What does the -230 mean in hockey betting?

If you were logged on to a sportsbook such as BetRivers and you saw an NHL line that indicated the San Jose Sharks were -230 against the Los Angeles Kings, what does this mean?

It’s the moneyline, and it means that the Sharks are heavily favored to defeat the Kings. The moneyline is a straight bet on the outcome of a game that does not involve any handicap being given to the teams on either side of the wager.

The moneyline is the easiest wager that can be posted on an NHL game because it merely asks you to answer one question – which team do you think will win the game? Once you’ve answered that question, you then wager accordingly.

Since there is no point spread involved in this wager, unlike hockey’s puck line bet, which either gives a team 1.5 goals or handicaps them with a 1.5 goal disadvantage from the outset of the game, as a straight win or lose wager, the moneyline is handicapped in the actual return on investment.

If you wager on a favorite, then you will be issued a negative moneyline. The moneyline when placing a wager on a favorite tells you how much money you would be required to wager in order to return a $100 profit on your bet.

In the case of the Sharks (-230) is telling us that it would be necessary for you to bet $230 on San Jose if you desired to make a $100 return from your wager.

Moneylines on favorites tend to vary depending upon how certain the oddsmakers at the sportsbook are that a team is going to win the game. Prohibitive favorites can jump up into some very high numbers, although that seldom happens in the NHL, where the competitive balance runs quite deep.

Now that you understand how the moneyline works on a favorite, it’s time to make a play on one in an NHL game. Check out the latest odds at BetRivers.