There are quite a few terms used by hockey handicappers when they’re discussing betting on the NHL. In order to understand what the cappers are talking about then you’re going to need to know the definition of all the popular terms used. I’ve compiled an expansive list of the terms you can expect to see when you’re studying hockey and reading the betting forums. You don’t need to memorize the list or anything, but make sure you keep it handy in case you need to look up a definition quickly.
Action – Action defines any type of wager/bet that you make on any NHL outcome.
Angles – Using past data from previous hockey games to obtain an angle on a future game.
Book/Bookmaker/Bookie – Terms used to describe online sportsbooks.
Chalk – This another term used to describe the favourite in the wager.
Future Bets – A future bet is when you make a wager on an outcome that won’t be known for awhile. An example of a future bet would be wagering on who will win the Stanley Cup Championship at the start of the season.
Handicapping – Term used to describe the art of predicting the outcome on wagers.
Hedging – You will have the opportunity at one point in time or another to hedge your bet. It means betting on the opposite team you already bet on to ensure profit or cut losses. If you’re uneasy after making a bet you can hedge it to cut the losses. If you have a parlay with one team you can typically hedge it so that you can guarantee a profit.
Juice – The juice is the amount of money that the bookie makes on a bet that has lost.
Line – The term “line” refers to the posted odds of a given outcome in the NHL. You will typically see the term NHL Betting Lines when you visit the sportsbook.
Longshot/Underdog – The team or side of the wager that isn’t expected to win.
Pick/Pickem – When both teams have the same odds and noone has an edge.
Power Ratings – This is a term used to describe popular stats of the different teams so you can compare who has the better team on paper.
Puck-Line – The puck-line is the term used to describe spreads in hockey games.
Push – The term push is used to describe any wager that results in a tie.
Straight Bet – Term used to describe when you bet on a single team to win.
This basically sums up every term that you’re going to run into when you’re wagering on the NHL. Remember if you don’t know what something means then it’s probably found on this list and you should make sure you learn what it means. You might get the wrong impression from an article or post online if you misunderstand one of the terms, which could result in losing money. If you find any other terms online when you’re betting on the NHL that you need defined just let us know and we will add it to the current list.
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