NHL or the National Hockey League is the biggest ice hockey league in the world comprising 31 teams from the United States and Canada. Many other separate and smaller leagues are available, but none of them can stack up to the size or thrill of the NHL. Below, we will cover a few things that you will need to know before making your first bet on the NHL.

 

Markets

One of the most important part when it comes to betting is understanding the bets you are planning to make, in this section we will cover some of the bets that any new NHL bettor should be making.

  • Money line – money line bets are about as simple as they come. A straightforward bet in which you select the winner of a particular match. Odds will play a big role in money line bets, be sure to understand American odds well to be able to find value in your money line bets.
  • Over/Under – Over/under is a great form of betting for beginners when they can’t exactly determine a winner of a match. In over under, you will be placing a wager based on how many goals will be scored in the game. The sportsbook will provide a predetermined number that they believe will be the outcome, and you bet if the final outcome will be over or under this predetermined amount. Simple as it comes, and it for the most part avoids any more complex odds.
  • Point spread – Point spread is similar to money line, only the winning team will need to win by a predetermined margin. Not to be confused with a Puck line bet in which the margin is always -1.5/+1.5 respectively. Let’s look at an example of a point spread bet. We are presented with the following bet.

In this case, if you were to bet on the Montreal Canadiens, they would need to win the match by at least 3 points to secure a betting victory. To the inverse, if betting on the Philadelphia Flyers, if they lose by anything less than 3 goals, the bet would still win.

  • Grand Salami – A Grand Salami bet can at first feel like more of a proposition bet, it is however quite a popular bet for bettors of all skill levels. In a Grand Salami, you will place an over/under style wager on all the games played in the NHL for that day. Think of it as combining your over under predictions of every game played for the day into one bet. This will bring some additional risk, but with extra risk, comes potential for extra reward.

Final Thoughts

As in any form of sports betting, before making a bet ensure to do proper research. Research can easily make the difference between being profitable and not. Every bettor has the intention of making money when they place their bets, the correct research can give you the edge you need to be profitable.