NC Hockey Betting

But before we get into the meat and potatoes of hockey betting tips, tricks, and strategies to win more wagers, let’s cover some of the best NC hockey betting platforms in the state today. Our pick in the list of NC sportsbooks you’re going to want to focus your attention on.

100% legitimate operations, each of these NC hockey betting platforms are licensed by North Carolina. They have safe and secure banking solutions, too. On top of all of that, the odds they offer are some of the best in the business.

If you’re going to be doing any hockey betting in North Carolina, these are the platforms you’ll want to be doing that betting on.

BetMGM

MGM is a legendary name in the hockey betting world and the world of sports betting in general.

This online sportsbook is run by the same organization that runs a number of high-end casinos and sportsbooks all over the world, including in Las Vegas. So you get the same premium experience here as an online bettor, all without ever having to visit a physical sportsbook to get your wagers in.

The odds are good, the hockey betting tips are solid, and the hockey betting lines always offer plenty of potential for real profit.

Caesar’s Sportsbook

Caesars is another legendary sportsbook in the industry. North Carolina bettors hit it big time having a chance to open up an account here.

The NHL action with Caesars is particularly fast-paced. You’ll always find plenty of lines to pick and choose from (including free NHL pics), and the odds are some of the best in the business. Creating an account with Caesars is effortless. You’ll be up and running in about five minutes (or less).

DraftKings

DraftKings is the undisputed “king of the ring” when it comes to mobile sports betting.

Their mobile user interface is fantastic. The app is available free of charge on both iOS and Android devices. In addition, all your favorite sports bets can be made from your phone with just a tap of your finger, thanks to the DraftKings platform.

Combine that with great odds, fantastic hockey betting lines, and a really easy-to-break down digital betting slip and an account. Here is a no-brainer.

FanDuel

FanDuel is known most for their live hockey betting more than anything else. A wonderful mobile platform, having the chance to bet on hockey games – including NC Hurricane games – while they are going on is a game-changer.

The odds are solid, the lines are plentiful, and you’ll even get a couple of free NHL pics thrown your way as a FanDuel account holder, too. Check this sportsbook out for sure.

Breaking down hockey betting odds in North Carolina is pretty simple and straightforward: For every game you can bet on, you’ll have a favorite and an underdog. The favorite (unsurprisingly) is the team that the NC sportsbook feels will come out on top of this contest. The underdog would have to upset the favorite to win the wager.

Figuring out who NC online sports betting sites think are the favorite and the underdog is pretty easy, too. You just have to look for a (+) or a (-) next to each team. You’ll also be able to tell how favored a team is by looking at the odds next to that (+) or (-) sign.

For example, here’s what a common betting line might look like at a North Carolina sportsbook:

• North Carolina Hurricanes (-150)
• Boston Bruins (+110)

Hockey betting lines that look like this tell you a couple of things at a glance: For one thing, the Hurricanes are the favorite over the underdog Bruins from Boston.

Secondly, you know you have to bet $150 on the Hurricanes to win $100. Conversely, a $100 bet on the Bruins would when you $100 (that’s how you read the hockey betting odds after the + and -).

As soon as you get this foundational part of reading lines down, you’ll be ready to rock and roll on all NC hockey betting platforms. This is a universal format that works on every sportsbook in the business.

Now that we’ve square that away, it’s time to dig a little deeper into the specific kind of wagers you’ll find on hockey betting sites in North Carolina today.

Moneyline

The moneyline wager is (far and away) the easiest kind of wager for sports bettors to make. All you have to do with this bet is pick the team that you think is going to be the outright winner, with no considerations to overall score or anything else.

Using our example above, if you put money on the Moneyline for the Hurricanes to come out on top of the Bruins and they one – by one goal or 100 – you’d be going home a winner!

It really is that simple and that straightforward.

Puck line

The puck line, on the other hand, is a little bit different – but if you’ve ever bet the “point spread” on any other sport, the odds are pretty good. You’ll be able to master these kinds of odds quickly.

