Canadian Football League Betting – Legal Sports Books to bet on the CFL

Canadian Football League

Canadian football is a full-contact sport played in Canada, featuring two teams that consist of 12 players on either side, competing for territorial control on a rectangular field that measures 101 meters long and 59 meters wide.

The Canadian Football League (CFL) is a professional football league in Canada and ranked the premier level of competition in the country when it comes to football. The CFL features a total of nine teams that are located in separate cities. The Canadian football league has nine teams which are separated into two divisions, including the East Division and the West Divisions. The East Division features four teams include the Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger Cats, and Ottawa Redblacks. The West Division features five teams, including the BC Lions, Edmonton Eskimos, Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders

From 2017, the Canadian Football League featured a 20-week regular football season, running from June through to November. Every Canadian football team will play 18 games along with two bye weeks. After the CFL regular season, six football teams will compete in the league’s 3-week divisional playoff to ultimately play in the Grey Cup at the end of November. The Canadian Football League was established in 1958.

In my complete CFL review, I will take an in-depth look at other football events similar to CFL football, and include the wide range of ways you can bet on the CFL betting at legal online sports betting sites. I then provide valuable strategies and tips that you can use to make a more educated betting decision before placing a bet on any CFL football match. Furthermore, I will give insight on the legality of CFL football betting, take a look at frequently asked questions surrounding CFL football, and inform you why I think CFL football betting is highly recommended for both beginners and veteran bettors.

If you already know the in’s and out’s of CFL football betting and don’t want to read my entire review on how to bet on CFL football, you are more than welcome to pick any of my recommended legal sportsbooks below and get straight into the betting action. However, for those of you who are new to CFL football betting, you will find plenty of information further down in this review.

List of Sports Betting sites accepting players from the USA:

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Similar American Football Events

Apart from CFL football, you will also find a great variety of other major events when it comes to the sport of football. Bettors who enjoy betting on the Canadian Football League will also find loads of betting options in the National Football League, the NCAA football league, and the Arena Football League. I included a brief description of other football leagues that you will find at legal online sportsbooks below.

The NFL Regular Season

National Football League

The National Football League, or more commonly referred to as the NFL, is a prestigious professional football league in the United States, featuring a total of thirty-two teams from both the U.S and Canada. The NFL teams are equally divided into two conferences.

Sixteen teams from part of the American Football Conference, while the remaining sixteen teams form part of the National Football Conference. Each conference is split into four divisions with four teams in each division. NFL teams play a total of sixteen games during a regular NFL season to qualify for the NFL playoffs, as well as the renowned Superbowl final.

Arena Football League

Arena Football League

The AFL, or Arena Football League, is another professional football league that you will find in the United States, but instead of playing at a stadium, these football teams play in an indoor arena. The Arena Football League was established in 1987 and is considered one of the longest running football leagues in the world.

Arena football utilises a 68-yard-long field that is 28 yards wide. The rules of the game inspire fast-paced action, leading to incredibly high scores. The Arena Football League consists of five football teams, including Philadelphia Soul, Albany AFL, Baltimore Brigade, Washington Valor, and Tampa Bay Storm.

NCAA College Football

NCAA College Football

NCAA football is basically college football played by both Canadian and American football teams. The football teams feature student-athletes from military academies, universities, and colleges, as well as student-athletes from Canadian colleges and universities.

There is a total of 11 college conferences in NCAA football, including Sun Belt Conference, Southeastern Conference, Pac-12 Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference, USA Conference, Big 12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and the American Athletic Conference. A total of 129 football teams participate in the NCAA football First Division during a regular season. Teams play to make it through to the College Football Playoffs Championship game.

Types of CFL Bets

The Canadian Football League will offer an incredible range of betting markets on every single game throughout the regular season, as well as the divisional playoffs and Grey Cup championship final. There are 18 regular games that bettors can use to make a profit, and with the 18 regular football games are loads of betting markets which I included below with examples to assist you.

Point Spread Betting

The point spread, also referred to as the spread, is an assigned number of bookmakers that will represent the point difference between two CFL football teams. The spread is essentially the number of points subtracted or added to your football team’s final score. The team presented with a negative number is always considered the favourites, while the team presented with a positive number is always considered the underdogs. Let’s look at an example below:

Edmonton Eskimos -4 -110

Calgary Stampedes +4 – 105

The Edmonton Eskimos are considered the favourites in this match, while the Calgary Stampedes are considered the underdogs in this match. The Edmonton Eskimos are -4 against the Calgary Stampedes and will need to win the game by more than 4 points to cover the spread. The Calgary Stampedes will either need to win the game outright or loss by less than 4 points to beat the point spread. The vigorish, or juice, for this game is -110 for the Edmonton Eskimos, the favourite to win. In my example, you will need to bet $110 to receive a profit of $100, making it a total winning amount of $210, if the Eskimos can beat the Stampedes by more than 4 points.

