Betting the NHL

Finally my wish has been granted and the NHL season is just a few crossing of T's and dotting on I's away .Today I want to talk about the edge that it gives Sports Bettors .Up until a few years ago the NHL was an all but forgotten sport by Bookmakers in general , but that has all changed beginning a few years back when the books started getting abused by those who found value in betting Dog's and Totals in the NHL.

Today I want to talk about betting totals and the value that it provides us as Sports Bettors .And to keep it as simple as possible the value comes from the short spreads that the Books pretty much universally adhere to .When I refer to a Books spread in this case I am refferring to the difference between the Over and the Under price .This is where things get very interesting .Especially in the early season it will be extremely rare if ever to see as Total higher than 6.5 or lower than 5, and when you look at it this way you realize that you are dealing with a very slim margin indeed.The reason for the small spread is very simple , as it prevents Books from getting sided on Totals where they become more of a bettor , as opposed to a Bookmaker .When I say sided that simply means for the Books to be so heavy either on the Over or Under where it would greatly effect their take for the day either based on one or more Totals.And you can bet moving the Total on any NHL to 7 would immediately cause an influx of Sharp money to come in on the Under , much the same way dropping a Total to 4.5 would have the same effect with Over money coming in.

For those that have bet Hockey for any length of time you're well aware of teams that go on scoring streaks , as well as scoring slumps .Very much the same in that regard as Major League Baseball .These are one of the things I like to look for when betting Totals in the NHL , and as most of you that know me know that I am more of an Under Totals bettor so you know what kind of streak that I'll be looking for .This season will be a wait and see for me for several days at least because due to the shortened season  every game will take on an added importance , and prior conditioning as far as during the strike or lack thereof will become immediately evident .

I believe there will also be a great deal more value on Underdogs early on in this shortened season as well with the pre-determined faves getting far overvalued in relation to actual market conditions .These are the times to take full advantage of public perception especially in regard to Dogs of the +140 or above variety  .With teams like the Rangers and Penguins getting plenty of Pre Season ink the public with naturally follow irregardless of the price , and that's when we strike and take full advantage of that over valuation .Just my early take and a few tips that I feel will help you pad your Bankroll

Best of Luck

Tony C


perception especially whe