 60% of those games.
Online Sports Betting Site For NHL Bets
All of the top online sports betting sites will offer NHL wagering, although some sites will provide more extensive coverage of hockey betting markets than others. BetMGM, FanDuel and DraftKings, for instance, are official sports betting partners of the NHL, so you can count on plenty of hockey coverage from those sites.
A big part of choosing which NHL betting site to go with will involve assessing their signup bonus offer. All online sports betting sites offer lucrative signup bonuses.