Puck Line Betting Explained
Ever want to bet on an event and find yourself questioning what it means to bet the point spread? Here’s what you need to know about point spread betting.
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- Puck Line Betting Explained
The large majority of wagers involve bettors are picking a side in a game between two teams or individuals. Not all sides are created equal, though. A point spread is used by oddsmakers to even out a matchup from a betting perspective, assigning more or fewer points to a team’s final score. In order to win a point spread wager, a bettor must “beat the spread.” As a result of a more even matchup, point spread betting offers flatter payouts that are often even on both sides.
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What is a point spread?
Money lines (also called American Odds) are one of the most common ways to bet on sports. They do not use a point spread, and are straight-up bets on who will win the game or event. To properly explain how to bet the money line, the first thing to understand is the difference between a negative and positive money line. NHL Puck Line Betting Explained A Puck Line is a little different than a money line, in that one team has 1.5 points added to their final score, and the other team has 1.5 points subtracted from their final score. A puck line is actually a spread, similar to a football spread or a baseball spread. While betting on the winner of the game, as shown above, is the most popular method of betting the NHL, there is also the puck line. Baseball bettors will recognize this as being quite similar to the run line. When betting the puck line, bettors can either lay 1.5 goals with the favorite or take 1.5 goals with the underdog.
This is one of the most common questions in sports betting, especially to new sports bettors. The point spread is how teams or sides of varying skill levels are handicapped against one another. It’s the number of points one side is giving or receiving as compared to the other.
In hockey, the spread is called a puck line; in baseball, it is a run line; and in soccer, it is a goal line. Puck lines and run lines are almost always fixed at 1.5. Learn the Basics of Sports Betting. Want to learn more about the basics of betting on sports? Educate yourself with sports betting 101. The Detroit Red Wings might be -1.5 goals against the Montreal Canadiens on the puck line – so Montreal starts the game from a betting perspective with a 1.5-goal lead. In baseball’s run line, the.
Although each team may roster the same number of players, play by the same rules, or even run some of the same plays, the two sides are almost never equal in skill. To account for that inequality between the two teams, a point spread is used to handicap the two sides of a matchup.
If you look at the odds board and see a team’s or individual’s name followed by a minus sign and a number, that reflects that side is favored by that number of points. In the case that you see a plus sign and a number, that side is the underdog in the matchup. The minus sign means that the final score will have the spread number subtracted from it. The plus sign means that the team’s final score will have the spread number added to it.
In summary, the point spread is a calculated prediction of how much a team will win or lose by.
Why do sportsbooks use point spreads?
As we said before, not all teams are created equal. Sportsbooks use point spreads to handicap a matchup in an attempt to attract equal betting on both sides and even out the competition. Without a point spread, it would be too easy for bettors to simply take the favorite in every matchup. That’s similar as to why you see moneyline betting odds priced accordingly.
In a perfect world, sportsbooks and oddsmakers would draw perfectly balanced 50-50 betting action on both sides of a point spread. This alleviates a sportsbook’s or oddsmaker’s need for one side to win. The large majority of point spread bets come with a juice applied to the payout odds. The juice is another term for the “vig” or “rake,” and it is the money a sportsbook or sports betting operator takes on a wager.
Perfectly balanced betting on both sides would allow sportsbooks and oddsmakers to collect the juice free of liability.
How to know if a point spread bet won or lost?
In order for a point spread bet to be declared a winner, the side wagered on must “cover” the point spread. The favorite, which is the side with the minus number as the point spread, must win by more than the point spread dictates. The underdog, which is the plus number as the point spread, cannot lose by more than the point spread dictates.
Are ties allowed?
Yes, ties can happen when point spread betting. If the point spread is an even number and the difference in the competition’s result falls directly on that number such that the teams are then evenly scored, it is a tie. In point spread betting, a tie is called a “push.”
In the case of a push, all bets are returned to the bettor. If you wagered $100, you would receive your $100 back.
