How to Bet Puck Lines and Totals in the NHL

It’s that time of year and if you are an NHL fan then you can’t get enough of what this past season has brought. It really is difficult to put into words what an amazing season 2017/2018 has been. The fans have seen literally everything. The season started out like a house a fire, the scoring was off the charts, almost daily there was at least one combined total in double figures. It was a sight to behold if you like offense. The defense was relatively non-existent and this appealed to the fans everywhere.  Was it the best hockey ever played? Probably not, but the season aligned itself into what became one of the most competitive ones in a very long time. 

After all, that’s been said and done in this past NHL season, there is only one story that matters and it’s the biggest story in all of sports for 2018. Forget about Tom Brady losing yet another and no it wasn’t the Villanova Wildcats or even the beyond amazing comeback and yet another championship for Alabama and Nick Saban. All of those stories are great ones and deserve to be talked about but nothing compares to what the Las Vegas Golden Knights have done for their sport. 

The Golden Knights were not supposed to be good, anybody that’s anybody in the world of prognosticators, prognosticated that this team might win 20 games. They were wrong, brutally wrong. Not only did the Golden Knights win more than 20 games, they won 51 games and the Western Conference Title. They went on to win the Western Conference Championship and here they stand in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals. This is one year that sports fans can say that a team transcended their sport. The Vegas Golden Knight has transcended the sport of hockey. They have single-handedly put the NHL back on the map. The Knights have moved on to the finals and are facing a very solid Washington Capitals. This one is going to be spectacular. 

Betting this grand game, an explanation:

There are many great ways to bet the game of hockey and much too many to elaborate on here. For an even more thorough explanation of “how to bet hockey” see your favorite online sportsbook and their “how to bet section”. They most likely have a great one, so be sure to check it out. 

Totals – Over/Under:

Betting totals is exactly as is sounds and is the same concept as betting the totals in any other sport. Most online bookies offer several different ways of betting on the totals. The most popular way of betting the totals in an NHL hockey game is betting the total for the entire game. This means that you will be placing a bet on the set total of that game to either go under or over what the oddsmakers have posted. 

Example:

Washington Capitals vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights  
Total 5.5

You can bet that the combined final score between the two teams will either go under 5.5 or over 5.5. If you bet the over, then the final score must have six goals or more, if you bet the under, the score can go to as many as five but not six or more. Usually, the money on a total bet is set at -110, meaning that you will need to bet $1.10 to win $1.00 or $110 to win $100. This bet is very straightforward and easy to understand. Many bookmakers also offer totals on the individual periods. This can be a great bet as well. The concept behind betting periods is exactly the same as betting the goals total for the entire game.

Puck Line:

The Puck Line is another easy bet to understand. It is simply betting -1.5 or +1.5. What this means is that if you want to bet the favorite at -1.5, the team must win by 2 or more goals. If you chose to bet the underdog at +1.5 then your team can lose the game by only one goal. If they lose by more than one goal, you have lost the bet. The difference here is the money. The bookmakers try to entice betters with great money odds.

Example: 

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Buffalo Sabres

Tampa Bay -1.5 + 200
Buffalo Sabres + 1.5 -240

In this bet, if you like your chances with Tampa to win the puck line by 2 or more goals, a $100 bet will win $200. Should you choose to bet on the Sabres, you will need to bet $240 in order to win $100. It is almost as if the action were in reverse. 

Betting on hockey is a lot of fun and it certainly makes the game much more exciting. It is also lucrative, it can make you a lot of money. The key to winning hockey is to know the bets that you are making and understand them. Even a small amount of researching the teams can go a very long way. So do your research, come prepared, have fun and win a pile of money.