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What does LFT mean in hockey betting?

If you were to see the acronym LFT associated with an NHL wager, it is a short form for terminology related to puck line wagering. It is an abbreviation for the term ‘lose by fewer than.”

In the puck line wager, each team is assigned a handicap in terms of goals scored during the game. It’s sort of like the point spread in a football or basketball game, except in this case, in almost every instance, you’ll find that the puck line on an NHL game will be 1.5 goals. The favorite will give 1.5 goals to the underdog.

You’re hooked into the sportsbook at FanDuel, looking to make a puck line wager on an NHL game later that night.

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

So, if the St. Louis Blues were playing the Vegas Golden Knights and the puck line listed St. Louis as +1.5, it would be indicating that the Blues were the underdog in the game and the oddsmakers were assigning St. Louis a 1.5 goal advantage to start the game. Thus, were you to bet on the Blues, in your version of the game, they’d be taking to the ice holding a 1.5-0 lead over the Golden Knights.

Whereas in the moneyline wager, it’s a straight-up play, and if you bet on St. Louis and the Blues lost, you would also lose; that’s not the case with a puck line wager.

If you saw the following listed in the betting line 

  • St. Louis Blues lft 2 

It is indicating that the Blues will be winners in the puck line wager if they lose by fewer than two goals to the Golden Knights. So if Vegas wins 3-2, in your world, the Blues actually win for you because they lose by fewer than two goals.