In many cases, point spreads will not be an even number. Rather, point spreads will display a half of a number, .5, and that is called the “hook.” When there is a hook involved, the bet cannot be a push because there are no half points in sports scoring. More information regarding the hook can be found below, in the section about key numbers.
Example of point spread betting
Point spreads are most commonly used and referred to in football betting. Using an example, let’s say the Buffalo Bills are facing off against the New England Patriots and that the game is in New England. When reviewing the oddsboard with the list of games, you see a number of -8 next to the Patriots team name and a number of +8 next to the Bills team name. This means that New England is favored by 8 points and that Buffalo is the underdog by 8 points.
What you’re seeing might be displayed something like the following:
- Buffalo Bills +8 (-110)
- New England Patriots -8 (-110)
Using another example of the Pittsburgh Steelers as -3 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys, let’s say the game results in a score of Pittsburgh 20 and Dallas 17. This final score would result in a push, as it fell on the exact 3-point spread that was being applied.
Do note that when it comes to point spreads, the underdog number isn’t always shown. Rather, a sportsbook will most likely only display the favorite’s spread and it’s assumed the underdog’s spread is simply the opposite.
Whatever the final score of the game turns out to be, New England will have 8 points subtracted from its total if that’s the side you bet on. If you bet on Buffalo’s side, the final score for the Bills will have 8 points added. If the final score results as 30-20 in favor of New England, bettors holding a Patriots -8 ticket would win the bet because the Patriots won by 10. Bettors who wagered on the Bills +8 would lose because the Bills lost by 10.
How much can I win on a point spread wager?
It’s most common in point spread betting to have odds of -110 on both sides. This means that if you bet $110, you’d win $100. There is where the juice comes into play. If sportsbooks were able to attract perfectly even betting action on both sides, they’d be keeping $10 of every $110 wager placed.
Sometimes, you may see a point spread bet listed with odds of -105, -115, or even -120. In those cases, you would need to bet $105, $115, or $120, respectively, to win $100. Then there are also times in point spread betting when a wager has even odds, listed as Even or +100, so whatever you bet you’ll get back.
Because oddsmakers will adjust point spreads as they see fit, another way to alter the handicap is by changing the odds slightly.
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Wait, point spreads can change?
Yes. Sportsbooks and oddsmakers may very well change a point spread to keep the handicap even. Injuries, starting lineups, weather, and volume of bets on one side or the other are a handful of the reasons for a point spread to change. Don’t let the thought of a changing point spread scare you, because these changes can work to your advantage. Of course, they can also work to your disadvantage.
Sticking with the previous example, here’s how the betting line for the Bills and Patriots looked to start.
- Buffalo Bills +8 (-110)
- New England Patriots -8 (-110)
That’s where the line opened, but then later in the week, much closer to game time, the line changed to the following.
- Buffalo Bills +7 (-110)
- New England Patriots -7 (-110)
This shift signifies that New England moved to become less of a favorite than at the opening line. If you’re a bettor who placed a wager on the Bills at +8, this is good news for you, as you’re now getting an extra point that isn’t available anymore. If you placed a wager on the Patriots -8, you now need to overcome an additional point to win.
Many sharp bettors make a practice of watching and predicting line movements. This is done in an attempt to get the best number possible.
Just as points spreads move, they aren’t uniform from venue to venue, so be sure to shop around at various sportsbooks to get the best line that you can.
Understanding key numbers
When it comes to a point spread, it’s important to understand the key numbers. This is especially true for bettors wagering on football, because football point spreads are where the key numbers tend to have the most significance.
Due to how the scoring is structured in football, with field goals being worth 3 points and touchdowns being worth 7 points when you include the 1-point extra point, the most common margins of victory are 3 and 7 points. Knowing and understanding the importance of these key numbers can allow a bettor to make better wagers.
In point spread betting, you’ll often hear bettors reference the “hook.” The hook is the extra half point attached to the spread, very commonly seen in football betting. When betting on a favorite and understanding the importance of key numbers and the hook, it’s beneficial for a bettor to lay fewer than 7 points or fewer than 3 points. Similarly, it’s better to lay 7 points with a favorite than have to cover 7.5 points. The same can be said for 3.5, 3, and 2.5 – having to lay 3 points is much better than having to lay 3.5, and having to lay 2.5 is far greater than having to lay 3.
