Hockey Betting: Moneyline, Puck Line and Regulation Time Markets

Hockey is the most bet sport in Canada, and its markets have a vocabulary of their own. The two basic ways to bet on a game are the moneyline, which asks only who wins, and the puck line, which adds a goal handicap. Knowing how each is priced helps in reading a sportsbook’s board.

The moneyline

A moneyline bet wins if the chosen team wins the game, including overtime and the shootout unless the market says otherwise. Favourites are priced below even money and underdogs above it. Because hockey scores are low and single goals decide many games, moneyline prices on favourites are usually less extreme than in basketball or football.

The puck line

The puck line is almost always set at 1.5 goals. Betting the favourite at minus 1.5 requires a win by two or more goals, and the odds improve accordingly. Backing the underdog at plus 1.5 wins if the underdog wins outright or loses by a single goal. Empty-net goals late in the third period often decide puck line bets, which is why the favourite’s price on this market looks attractive but is harder to land than it appears.

Regulation time markets

Many books also offer a three-way market settled on the score after sixty minutes, with the tie as a third option. Prices here are higher than the standard moneyline because the draw absorbs part of the probability.

Licensed Canadian sportsbooks state in each market whether overtime counts, and that line in the rules decides how a close game is settled.