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.