Best Sportsbook Canada

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What is the best sportsbook for people in Canada?  If you're asking that question, you're likely looking for an alternative to playing the provincial sports lottery games.  Good for you.  The sports lottery games offer some of the lowest possible payouts to the Canadian sports bettor.  You could be enjoying payouts that are 40% to over 80% higher on the same parlay picks by playing with online sportsbooks instead.  After all, you bank and shop online because it's secure and saves time and money.  You can achieve the same economies and conveniences with your sports betting by winning more and playing faster with a sportsbook that legally takes bets from Canadians.  But how do you know which online sportsbook is best when there are so many available?  

I’ve reviewed twenty sportsbook brands and culled my list down to the four best ones based on the issues important to Canadians like currency and deposit method issues and the betting options within our favourite sports. In addition to higher payouts than the provincial lottery games, these sportsbooks offer the convenience of allowing you to place bets with your mobile device through free downloadable apps or your mobile browser.

Note my Proline odds review blog to the right to compare how much more you could be winning by switching.  I select random game and compare the odds and payouts to these sportsbooks.  Best Sportsbook Canada also offers reviews, an outline the importance of being a Canadian Dollar Sportsbook and much more.  

   Quickly Compare the Best Sportsbooks for Canadians

Interested in comparing mobile sportsbook options?

High roller sportsbooks with high betting limits

Each of the sportsbooks that I list allow you to view current odds and place bets at the tap of your smartphone or tablet device.  This is a fantastic service if you want to check live scores on demand or are always on-the-go.  Choose to access your account through your mobile browser or download available apps for free.  Click below to find the best mobile sportsbook for you.

Each online sportsbook that I list has sufficiently high limits for most sports bettors.  However I understand that there are individuals with the wealth and the desire to push the limits of sports betting. And they want to know which sportsbook has the highest betting limits. Each service structures their limits in unique ways. I outline all the information you need on my

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Bodog was developed by Canadian Calvin Ayre and is one of the oldest names in the business, established in 1994.  Although he no longer owns it,  Bodog is specially targeted to the Canadian market, so you know they cater our needs.  For example, they are the only sportsbook that accepts the popular-in-Canada Interac Email Transfer as a deposit method.  Read the full review here.

About my sportsbook listings: I only list the best.  I do not list online sportsbooks that failed to meet my standards, so you might notice some big international brands missing. Remember, I analysed each company from a Canadian perspective.  Many of the big brands just don’t cater to Canadians well enough.

I reviewed 20 services, but why don’t I list all 20?  Would you want to read through 20 sportsbook reviews?  Would you then sign up with the 17th best one?  Of course not.  So why would I try to create confusion for you?  I keep it simple with the best few.

I don't try to fool you with phoney grades, rankings or star ratings.  My list is in alphabetical order and I just give you the unbiased information, you choose the best one based on your preferences & requirements.

News - November 2020 - Single-Event sports betting  may be decriminalized

It looks as though Canada will look to decriminalize single event sports betting in 2021.  With this news, many local companies and brands may move to enter the Canadian market.  Visit SNBET for all the latest news on the changing landscape for online betting in Canada.

News - June 2021 - Bill C-218 passes in Ottawa. Ontario to move ahead with open iGaming market

Will single-event sports betting now allowed in Canada by the criminal code, each Canadian province my decide how it wishes to operate and oversee sports betting for itself. The Province of Ontario through the AGCO has plans for a market that is open to an uncapped number of potential license-holders. It appears as though the Ontario iGaming market will be set to launch for consumers in early 2022 and there should be a lot of sports betting brands that will apply for Ontario licenses.  With so many formerly ‘gray market’ providers for Canada, many of these companies will look to bring their existing customers into the regulated market as fully licensed, legal Ontario betting sites that fully comply with local testing and Responsible Gambling requirements. All other provinces appear to be watching what happens in Ontario before moving ahead with any alternate plans from those that they had before bill C-218 passed. For now, all other provinces only offer sports betting through their local lottery operators, like the BCLC & Loto-Quebec.

Reasons to switch from sports lottery games to a top sportsbook beyond higher payouts:


1.)  You can wager on single games, not be forced into playing parlays.

Are you tired winning the first four games on your ticket only to lose out on the last result?  When you bet single games, this will never happen again.  Online sportsbooks allow single game betting as well as parlays with way better odds than provincial lottery sports games.  


2.)  You can wager on an unlimited variety of sports and leagues from around the world.

Want to bet on basketball, tennis, college sports, MMA fights and more?  Perhaps you are interested in all the different soccer betting options if you like to bet on the English Premier League or other big leagues.  Online sportsbooks offer unlimited choice.


3.)  Cutting edge betting technology makes them far more convenient, saving your time.

