Basics of CFL betting: How to bet, bets available, gambling law in Canada
Increasingly popular among the Canadian betting public as well as with football fans from south of the border are betting on CFL football and CFL fantasy football. Since DFS is really among the lowest forms of football betting, on this page we’ll be concentrating on the good old-fashioned straight up betting on CFL football.
Naturally, the CFL doesn’t quite draw the gambling public’s attention – or provide all the options in odds, player props and betting – that the gargantuan NFL does, but the same sorts of wagers and betting options certainly exist at sportsbooks both online and “in real life.” During the preseason, any decent sportsbook anywhere in North America, the UK or Australia should offer Grey Cup futures, “To Win Division” futures, and quite possibly Most Outstanding Player props. The bigger bookmakers will offer win totals for the upcoming season, but, whoa, would this be difficult to win for most bettors in most situations.
Tiger-Cats small favourites over Blue Bombers on Grey Cup odds
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be aiming to close out the CFL season with an eighth straight victory when they take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday as 3
Source: sportsnet.caHamilton vs Winnipeg 2019 Grey Cup Odds, Preview & Pick
Okay CFL betting enthusiasts, with the 2019 Grey Cup Championship showdown set to cap off what has been another thrilling CFL campaign, it’s time to take a look at
Source: mybookie.agHamilton Tiger-Cats 'want to be great,' now they're heading to Grey Cup
HAMILTON — For the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, it was a reason to celebrate — a necessary step toward winning the Grey Cup
Source: torontosun.comHamilton Tiger-Cats Grey Cup-bound after win over Edmonton Eskimos
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, with mostly blue skies, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats knocked off the Edmonton Eskimos 36-16 in the East Division final
Source: calgarysun.comWinnipeg vs Saskatchewan 2019 CFL Western Finals Odds
After splitting their two regular season meetings, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders will lay it all on the line in an effort to win their Western Conference finals
Source: mybookie.agJONES: Eskimos take first step on quest to make CFL history
MONTREAL — It’s one thing to convince yourself you can beat a 10-8 team that was just happy to be in the playoffs for the first time since 2014
Source: edmontonsun.com2019 CFL Semifinals Odds, Preview & Picks
The Calgary Stampeders look to continue their quest for back-to-back Grey Cups on Sunday, Nov. 10
Source: mybookie.agEskimos vs. Alouettes Prediction: CFL Division Semifinals Point Spread, Odds
For the fourth straight season a West division team will participate in the East Semi-final
Source: news.sportsinteraction.com2019 CFL Week 21 Odds, Preview & Picks
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the hottest team in the Canadian Football League, winners of five in a row and leaders of the East Division by five games with a
Source: xbet.agCFL Simulation: Who will reign supreme out West?
TORONTO — The West Division crown is still up for grabs going into Week 21, and with several outcomes still in play, the CFL Simulation looks at what each team’s
Source: cfl.caRedBlacks vs. Argonauts Prediction: CFL Week 20 Point Spread, Odds
It’s not must watch television when two 3-13 teams meet late in the regular season
Source: news.sportsinteraction.comCFL Simulation: Riders are on the rise after latest win
TORONTO — While the top two teams in the West Division were closely matched when it came to the CFL Simulation a week ago, one team received a big-time boost
Source: riderville.comCFL Simulation: Who will walk away with the West crown?
