In recent years, soccer has become one of the most popular forms of gambling and itās not showing any signs of stopping.
If youāre a soccer fan, you love seeing your favorite team play important matches, but whatās even better is betting on your team and winning money on top. The thrill of betting is unmatched for sports fans and thatās why there are hundreds ofĀ Canada sports betting sites out ther such as soccer, nfl and nba betting sites.
For Canada, the story is a bit different. Canada has only recently allowed legal online gambling, so you donāt have the same choice youād have in Europe or the US, but there are still a ton of bookies to choose from which provide you with the best soccer, nba and nfl betting picks for example. Itās important to notice that not all of Canada has allowed legal online gambling, just the Ontario area. On top of that, the legislation is only temporary, however, we expect it to become permanent in the next few months.
So how do you choose between the sea of options that you have for gambling websites?
Itās crucial to understand that the first aspect you should look at is safety. Although online bookies have been legalized in Ontario, some of them still donāt have the right licenses or certificates to operate legally, so you should research any sportsbook youāre interested in.
And in this article, weāll take a look at some important things to consider when picking a bookie to bet on your favorite soccer teams so you donāt have to waste hours researching on your own.
Types of Soccer Bets
Soccer is arguably the sport with the most different kinds of bets. There are some extremely obscure ones on the website that youāve probably never heard of, but even with popular bets, youāll see that there are a ton of them.
Here are the major ones you should know about to make an informed bet:
- Three-way Moneyline: The most common wager in soccer is a straight-up bet. You can pick which team will win or if thereās going to be a draw as soccer is a sport where draws are pretty common. Thatās why this bet is called a three-way bet, as you can bet on the win of one of the two teams or on their draw. Usually, youāll see the 1X2 in these cases, where 1 means a win for the home team, 2 if you want to bet on the win of the away team, and X for a draw. One thing to note is that if there is extended time or penalties, the result is considered a draw unless stated otherwise.
- Double chance: Double chance is often considered the type of bet with the lowest risk possible. How it works is that you get to pick two out of three possible outcomes, such as a 1X bet, meaning that youāre betting on both the home team to win or to draw, and the only scenario where you lose is if the away team wins the game. You can also place an X2 or 12 bet. Naturally, your winning will be pretty low because thereās a high chance for you to win.
- Draw no bet: This one is a simplified version of the three-way Moneyline as you get to pick a team to win the game, however, a draw isnāt one of the available options. If the game ties, the bet is considered a push, and youāll get your money back.
- Half-time/full-time: In soccer, you can bet on the result of the halftime or the end of the match. For example, you can bet an X-1 bet which means that the first half of the match will end in a draw, but the home team will win in the end. There are a lot of possible combinations for this bet, such as 1-1. 1-2, 1-X, and so on. These bets are particularly difficult to pull off and for that reason, the odds on these are pretty high.
- Over/underĀ There are a ton of things you can bet on in soccer like the number of goals, yellow cards, red cards, corners, free kicks, outs, goal-outs, and so much more. One of the most popular ones is the over/under bet. Over/Under means that the total score of the two teams in a match will be over or under a certain threshold of goals. There are many different types of over/under but the most common one is 2.5, meaning that if you play over 2.5, to win the best the total goals at the end of the match have to be 3+. Under is the same principle, but at the end of the match there should be a total of 2 goals or less. There are also other kinds of under/over like 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5.
- Teams to score: You can try to predict whether both teams will score using the BTTS (both teams to score) option. Also, if you think that none of the teams will score, you can make this bet as well. Plus, you can bet that only the home or away team will score a goal.
- Correct score: This one is arguably the hardest one to get right and has also the highest odds among all bets, the correct score. What it means is that you need to guess the upcoming matchās precise score. The chances of nailing this down are extremely low, so if you manage to do it, youāre likely going to get a hefty reward.
- Goal scorer: Goal scorer is pretty straightforward, as all you need to do is pick the player who is most likely to score a goal in the game youāre betting on. The odds on these depend a lot on who youāre betting on. Naturally, if you bet on Messi to score a goal, your odds will be extremely low, however, if you bet on a player that doesnāt score too many goals, youāll win good money. You can bet on any player, whether it be the striker or the defender. You can even bet on the goalkeeperās goal on some bookies.
