What Is The Moneyline in NHL Betting? — Real NHL Examples

Moneyline in NHL Betting Definition

The first thing you should know is what moneyline betting means. As we said in the intro, moneyline bets are simple. A moneyline bet is a wager on who you think will win the game. For example, if the Boston Bruins are playing the New York Islanders, to win a moneyline bet on the Bruins, the Bruins just have to beat the Islanders.

The margin of victory and the total number of goals don’t matter. The team you place your moneyline bet on just needs to win. At the end of the day, whichever team is granted the win by the NHL is the team that will reward bettors who placed a wager on the moneyline.

NHL Moneyline Betting Basics

The most basic point about moneyline bets is that the team you bet on must win the game for you to win your bet. If you’re familiar with moneyline betting from other sports, like soccer, you know that sometimes moneyline bets aren’t as straightforward as they seem.

For example, if you’ve ever placed a moneyline bet on a major soccer tournament game, you’ll know that moneyline bets often only apply as long as the winning team wins in normal time. Extra time or penalty shootout wins will often still see you lose your bet in soccer games.

Thankfully, NHL moneyline bets aren’t normally like that. If you place a moneyline bet on an NHL team and they need overtime to actually win, you will still win your moneyline bet.

However, many NHL betting sites also offer 3-way moneyline bets. These bets are exclusively for the score at the end of regulation. They are called 3-way moneyline bets because instead of just being able to bet on the winners and losers, you can bet on a third option which is if the game will be tied at the end of regulation.

The 3-way moneyline market offers sports bettors better odds for each side. However, they’ll lose if the game goes to overtime. This is an additional market offered by sportsbooks alongside the traditional two-way NHL moneyline.

NHL Moneyline Betting Strategies

Like every sports league, the NHL has good and bad teams. This is especially true in a league like the NHL, where teams play 82 games each in a season. Even good the most profitable NHL teams go on losing streaks, and bad teams occasionally rattle off winning streaks that stump the sportsbooks and NHL fans alike. Paying attention to these streaks is key to any good NHL moneyline betting strategy.

Paying attention to winning and losing streaks is a good start, but we suggest you dive deeper and look at what’s causing the streaks you’re seeing. Is it just bad luck that’s sure to turn soon, or are there other factors at play?

Injuries caused by the NHL’s hectic schedule are one of the most significant factors affecting what you see from a team on the ice. Also, some players might just be tired, as hockey is a rough sport that causes fatigue.

Hockey goalies are a great example of that, as they’ll often start to decline in performance if they play too many games in a row. NHL goalies regularly rotated throughout the season due to injuries, fatigue, or poor form. A good goalie can make all the difference, especially if you have a moneyline bet on an underdog to pull out an upset and beat a stronger team outright.

If you’re looking for big returns, you could also think about placing moneyline parlays. Parlays are bets on the outcomes of multiple games. An example of a moneyline parlay would be a bet on the Kraken and Maple Leafs to win their two separate games. You win your wager if both teams win. Because it’s less likely that both teams will win, odds will usually be very long for parlays, especially if you’re betting on two underdogs.

Some sportsbooks will allow you to cash out parlay bets early. Let’s say you bet on the Kraken, Leafs, and Panthers, and the Kraken and Leafs win. You would be able to cash out early before risking the chance of losing your bet if the Panthers lose. You wouldn’t be able to get as much as you would have if the Panthers won, but it’s a good option to have for risk-averse NHL bettors.

As a general betting strategy that applies to anything you bet on, do your research and don’t bet money you would not be willing to lose.

Keep track of your losses, and don’t overextend yourself. Also, do not chase. Chasing underdogs is an unfortunately common mistake many NHL moneyline bettors make because of the potentially high returns.

NHL Moneyline Betting Odds

NHL moneyline odds are normally written using American odds. If you’ve ever seen a betting market listed with -130 odds or +210 odds, you’ve seen American odds. In American format, positive NHL moneyline odds reflect how much you will make on a winning $100 bet (e.g., a $100 moneyline bet on a team with +150 odds will win you $150, returning a total of $250).

