Does anyone bet real money on the NHL? I was checking it out, I don't know how betting world, don't know squat about, if anyone has the time, can you please what + and - mean? I tried researching online but nothing that is easy to understand comes up.
That's the american system to display the odds (which is quite confusing to be honest, I will never get why they do it that way, if you can choose how to display, do it with decimal odds). Anyway, some posters have already explained what means the +/-.
What you must do to achieve constant winnings is find the value. That is done by breaking down the probability of an event. For example:
FIN @ RUS
The ML (winner including OT/SO) is:
@3 for FIN and @1.4 for Russia... that in probabilities translates to:
1. First of all we must divide 1 by each probability:
1/3 = 0.3333 + 1/1.4 = 0.7142
And we add both = 0.333+0.7142 = 1.0472
Now we do the following formula: ((1/1.0472)*100)=95.49%
This is the percentage that the betting house pays, therefore they gain an extra 4.5%
Now we multiply each probability by the payment percentage (95.49) to get the percentage the house gives to each team.
Finland = 0.333*95.49 = 31.78%
Russia = 0.7142*95.49 = 68.19%
Next step you breakdown the percentage you give to each team... for example: I give Russia a 75% of winning and Finland a 25%.
So, since I believe Russia has more than 68.19% chance of winning the game, I go for it and back it.
In the long term if you do it this way (and you place your probabilities better than the betting house) you will win money.
It is much easier to calculate percentages in hockey than in horse racing for example, though of course more mistakes are maken in horse racing than in hockey.
The spread as said previously is an interesting market but a lot of times they depend on the empty net and that is just like throwing a coin.
Some markets I find interesting are the individual team over/under goals (or even by period) and the players over/under in points... it's easier to find there wrong placed probabilities.
Never bet money that you need, and always stay calm and stick to this system, or else you are going to give your money to the betting house.