Hockey odds are very important to understand for sports bettors, as are the different betting types that are available. Odds denote the chances of your chosen wager coming true and being profitable. OddsChecker is the best platform online forhockey odds comparison and we continuously report on the best hockey lines available. If you are just getting started with hockey betting, here are the types of wagers that you must know.

Moneyline

Moneyline bets are some of the most popular types of wagers in hockey betting. With moneyline bets, you are placing a wager on what team you think will win overall. It’s very straightforward and has less factors to concern yourself with. Hockey is one of the few team sports where moneyline bets are more popular than spread bets.

Over/Under

The over/under system is another popular type. With over/under bets, you are wagering on whether or not the total cumulative amount of points scored between the two teams will exceed a certain amount. Sportsbooks set the over/under score and the probability of each side happening.

Point Spread

Hockey lines refer to point spread betting, the most popular type of betting across most sports. In a point spread system, you are not betting on the overall winner or loser of a game. You are instead betting on the point margin between the winner and the loser. Sportsbooks decide an appropriate margin between the two teams. This margin works like a handicap. The favorite team to win is given negative points and the underdog is given extra points. After the game is over, you subtract or add points based on what side of the bet you are on and if your team then has more points, your wager is successful.

Hockey betting lines will be displayed like +2 or -2 with a corresponding odds percentage that denotes the probability of you winning the bet like +150.

New York Rangers +2.5 (-115)

Florida Panthers -2.5 (+200)

In the above example, the Panthers are the favorite to win this game and thus have a negative point spread. To beat the spread, the Panthers must win by 3 goals, as there are no half points awarded in hockey. So in this scenario if the final score of the game is 3 - 1 with the Panthers as the victors, you would then subtract 2.5 points from this score if you bet on the Panthers. This would then make the final score 0.5 - 1 and the Panthers would then lose. If the final score was instead 4 - 1 and you subtracted 2.5, the final score would then be 1.5 - 1 and then Panthers would have beaten the spread. It works the same when you bet on the underdog, only you are instead adding extra points. In the example of a 3 - 1 final score with the Panthers as the winner, you would add 2.5 points if you bet on the Stars. This would make the final score 3 - 3.5 and a bet on the Stars would be successful. When you bet on the spread, the associated odds is the probability that your bet is successful. If the Panthers beat the spread, your bet would return +200.

Simply put, a puckline is hockey’s form of point spread betting. Because of the low scoring nature of the sport, hockey is one of the few team sports where moneyline is more popular than spread bets. While spread betting is one of the most popular types of bets in other major sports, in hockey, puckline is much more popular. If you are interested in betting on the spread you can with a puckline, though there are some differences from the standard point spread style. With a puckline, the favorite team must win by two goals, while the underdog can either win or lose by only one goal. This makes close matchups more exciting and increases the potential for a bigger payout. In situations where a winning moneyline wager may not be that profitable, a puckline may provide a more enticing opportunity.

Take this example for instance:

In this scenario, the Stars are the favorite to win with hockey betting odds of -114. If you choose to bet on the moneyline with these hockey odds, it would take a $114 dollar bet to return $100. If you chose to bet on the Flames instead, a $100 bet would only return $104. As you can see, with the odds so close, it's not necessarily very profitable to bet on either the favorite or the underdog.

In the next column are the puckline odds. Now this is where things start to get interesting. The Stars are the favorite on the moneyline, but have +185 odds to win by at least two goals. If your $100 bet was successful, these odds would return $185 on top of your initial bet amount for a total payout of $285. In the world of hockey betting, if you are interested in placing a wager on the favorite team but the odds aren’t very good, puckline can provide an attractive alternative.

Like all major sports, hockey odds are dynamic and constantly changing in the lead up to the game. Everything from injury reports to lineup changes affect the hockey lines. With so much news happening all the time, it can be a struggle for any individual to keep track of. That's where we come in. OddsChecker is the #1 platform online for comparing odds from the best hockey betting sites together to ensure that you are always getting the best value for your wager.

Sportsbooks decide the initial odds that an upcoming hockey game will be listed as. Their process to determine suitable odds involves analyzing years of historical data and statistics regarding the players, teams, matchup and more. Once they have decided on the favorite and the underdog, they list appropriate odds for each. Then after the public starts to place their wagers, the betting action drives the odds from there. Calculating the odds for these matchups is simple and straightforward. If your chosen team has -200 odds to win, and you bet $100, your bet would return $50 on top of the initial payout amount for a total payout of $150. Instead, if your team has positive odds of +200, a $100 bet would return $200 for a total payout of $300.