Hockey Moneylines

[Bob]

I started playing offshore just a couple of years ago and hockey moneylines were no where to be found. I think the Mirage in LV was the first to use them and maybe Carib offshore (I'm not sure about that) but now a lot of places have them.

What I don't understand is why places shy away from them in lopsided games like Nash/Det and Atl/LA? Tonight, WSEX posted a -950 moneyline on Charlotte in the NBA but they won't post any NHL moneyline that approaches -300. Sometimes Carib won't post a big number either (although they had everything up tonight). What's the reason for that? Are hockey games too unpredictable between mismatched teams or are moneylines still finding their place in hockey? I really hate having only a -1.5 handicap line to pick from in some games

[ray]

I would think not too many people will like to bet straight on those -950 NBA favors.

Not too many people will like to bet a 1/10 favor unless its boxing.

And I am also sure that most bookies will welcome you to play those -950 favors straight.

So, there are mainly people out there will take those -950 favors in their parlays. You are just looking at a 1.1 multiplier and it actually is a good deal to the books.

But -300 hockey favors is another story, it is still a reasonable price to lay a big play for some people.

BTW, a 2 teamer of -300 is equal to about -130.

The calculated risk is different from those favors.

[reno]

Bob, you bring up a good point. I can't think of any reason why a hockey money line couldn't be used in games where you have big favorites. However, my guess is that books are leary of potential big risk on big moneyline games, and therefore prefer the puck line in those circumstances.

As I've earlier stated, I know very little about hockey. However, I have seen enough to realize that it is a truly an outstanding betting opportunity. The sheer availability of different lines more than compensates for the 20-cent line.

We have finished our baseball sides research and should be done with baseball totals in a few weeks. After that, we will turn our attention to hockey. We believe that, after baseball, it offers us the best money-making potential of the other sports. When we research it, we'll find out if our belief

[AussieVamp2]

reno, will look forward to any of your findings in hockey you are generous enough to share - hockey looks good to me so far

A sportsbook mailed me about big favorites, depending on the tax structure they said they don't have the same margin on big favorites

Ray, personally, I'm happy to bet big favorites if there seems to be an edge on moneylines cf Uefa cup early for a good example - England - Luxembourg

how about Charlotte - Golden State today?
Cleveland-Chicago?

oh yeah, and as I have been watching, college basketball 15 point favorites are 30-0 straight up so far this year, 10+ away is 9-0
and 10+ home favorites 45-3

sounding like a bit of an edge so far? Certainly interesting to whack on the 3/4/5 teamers here that might happen to pop up each day, same with NBA, 29-2 on moneylines at a certain pointspread level averaging 1.20 each - no brainer cash so far

[AussieVamp2]

I meant power ratings re: NBA above, not pointspreads

[ray]

Well, I haven't really seen someone actually will lay serious money on the heavy moneyline favors in NBA.

Like I said earlier, its a totally different story than boxing.

But I do know couple guys that are betting those 2 teamer to 3 teamer heavy favor parlays regularly.

As a bettor, what would you "believe" it looks like a more safer bet?

Det Red Wing -300
Det Piston -300 (which is equal to about -7)

A -7 favor in basketball isn't really the same as a -300 favor in hockey.

[Bob]

Well, if -300 on the Red Wings looks to generous then maybe the line should be -400 or -500. The question is why won't books put up a moneyline on a hockey game past -300 or thereabouts.

Is it because hockey is the only major sport that regularly ends in a tie, or is it just because moneylines are relatively new to hockey. The thing that suprises me is that Bowmans is the only place I can find that has booked every hockey game on the moneyline this year...and they are a pretty conservative operation. They eased into moneylines last year by putting up one game a night...now they put up every game. So that suggests to me that books are just feeling their way around the concept until they gain some confidence in its results. But I don't know....does anyone?

[Hartley]

I think it's just LVSC. The line was originally put out by the Mirage Hotel last year and then adopted by LVSC. In both cases, the money line was only applicable on 1/2 goal lines. Once it got to 1 1/2, the line shifted to the Canadian line (with goals and money line).

[Boomer]

Olympic offers hockey money lines at pick on every NHL game offered if that was the original question.

[AussieVamp2]

Ray,

If you are backing Detroit at -0.5 goals on that moneyline with no tie, the NBA teams is more likely to win, I think

[AussieVamp2]

but, a game is a game

if you have a 5% edge at 1.10

it is the same as having a 5% edge at 3.30, so who cares what the price is?

[Bob]

Does Olympic post moneylines on hockey? I looked at their sight and they seem only to have a spread and a puck line. If they do have moneylines on all hockey games I'll sign up tomorrow.

Well said AV. The edge is where it is....and when you find it you play it.

[ShiftySheik]

Bob, To view Olympic's moneyline, click on the team name.

[BillS]

Bob, If my memory serves me good, there was a hot tempered post in the wwts forum by dylan24 asking why everyone converts these
-300 lines to puck lines. I believe wwts said that most bettors do not want to lay the big juice and it decreases their handle.

I've always been a little curious about why the books dont hang these lines. Whenever i've seen these big lines I always notice that they usually go up quite a bit so I wonder if the books just dont want to expose themeselves to this(cant really see how this could be true cause dogs win all the time but who knows).
I remember a game last year that bowmans hung around -350 or -400 and it moved up to about -450 or -500 and finally they just took it down with plenty of time before the game.

I know I dont mind playing the fave in hockey sometimes because if they dont win for some reason there is a good chance they will tie.

Interestingly, I bet a fave last year and when the line moved about 30 cents larger it changed into a puck line.

[This message has been edited by BillS (edited 12-10-1999).]

[Boomer]

At Olympic, you have to click on the team to get a secondary menu which then gives you many more wagering options, such as 1st quarter scoring, etc.

I questioned this myself and was given to a very knowledgeable technical rep at Olympic and once he showed me how to do this, it was very easy.

Also, if you look at the Don Best Feed, you will find an entry for OlymML which stands for Olympic Money Line for hockey. I'm looking at it now and they offer a pick 'em line for every game.