This also works for the other side of a point spread, the underdog. Any time a bettor can, he or she will want the benefit of having the hook in his or her favor. It’s much better to have an underdog if you’re getting 3 points than just 2.5, or 3.5 points instead of 3. Understanding the importance of key numbers and the hook can be the differences between winning a bet or not.
Although more attention is given to key numbers in football, they are worth paying attention to in basketball, too. Key numbers in basketball come into play less often than in football, but they’re still worth knowing what they are. In basketball, the most common margins of victory are between 5 points and 8 points, followed by 3 points and 4 points.
Puck line and run line
Point spreads are used mainly in football and basketball. In hockey, the point spread is referred to as the “puck line.” In baseball, a point spread is called the “run line.” In hockey and baseball, the puck line or run line are commonly -1.5 or +1.5 and the lines themselves don’t change but the odds might.
For more definitions of common sports betting terms, check out SharpSide’s dedicated glossary page.
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NHL MONEYLINE EXPLAINED:
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The moneyline bet is the most common wager in baseball betting. Hockey, like baseball and soccer, is a “moneyline sport” as opposed to a “spread sport” (like football or basketball). That means that hockey bettors are generally just betting on the team that they think is going to win rather than betting on a team to cover a particular point spread.
The favorite in a game has a negative moneyline (example: -150). The underdog has a positive moneyline (example: +135). The odds represent the payouts on a $100 wager. So for a favorite at -150 the bettor would wager $150 to win $100. For an underdog at +135 the bettor would wager $100 to win $135.
Casino planet. Again, hockey bettors are simply trying to pick which team will win the game. The moneyline is the agreed upon payout of the wager.
NHL PUCK LINES EXPLAINED:
The puck line functions like the point spread in sports like football or basketball. The puck line in hockey is 1.5. That means that if you bet on the favorite (-1.5) you are betting on that team to win the hockey game by two goals or more. If you bet the underdog on the puck line (+1.5) you are wagering that your side is either going to win outright or lose by just a single goal.
There are two parts to a puck line wager. The first is the actual puck line (+1.5/-1.5) and the second is the moneyline value associated with which side of the puck line you take. For instance, a bet of -1.5, +120 means that if you wager on the favorite (-1.5) your $100 wager would result in a +$120 win.
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The purpose of betting on the puck line is to get adjusted odds in your favor. If a team is a moneyline favorite of -200 that might be too much to wager on. However, if you bet on that team at -1.5, +120 you are wagering that your team will win by two or more goals and in return getting a more favorable payout (+120).
Slightly more than half (between 54 and 58 percent) of all NHL games are decided by one goal.
NHL TOTALS or OVER/UNDER EXPLAINED
NHL totals are a bet on the total combined number of goals that both teams will score in a given game.
You can bet totals ‘over’ or ‘under’. If you are betting ‘over’ then you are betting that the combined number of goals from the teams will exceed the posted total. If the posted total is 5.5 and you bet ‘over’ then you wagering that six or more goals will be scored. If you are betting ‘under’ 5.5 then you are hoping for five or fewer combined goals to be scored.
Puck Line Betting Explained Diagram
All goals scored in overtime count towards the totals wager. In the regular season, shootout goals following overtime do not count toward the total.
NHL FUTURES EXPLAINED
NHL Futures are wagers on eventual results regarding certain teams. For example, a Stanley Cup futures wager is a bet on which team will win the Stanley Cup in June. Other types of NHL futures wagers can involve the number of wins or points that a team accrues during the season, betting on which team wins the division, or betting on which team wins the conference title.
The odds on futures wagers are generally expressed similar to a moneyline. For example, the Rangers could be posted at +1500 to win the Stanley Cup. That means that a $100 wager that proved correct would yield $1,500.
Puck Line Betting Explained Worksheet
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