Football and basketball games are mostly bet using a point spread. The less popular major sports, baseball and hockey, are mostly bet using a moneyline. In an effort to make baseball and hockey more appealing to point spread bettors, the sportsbook operators offer run. The point spread, which is sometimes referred to as the “handicap”, is the number of points taken from the favorite, or given to the underdog, in order to open up the chances of either team winning the wager evenly. In most games, there’s usually a team that is more likely to win, based on a number of statistical factors. Compare NHL Hockey Betting Odds, lines & point spreads from multiple sports books for betting NHL Hockey from DonBest - what the Pros use! It’s hockey’s version of the point spread, but the spread never changes. One way to look at this is to take the final score and add 1.5 goals to the underdog’s goal total and subtract 1.5 goals from the favorite’s goal total.
As a fan, you don’t care if your team wins by a point or 100. A win is a win, though that 100-point win would be a little easier on the nerves.
In sports betting, how much a team wins by is usually all that matters.
The most popular way to bet for the two most popular sports, basketball and football, is with the point spread, also known as the “side.” Most baseball, hockey and soccer bets are on the moneyline, which is betting on a team to win straight up with adjusted odds. Football and basketball have moneyline bets available too, but most people will take the point spread.
The concept can be a bit confusing if you’ve never dabbled in sports betting before.
Why bet with the point spread?
The point spread was created to attract more action on a game. When the San Francisco 49ers are expected to blow out the Arizona Cardinals, it’s not enticing to lay $300 to win $100 on a moneyline. But when the 49ers are 11-point favorites and each side is -110 odds? That’s much easier.
In that example, the 49ers are spotting the Cardinals 11 points before the game starts, at least for bettors. The 49ers have to win by 12 or more points to cover the spread. If the Cardinals win or lose by 10 or less, that side wins the bet. If the game lands on 11, like a 21-10 49ers win, it’s a push and all bets are refunded. If you see a -11 that means that team is favored, and +11 means you’re taking the underdog.
Nothing sharpens your math skills better than trying to figure out how big your lead as a bettor is if you have a 22.5-point basketball underdog that is losing 90-72.
The problem with the point spread can be when a team — which really doesn’t care that you bet the favorite at -11 — has a 14-point lead but gives up a meaningless score at the end to win by only seven points. They’re still happy with the win. You, as a bettor, are not.
© Provided by Yahoo! Sports Sportsbooks have large boards that display point spreads for all games that day. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)Point spreads lead to bad beats
The most infamous example of a bad beat with the point spread probably came in the 2004 Final Four at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Duke was a 2.5-point underdog against UConn. The Huskies rallied late and took a 79-75 lead on a free throw with 3.2 seconds left. The game itself was over; Duke couldn’t score twice in a few seconds. But Duke guard Chris Duhon pulled up for a running 3-pointer just over the half-court line and banked it in at the buzzer. Duke lost 79-78, but bettors who had Duke and 2.5 points won. March Madness is a huge event for bettors, and reports at the time estimated that Duhon’s “meaningless” shot resulted in a $30 or $40 million swing in Nevada. UConn players celebrated at the final buzzer. UConn bettors doubled over in pain. That’s the difference between betting the moneyline and the point spread.
Baseball and hockey have point spreads too, the “run line” in baseball and “puck line” in hockey. It’s generally 1.5 with odds adjusting accordingly. Taking a big baseball favorite at -1.5 runs can make the odds more palatable. Of course, betting the New York Yankees at -1.5 to bring down the odds from -190 to -110 isn’t too fun when they win 4-3 and you don’t cash a bet.
Betting on the point spread is the most common way to wager on sports. And the first time you take a favorite that wins the game but doesn’t cover the spread, you’ll understand every bettor’s heartbreak.
Hockey is Canada’s most important sport, with increasing betting popularity for the US and World audience and with a wide array of betting choices, such as the point spread. To understand hockey point spread betting better, let us first look at the money line, which is something everyone should be familiar with in order to better enjoy their bets, regardless of the hockey bet type.
Let us provide you with a little example for a better picture. In a money line bet the negative number in the online sportsbook’s odds page represents the favorite team, while the positive number represents the underdog, the team less likely to win according to what is on paper and/or previous results.
* Please see illustration below to help understand point spread bets, text explanation follows.
Nhl Point Spread Predictions
Example of a Hockey Money Line:
Washington Capitals -115
Florida Panthers +270
Following the above example, in order for you to win $100 when choosing the favorite, you will have to wager $115. If you go ahead and choose the underdog, the Florida Panthers in this example, you must place a $100 bet in order to receive a possible payout of $270; hence the reason why betting on the underdog is so tempting.
That taken care of, we can now continue with hockey point spread betting, which by definition, a point spread is the scoring difference between the game’s two opponents (the two teams).
Nhl Lines For Today
Example of a Hockey Point Spread:
Washington Capitals +2.5 (-115)
Florida Panthers -2.5 (+270)
Again, let us use the example above to illustrate how one would win a wager or place a wager. If you choose the team that is favored, the Washington Capitals in this case, then they must win by the point spread number indicated next to the money line for you to win your bet; they must win by 2.5 or more goals, a tough line for hockey standards, where scoring is minimal.
Now if you were to choose the underdog team, the Florida Panthers, using the -2.5 next to it, they must not lose by more than 2 goals for you to win your bet. Obviously if they win the game, you win the bet as well.
Now why use the .5 in the point spread? Well, the .5 is used to eliminate any possibilities of a tie happening, which would end up with the online sportsbook returning bets to their suitors, a “push” in other words.
Benefit to Using a Point Spread vs. a Money Line
We understand that as a bettor who is on a fixed budget, you do not want to bet a gross amount of money on a favorite. Regular hockey money lines are a bit more expensive in terms of betting on the favorite than that of point spread; so, hockey point spread betting in summary is way more affordable to those not wanting to throw down $100 to gamble, especially when the underdog is looking good.
Tips for Betting Hockey Point Spreads
There are a number of ways to pick out a strategy that works for you, what we would call the hockey point spread betting tips. Like everything in life, sports betting and hockey games can get complicated, unpredictable, and hard to bet on if you are just getting in the game.
There are a lot of variables to account for and think about before the drop of the puck, so you might want to scout some reports, read up on a team’s injured reserve lists, confirm who will be the starting goaltenders, as well as take into account a team’s fatigue by just coming off a game from the previous night or even from a long road trip. Study as much variables and factors as possible, and you will see a noticeable improvement in your betting results for your hockey point spread online betting, and other betting types.
Point Spread Hockey Tie
When betting on games it is important to do the proper research and homework on the certain teams involved in a matchup, which we recommend you do by studying these stats on our online sportsbook list, so go over them through our links, and make your hockey bets now.