Positive odds also mean the sportsbook considers the team as the underdog.

Negative NHL moneyline odds signify how much you need to bet to win $100 (e.g., to win $100 on a team with -250 odds, you need to bet $250, returning a total of $350). Hockey teams with negative odds are considered favourites.

NHL Moneyline Betting Calculations

Calculating how much money you can make from betting on a team’s moneyline is a good skill to have. After all, don’t you want to know how much you stand to win before you make a bet? Thankfully, every online sportsbook will do the calculations for you.

Before you place your bet, you’ll be able to look at the bet slip and see how much your moneyline bet will return if it’s a winner. However, it’s also handy to be able to read American odds and determine how much you could win.

When you look at the lines, check the matchup before you make your picks. It’s easiest to do the calculations from a $100 bet. The oddsmakers will have set the moneylines of the two teams already. If you see odds listed with a plus sign, that shows how much you can win from a $100 bet. If you see odds with a minus sign, that shows how much you must bet to win $100.

NHL Moneyline Betting Examples

To better explain NHL moneyline betting, we’ll go through an example, so you know exactly what an NHL moneyline bet looks like.

1. Let’s say the Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers are facing off tomorrow, and you have $100 to bet. Your sportsbook offers +170 moneyline odds for the Ducks and -210 odds for the Panthers. This means the Panthers are favourites and expected to win this game.
2. Your options here are to bet on the Ducks (+170) to win or the Panthers (-210) to win. If you bet your $100 on the Ducks, and they win, you profit $170, returning a total of $270 once your stake is included. If you bet on the Panthers and they win, you get $47.62, returning a total of $147.62.
3. Of course, if you bet on a team and they lose, you’ll lose your bet and receive nothing.

NHL Moneyline Betting Tips

Additionally to what we discussed in our NHL moneyline betting strategies, there are some other things you can do to get a leg up on the sportsbooks before placing your NHL moneyline bets. The first and most obvious thing is to actually know something about the team you’re betting on.

As exciting as it can be to take a risk on a team you don’t know that much about, you’re really putting yourself at risk by not doing some basic research. Before placing your moneyline bets, be sure to know at least a little about each team’s lineups and look into what experts have to say about the game.

• Is the team you’re going to be betting on missing their star player?
• What about the other team’s star?
• Is either team on an immense scoring streak or drought?

These are just some of the things you might find out by doing a little research.

Research might also help you discover NHL betting trends you can take advantage of. Trends could be as simple as winning and losing streaks, but they could also be more complicated and include things like a team’s record when playing back-to-back games.

NHL Moneyline Betting Risks

NHL moneyline bets are no different than any other kind of sports betting. It’s risky. There are no guaranteed returns, so you shouldn’t treat NHL betting as an investment.

Betting on hockey games is a form of entertainment, but you have to be wary of getting too carried away with your bets. Don’t bet anything you aren’t willing to lose, and don’t chase big returns from placing moneyline bets on underdogs.

Do your research before placing any bets. NHL moneyline betting strategies are a good guide for how you should do your research, but be sure to make sure you attempt a huge variety of factors to make the most informed decision.

NHL Moneyline Betting Payouts

NHL moneyline payouts really depend on the odds of the game you are betting on. Understanding how much your payout will be means understanding the odds.

• Positive NHL moneyline odds reflect how much you will make on a winning $100 bet (e.g., a $100 moneyline bet on a team with +120 odds will win $120 for a total return of $220).
• Negative NHL moneyline odds signify how much you need to bet to win $100 (e.g., to win $100 on a team with -250 odds, you need to bet $250).

Thankfully, most sportsbooks will be very clear about what your payout will be when you place your bet. You will likely have to verify your identity with your sportsbook to withdraw your winnings. It’s also worth noting that not every sportsbook has the same withdrawal methods.