What does +110 mean in hockey betting?

You’ve signed in to the sportsbook at PointsBet, and you are perusing the list of NHL games on offer for the night’s action. You come across a key Eastern Conference battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. There are playoff implications riding on the outcome for both teams, so it’s guaranteed to be a close, competitive affair.

You check out the betting lines and see this:

• Pittsburgh Penguins +110
• Carolina Hurricanes -175

The Penguins at +110 is one-half of the moneyline on the game. The Hurricanes are also assigned a number in the moneyline, in this case, a -175. But let’s focus on the Pittsburgh number at this point. That +110 is an indication that the Penguins are the underdogs in this game.

Underdogs are always an interesting play in a moneyline wager. If you solely bet favorites, you are going to be wagering lots of money that will offer little in return. Underdogs in moneyline wagering are always indicated by a positive number.

The way the moneyline works for a favorite is that the negative digit is an indication of how much you need to wager to win $100. In this case, you’d need to bet $175 on the Hurricanes in order to have the potential for a $100 return on your wager.

With the underdog Penguins, the payoff is much better. In the case of positive numbers in a moneyline bet, it’s the value of your profit on a wager of $100. In this case, you’d make a $110 return if you bet Pittsburgh and the Penguins won.