Renowned NHL handicapping professional Ross Benjamin shares some betting advice and personal money management strategies. This insightful article includes helpful tips on NHL money line wagering
 

Money Line Parameters

If there’s one thing I can implore you not to, it’s foolishly wagering on NHL money line favorites of -150 or more. Large money line favorites are often enticing for bettors, and it’s due to those decisions being a seemingly obvious choice. I’m going to detail why I never entertain betting on teams fitting that profile when making my NHL predictions.

Shortest Route to Squandering a Betting Bankroll

Let’s use a specific example as it pertains to the Saturday (10/15) NHL card. Tampa Bay is a -185 money line favorite against New Jersey.

They’ve reached the Eastern Conference Finals in each of the past 2 seasons. As a matter of fact, they advanced to the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals against Chicago before losing in 6 games. Furthermore, Tampa Bay is listed at 7-1 preseason odds to win the 2017 Stanley Cup, and they’re a second most favorite with only Chicago Having lesser odds.

Conversely, New Jersey hasn’t qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2012. Based on those facts, Tampa Bay would appear to be the palpable choice when making one of Saturday’s NHL predictions.

Avoiding Sizable Chalks

Now let me explain why money line favorites of this size must be avoided. That’s especially the case for those who choose to wager on them with regularity. Tampa Bay may indeed win Saturday’s game, and quite possibly do so in a decisive manner. Nevertheless, there are no sure things when it comes to sports betting, despite fraudulent claims by tout services lacking credibility. I’m going to play the devil’s advocate, and make an assumption that Tampa Bay will lose. A $100 bettor would sustain a loss of $185. If his or her next two NHL money line bets were on average money line favorites of -185, and both won, it still would only produce a net profit of $15, or a mere 5% return on investment. I’m surely not making a case to bet against Tampa Bay in this game, rather than driving home a point about having long term success in regards to your NHL predictions.

Making Sense of it All

Let me put the aforementioned money line wagering scenario into proper perspective, and once again base it on a$100 per game player. Most logical sports bettors are aware that a win percentage of 60% is very good. However, if one was to make 10 consecutive bets on -185 moneyline favorites, and they won 6 of those 10 (60%), it would’ve resulted in a net loss of $140. Let’s be hypothetical once again, and use a much larger sample size in doing so. By winning 64% of 100 bets made at an average money line price of -185, the result would be a net loss of $260. Compare that same win rate of 64% on 100 bets at an average money line price of -125, it produced a net profit of $1900.
 
That’s a substantial difference of $2160 between those two money line parameters based on an identical 64% winning rate. Hopefully at this juncture you’ve seen the light, and avoid making these potentially costly money management errors going forward.