Do you hate rushing over to the convenience store to get your Proline ticket before your games start?  Aren't you busy enough?  These sportsbooks allow you to bet when you want, where you want with intuitive betting platforms for your PC or mobile device through mobile optimized sites or free apps.  They are super easy to use and you can fund your account with your credit card or by any one of several easy to use online payment methods similar to Paypal.  


4.)  You can bet live in play to increase your enjoyment, maximize winnings & minimize losses.

Have you ever been too late to get your ticket?  That will never happen with our sportsbooks because they allow you to bet in play, while the game is ongoing.  This ensures that you never miss a bet, plus it can further enhance your enjoyment of the game because you can double up, or win back what you might lose.

high roller sportsbook page.  You will see that Pinnacle Sports has a very simple limit structure and extremely high limits.  Pinnacle is also well known for being the sportsbook with the lowest juice, or in other words, they often have the best paying odds.

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Sportsbook Canada Review Criteria

Are you interested in comparing sportsbook odds for the games of your choice?  The potential payouts can really vary significantly depending on your picks, especially for combination or parlay bets.  If so, you might want to visit odds comparison site OddsJet.com where they have a site version just for Canada with sportsbooks that serve Canadians.

Odds, lines & spreads: how sportsbooks make money

Many people have a misconception about how some of the Canadian sportsbooks earn their revenue.  Sportsbooks generally do not favour one side or another for a particular bet.  In fact, a sportsbook’s aim is to set the handicap and/or the odds pricing so that the amount wagered on the game is such that the winners’s bets can be covered by all losing bets.  This is because sportsbooks are not trying to have a massive windfall where most of their customers lose big on a game. Situations like this are very risky as the result could go the other way, potentially resulting in a huge loss.  Instead, by ensuring that the losing bets cover the winners, sportsbooks guarantee themselves a small fee built into the odds pricing of each match.  This fee is called ‘juice’ or ‘vigorish’ or simply the ‘vig.’  

Let’s look at some numbers to debunk the misconception and then illustrate the reality of how sportsbooks hope to operate.  To do this, I’ll use a fictional football game in both examples.  Let’s assume we have New England favoured by -7 points over Buffalo and the public starts laying their wagers.  It is becoming clear to the sportsbook that far more money is coming in on New England.  This is what always prompts the sportsbook to move the point spread to encourage bettors to bet on Buffalo to help even out the total amount wagered on the game.  Thus, you might see a move to -7.5, -8, -9 or even more in the days leading up to the game.

Here’s why they move the line:  If they didn’t move it, the total amount wagered between the two sides could be significantly different which exposes the sportsbook to risk, and they want to minimize risk and guarantee a return.

Assuming odds pricing on each team at 1.90 (this number will vary by company), an imbalanced handle (the total amount bet on a game) could lead to either a huge gain or loss to the sportsbook.  If they don’t move the line to equalize the handle, the result could look like this:  Let’s say $2,000,000 is bet on the game with $1,500,000 on New England and $500,000 on Buffalo.  If Buffalo wins, the sportsbook will make a significant profit as only $950,000 will need to be paid back to bettors with $1,050,000 left as revenue for the sportsbook from those that lost their bet.  However, if New England wins, the sportsbook would have to pay out a total of  2,850,000.  $1,500,000 of this is simply the stake being returned to bettors.  However there is still $1,350,000 in winnings to pay bettors and the losses from Buffalo bettors are only $500,000 - this means the sportsbook must pay out $850,000 out of its own resources to cover the winners.  

This is why the sportsbook wants equal money on both sides of this bet, it guarantees that the winners’ bets will be covered by the losers’ bets, and the sportsbook itself will take a small profit through the odds pricing - the juice.  When the sportsbook successfully moves the point spread leading up to the game here’s how it looks:

Assume the same $2,000,000 is bet on the game in total and there is $1,000,000 bet on each of New England and Buffalo.  The odds pricing will be assumed again at 1.90 on each team.  This means that a payout will equal 1.90 times the player’s stake.  The 0.10 (2.00 - 1.90) is the juice or vig.  If New England wins, the New England bettors’ $1,000,000 stake is returned plus $900,000 in winnings ($1,000,000 X 1.90) The $900,000 is essentially coming from those that bet on Buffalo and lost.  This leaves $100,000 or 5% of the total amount bet as the juice or revenue for the sportsbook.  Of course the company will have other costs like employees’ salaries, marketing, site maintenance and general business overhead, so profit on the game is actually much less than this figure.

This principle of fluctuation is also applied to over/under lines and on moneyline wagers.  With moneyline wagers (outright winners or draws where applicable), it will be the odds pricing itself that fluctuates based on player betting patterns.  Odds will shorten or lengthen in order to encourage or dissuade further bets in an effort to equalize the payout risk no matter the outcome.  With the over/under, the total itself will move up or down in order to balance the wagers on both sides of the result.

Remember, it is far more palatable for sportsbook companies to guarantee a small profit on each game while minimizing the risk of a big loss.