Betting NHL Online
NHL is labeled as the fastest professional sport with men skating on ice with upward speeds of 25 mph while crashing into each other, which makes hockey one of the most entertaining sports to wager on.
Nearly every major sportsbook offers lines on NHL hockey. Hockey is one of the sports that has a high disparity among lines. It’s not uncommon to see the same game with 10-15 cent difference between two sites. This is most likely because hockey is still underachieving in popularity. Currently, it is ranked as the fifth most popular sport in the United States. Hence, certain sportsbooks are not monitoring their lines as closely as others.
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From my experience over the past three years of betting hockey, I have found that 5dimes consistently offers the best lines with the least amount of juice. It should also be noted that Bookmaker.com often has lines that are out to lunch, which makes it a site that should be monitored by NHL betters. With 82 games being played a season, there should be several games every few days with incorrect lines.
5dimes offers action on NHL to all countries with lines being posted around 12-24 hours before game time. Each game allows wagers of up to $500 on the spread, money line and total points (over/under). Players may also parlay NHL games on the 5Dimes website.
An example of a line between two teams on 5Dimes:
Spread:
Pittsburgh Penguins -1½ +165
Edmonton Oilers +1½ -190
Ex: John bets $100 on Pittsburgh to win on the spread at -1½ +165. This means that Pittsburgh must beat the Oilers by at least two goals, which would win him $165. If Pittsburgh wins by one goal, the bet is lost and John loses his $100.
Ex: Lisa bets $190 on Edmonton at +1½ -190. She is expecting to Edmonton to either out win the game or to lose the game by one goal to win the bet. The bet will be lost if Edmonton loses by two or more goals
Straight bet
Pittsburgh Penguins -175
Edmonton Oilers +155
This is very similar to the spread bet, however a win is a win. You’ll also find there is a lot less juice betting straight wins and recreational betters should stick to straight bets.
Total points/over underachieving
o5½ +100
u5½ -120
O stands for over and the U stands for under. The number is the total amount of goals scored. Players can bet over or under and these totals will change from game to game. There will often be even numbers. So if the score ends up 4-2 and the bet total points line was 6, the bet would be a push and monies would be returned to the player account.
The league is situated in Canada and the United States with most of the popularity spilling from Canada and the northern states. Since there are certain markets with larger fan bases (all the Canadian teams) you will often find lines that are off due to the fan bias.
Ex. Toronto Maple Leafs is one of the most popular franchises in all of sports with a massive fan base, and they are playing a team like Phoenix Coyotes. The true line might be +130 Toronto and -140 Phoenix. However, with all the action from the fan boys, it will push the line in favour of betting Phoenix. Before puck drop you’ll probably see the line around +115 and -125.