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline betting basically removes the point spread element as you will only need to pick which football team will win the game outright. You will notice different odds placed next to each football team that will determine the potential payout if the football team manages to win. Let’s look at an example of a moneyline wager:

Hamilton Tiger-Cats +200

BC Lions -250

The BC Lions are the favourites in this match, while the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the underdogs. You will need to risk $250 on the BC Lions to make a profit of $100, while you only need to risk $100 on the Hamilton Tiger-Lions to make a profit of $200. However, although the Hamilton Tiger-Cats provide a more attractive line, the chances of them winning the game outright is highly unlikely.

Over/Under Betting

Over/Under betting is based on the total score that both football teams will accumulate during a single CFL match. Bookmakers will offer a set number of points that they think the two football teams will accumulate together. You will then need to decide if the combined score will be less or more than the set number. Let’s look at an Over/Under bet example:

Winnipeg Blue Bombers –120 O48.0

Toronto Argonauts +110 U48.0

The O stands for Over, and the U stands for Under. As you can see, the over is set at -120, which means it represents the total expected points in the game. Bookmakers are expecting the two CFL teams to score over 48 points combined. Should you bet on the Over, the total score of the two CFL teams need to score more than 48 points combined. Should you bet on the Under, the total score needs to be less than 48 points combined.

Parlay

Parlay bets provide some of the best odds when betting on CFL football, as you will need to get all individual bets correct before your parlay bet is valid. Parlay bets require a minimum of 2 individual bets and a maximum of 12 individual bets. You can bet on point spreads, moneylines, and totals in a single parlay bet.

Prop Bets

Prop bets, or proposition bets, have nothing to do with the outcome of a match. Instead, it focuses more on a team’s performance and an individual player’s performance during the match. For instance, you can bet if the quarterback will be able to throw more than 250 yards in a single game or wager how many sacks a certain player will get during a match.

Future Betting

Future betting is also extremely popular in CFL football. You place a future bet if you want to predict which CFL team will win the Grey Cup championship at the end of November. Future bets are available throughout the season, but the best odds are posted at the beginning of the season.

CFL Betting Tips and Strategies

CFL Betting Tips and Strategies

The Canadian Football League has managed to gain more traction in the online sports betting community recently along with an emphasis on early season football action before the NCAA football and NFL seasons get underway. Therefore, I decided to include some helpful tips and strategies that you can use to increase your chances of making a profit.

Home Advantage

You will quickly notice that home advantage in the Canadian Football League will play a significant role in terms of betting. Although a road team might be considered the favourite to win, you will always need to consider the distance the team is travelling to play against a home team, the duration of their flights, and the preparation time they will have before facing the home team. Also, keep in mind hat home teams will always have a distinct advantage as they are playing in front of their fans. They are also more familiar with the conditions of the field, as well as the weather.

Bet Early in the CFL

Deciding to bet during the early season of the CFL will have loads of advantages, leading to more profits. This will require some additional research into each team, but the end result will be well worth it. Pay close attention to teams that have a brand-new coach as they usually want to ensure their team start with a memorable win as they head into the season. They will provide new tactics and a new style of play that might surprise their opponents. Also look for well-known players in a team line-up as they already have winning experience and know how to win successfully.

Discover the Best Odds

There are loads of legal sports betting sites online, and this means that you will have plenty of options at your disposal when looking for the best football odds. Online sportsbook will offer better odds in the hopes that they can draw you in to register. Therefore, it’s advisable that you shop around and compare each sportsbook to find the best possible odds for the wager you wish to make. You will need to do this with every game you decide to wager on, as one might offer better odds the following week that you don’t want to miss.

Legality of CFL Betting

In most countries across the globe, it’s rather simple to place a bet at online sports betting sites. However, when it comes to Canada, it becomes a tricky proposition as laws prohibit online sports gambling, while provincial governments offer their own unique sports betting sites. Apart from the provincial government, it’s illegal to provide sports betting to Canadians. Most provinces have their own sportsbooks operated by the provincial government. However, these Canadian sportsbooks have wider margins, and you can’t make a single bet, only parlays. Luckily, Canadian bettors have the luxury of visiting several offshore betting sites that will gladly accept their bets. These legal off shore sports betting sites are both reliable and reputable, as well as fully licensed and regulated.

Conclusion

Betting on the CFL might not be the most popular form of online sports betting when compared to the likes of the NCAA and NFL, but it still provides bettors with a host of additional profits when the correct betting strategy is infused with the ability to translate game analysis and statistical information for every game. The most important part of CFL betting is finding the ideal online sportsbook, offering additional betting markets to further increase your winning opportunities.

Canadian Football League FAQ Section

When does the CFL start and end?

Which CFL team won the most Grey Cups?

Who is the current CFL champion?

Why I Would Recommend CFL Betting

David Nugent Editor

First off, I want to say hi and wish a warm welcome to all gambling aficionados out there! My name is David Nugent and I am editor-in-chief of LegitGambling.com. I have always enjoyed various sports, primarily soccer, as I am a die-hard Everton fan.

Over time, I learned more about sports betting and discovered the fascinating online gambling industry. Eventually,...

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