When betting the puck line, you are essentially betting the predicted margin of victory sent out by the sportsbook itself. Let’s say that a sportsbook feels that the Hurricanes are going to win by two goals. So they’d set the puck line at 1.5.

Your new hockey lines would look like this:

• North Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (-150)
• Boston Bruins +1.5 (+110)

If the Hurricanes win the game by more than 1.5 goals (really two goals or more), you’ll end up taking home a winning wager. If, on the other hand, the Bruins win outright or lose by less than 1.5 goals (lose by one or tie), the sportsbook will pay Bruins bettors instead.

Over/Under

Over/under style wagers are sometimes called totals in hockey betting. What you have here is an NC hockey betting sportsbook that decides how many goals they think will be scored in total during a specific game.

Using our example above, let’s say that a sportsbook feels that the Hurricanes and Bruins will combine for five goals total. This means they’d set the over/under line at 5.5.

Bettors that think six goals or more will be scored during that game will bet the “over,” whereas bettors that feel that five goals or less will be scored will bet the “under.”

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which team wins the game. All that matters is how many goals are scored by each team and whether or not that amount is higher or lower than what the sportsbooks set the line at.

Props and parlays

Prop bets and parlays are really popular in the world of hockey betting (just like in the world of sports in general).

Prop bets can be all over the place – who’s going to score first, who’s going to score last, who’s going to have the most penalty minutes, etc. They can be based on teams and based on player actions, too.

Parlays are really nothing more than combination bets that combine multiple wagers into a “super bet.” Maybe you feel that the Hurricanes are going to win the Moneyline outright, that they will cover the puck line, and that a Hurricanes player is going to be the first one to score a goal in that game.

Combine each of those three wagers into a single bet, and you have a three-leg parlay. But, of course, each of those bets needs to hit for you to win (one of three or two of three won’t payout). For the extra risk you dramatically increase your potential payoff, though.

Betting on hockey can be a little more challenging than betting on football or basketball, so let’s run through a couple of effective NC hockey betting strategies that will help you win more wagers right away.

Focus on the goalies

There’s no more important position in the world of hockey than the goalie.Great goalies can (quite literally) steal games that the team otherwise should have lost. It happens way more often than most people realize – even deep in the playoffs.You will win a lot more wagers if you focus on goalie matchups before you put your money down.

Hockey teams are streaky

Secondly, it’s important to recognize that hockey teams are really streaky – in large part because of the value of goalie play.

If you have a goalie that is just red-hot, locked in, and absolutely dominant the team is likely going to go on a run. It’s not a bad idea to bet that team (at least the Moneyline) when they start rocking and rolling.

At the same time, you never know when a hockey team is going to go cold. So be sure that you are keeping your eyes peeled for news about any potential drop-off.

You won’t find injury reports entirely accurate

Injuries change the complexion of every game in every sport, but the problem with injury reports and hockey is that they aren’t going to give you a complete picture.

Hockey players are notoriously some of the toughest athletes in the world of sports today. Many of them play through injuries that athletes in other sports would be sidelined for the year with.

Don’t be surprised if some of the superstars of the NHL are actually playing with busted arms, busted legs, sprains, strains, and all kinds of other ailments – slowing down their production but not keeping them out of the game completely.

Check the injury reports to be sure. Just don’t expect them to be completely accurate.

Don’t get out ahead of your skates too much

It’s really easy to come up with a “can’t miss model” to predict winning teams when betting on hockey. Nobody loses more money betting on hockey than folks that come up with those “can’t miss models,” though.

To avoid losing your shirt, be sure that you aren’t getting out ahead of your skates too much and betting on your gut.

Read the news, check out the updates, see how the team has been playing for the past week or two, and always double-check your goalie matchups. That’ll help save you a mountain of money – and win some – for sure.

Keep things simple

At the end of the day, it’s important to try and keep your NC hockey betting action as simple as possible.

It’s only when bettors start to overcomplicate things that stuff goes sideways. So keep things simple, keep things focused, and keep your bets uncomplicated and you’ll be good to go!