TORONTO — The battle for the West Division crown is getting interesting, and even the CFL Simulation has the race coming down to the wire
Source: cfl.caCFL football betting -- Current odds and value plays for Grey Cup 2019
with few exceptions, each of the nine teams in the CFL has seen its odds in the "To Win the 2019 Grey Cup" proposition bet fluctuate pretty dratcially over the
Alouettes vs. Lions Prediction: CFL Week 16 Point Spread, Odds
The Montreal Alouettes are on an incredible run of close games – so you can’t blame them for wanting something a little easier Saturday night as they tangle with the
Source: news.sportsinteraction.comEskimos vs. RedBlacks Prediction: CFL Week 16 Point Spread, Odds
Despite their poor records, this is a very important game in the standings for the Eskimos and Redblacks
Source: news.sportsinteraction.comCFL Fantasy Podcast, Ep. 43: MacBeth's greatest act
TORONTO — Now on the 13th stop of his professional football tour, McLeod Bethel-Thompson has defined the meaning of journeyman in sports
Source: cfl.ca2019 CFL Week 15 Odds, Preview & Picks
Last week saw the Hamilton Tiger-Cats lose a thriller in Calgary, falling 19-18 to the Stampeders. Saskatchewan also won a close one, edging Montreal by two points
Source: xbet.agCalgary Stampeders look for another receiver to step up
It’s something they’ve been hoping to see for a little while now, to be fair, but with Begelton looking likely to miss Friday’s game against the Toronto
Source: calgarysun.comLions vs. RedBlacks Prediction: CFL Week 15 Point Spread, Odds
It’s a rematch and second game of a home and home series between these two teams
Source: news.sportsinteraction.comStampeders eager for another shot at 'best team in the league' Ticats
Bo Levi Mitchell isn’t entirely sure why the Calgary Stampeders are listed as such big favourites to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Source: winnipegsun.comCFL Week 14 Odds, Preview and Picks
With the 2019 Canadian Football League season rolling right along and teams in both conferences looking to improve their hopes of reaching the playoffs, it’s time to take a
Source: mybookie.ag2019 CFL Week 14 Odds, Preview & Picks
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats continue to run away with the Canadian Football League’s East Division, riding a four-game winning streak into Week 14 and sitting at 9-2
Source: xbet.agRedBlacks vs. Lions Prediction: CFL Week 14 Point Spread, Odds
This is the first game of a head-to-head series between these two teams with the first game taking place on the west coast
Source: news.sportsinteraction.comTiger-Cats vs. Stampeders Prediction: CFL Week 14 Point Spread, Odds
Perhaps an early Grey Cup preview? Sure, there are plenty of teams in the hunt for this year’s championship, but when the league’s top team faces the defending
Source: news.sportsinteraction.comYou’d figure that with just nine (or sometimes eight and, perhaps before too long, 10!) teams, the CFL would be easy to predict, but somehow those preseason predictions just never seem to fall into place just right. With the exception of the Calgary Stampeders, no team has enjoyed consistency SU and ATS. And, just like their counterpart in the NFL, Bill Belichick’s New England Bradies, the Stamps have a maddeningly tendency to lose the Grey Cup in wacky fashion.
In short, the over/under has been easier to win in the Grey Cup than the point spread. From 2010-2018, the favourite went just 3-6 ATS – and all teams not named the Stampeders were a combined 1-3 ATS (2-2 SU) in the ’10s!
During the regular season, most good online sportsbooks offer the same lines as in NFL football or college football betting: you’ll get money lines, point spreads and over/unders. Player props on individual regular-season games are pretty damn rare, but once the playoffs start, each CFL game has dozens of these bets – more time for everyone to research, we suppose.
Canadian sports betting law in a grey area
As for the legality of CFL betting for Canadian citizens, extant gambling law remains in a grey area. Recently, casino-style gambling has been opened up for legalization province to province, while Indian reservation-based operators (such as those in Quebec’s Kahnawake Mohawk Territory) are allowed to do business within Canada. Indeed, a citizen of the UK or even the US (!) could, by the letter of law, have access to Canada-based online sportsbooks that Canadian residents do not legally.
But that’s just technicalities. No advance has been made in Canadian law regarding sports betting online since the 1960s and the last codification of anti-games of chance legality – which is to say that technically sports betting on the internet is illegal for Canadian citizens, unless provincial law states otherwise.
Except … for individuals, this law is literally never enforced. Canadian law enforcement and prosecutors are for the time being perfectly happy allowing this little stretching of legality, which is fantastic of them, really.