NHL Public Betting & Money Percentages

The NHL isn't as popular in the States as other sports, but it has a strong international presence -- especially in Canada. The rise of many international stars has helped grow the game around the globe.That's translated to a lot of money wagered on the sport now that online sports betting is legal in several states.

Not every wager is the same amount, however, and NHL bettors who pay attention to The Action Network's public betting data can spot sharp bets.

How to Use Public Betting and Money Percentages in NHL Betting

We track betting data at a variety of sportsbooks, including "percentage of bets" and "percentage of money" on every NHL game and bet type.

• Percentage (%) of bets: The proportion of bets made on a side of a wager. For example, if we track 20,000 bets on the Devils-Stars game and 13,000 of them are on the Stars, that would be 65% of bets on the Stars.
• Percentage (%) of money: The proportion of money bet on a side of a wager. For example, if we track a total handle -- a betting term that means "amount wagered" -- of $6 million and $5 million is on the Devils, that would be 83% of the money on the Devils.

This is important information because not every bet is the same. Some bettors will place a wager of $5 while others might bet $5,000. The sharp and professional bettors are the ones that tend to bet more, but those bets still count as just a single bet.

Therefore, looking at the difference between the percentage of bets and percentage of money can help The Action Network users find the NHL sides that have "sharp money" -- in other words, those wagered on by pros. We also have expert NHL picks coverage.

Here's another example: Say the Florida Panthers are getting 69% of the spread bets against the Nashville Predators, but 92% of the money bet on that game's spread is on the Predators. That would be a percentage difference of 23% on the Predators, highlighting that the bettors willing to wager a lot of money -- these are likely to be sharp and pro bettors -- are on Nashville.

Of course, it's also important to look at the total number of bets placed on the market, which we also display on this page for The Action Network users. If there are just a few hundred bets, the resulting bet and money percentages might be skewed by the small sample size. In contrast, if that game has thousands and thousands of bets, you can trust that data more.