- Handicap: Bookies sometimes handicap the favourite team by a certain number of goals. Meaning that, if you bet on the favourite, they need to win the game and make up for the goal difference for you to win the bet. Letās make an example, if a team is handicapped by 2.5 goals and wins with a final result of 1:0, youāll still lose the bet. To win it, the favoured team has to win by at least 3 goals of difference.
- Yellow/red cards: We briefly mentioned this already, but you can also bet on how many yellow cards will be issued during a game. The sportsbook will set a line on how many cards they think will be issued, and you get to bet on whether you think it will be more or fewer than that number. These work very similarly to the total goals where it does not matter which team gets the yellows or when it happens during the match. There are also some instances where the bookie might also let you bet on the total number of yellow cards for each individual team, itās pretty rare but it can happen sometimes.
Best Soccer Betting Websites Licensed in Canada
If you tried to search for āāsoccer betting websitesāā or any other bettting sites such as mlb betting sites on Google you mightāve been discouraged by the huge amount of options available. On top of that, you are not even sure which one among those is safe or not. To make your life easier, weāve compiled a list of the best soccer bookies around in Canada at the moment, hereās the list:
- Betano: Betano is a European bookie founded in 2019. Although young, Betano has won the hearts of many bettors around the world and wants to replicate that in Canada too. With its huge selection of sports (30+) you wonāt find yourself bored betting on the German bookie. Speaking about soccer, Betano has extremely good odds and a ton of options for betting. A unique bet that youāll find on Betano is the āā2 goals aheadāā, which means that if the team you bet on is winning the game by 2 goals ahead, you win the best automatically even if the enemy team wins the match in the end.
- BetwaySports: Betway is also a fantastic option if you love soccer. It has dozens of sports to be on, a dedicated app thatās easy to navigate through, and many bonuses/promotions to choose from.
- Casumo: This is a new entry, however, even if itās not as established as the other ones, itās still a great option. With its modern look, low wagering requirements, and personalized sports betting, Casumo is a tough contender for the others on this list. The only downside to this bookie is that there are no regular promotions for existing players.
- Sports Interaction: Sports Interaction is one of the most popular bookies in Canada right now and for good reasons. The refer-a-friend bonus is mind-boggling, with huge bonuses for the referral program. The design and layout of their website are unmatched and they have a huge selection of sports.
- Unibet: Unibetās biggest pro is their extremely quick payout time. Plus, they have frequent sports promotions and a dedicated racebook page. The only big downside to Unibet is its unresponsive support, which can be a problem for some users.
- 888Sport: This bookie is extremely popular in the old continent and is making its way in Canada too recently. With a huge sports betting selection, a dedicated app, and a big selection of promotions/bonuses for both newcomers and existing players, 888 is a great place to start your soccer betting journey.
- TonyBet: TonyBet’s biggest strength is its user-friendly design. If youāre not too tech-savvy and donāt want to think too much when youāre betting, TonyBet could be the best solution. Having said that, TonyBet also has its fair share of drawbacks such as no 24/7 live chat and slow withdrawals.
- LeoVegas: LeoVegas has a big variety of sports markets, their app has won several awards and the best Canada betting bonuses are the best you can find around. The first deposit bonus gives you up to $1000. The only issue with this bookie is that the regular websiteās sports page can be confusing.
- BetVictor: BetVictor isnāt very popular at the moment, but itās a great option nonetheless. With a fantastic mobile app for both Android and IOS, a great soccer section, and fantastic 24/7 live chat support, you canāt go wrong with this bookie. The only cons of it are that there isnāt a wide choice when it comes to payment methods.
- Play: Mr. Play has great live options, especially for soccer, an appealing site design, and quick payout times. But, thereās one big problem with this bookie, for deposits and withdrawals, there are fees. On top of that, there is not 24/7 customer support, which in our opinion is always a big con.
Final Words
As you can see, if youāre a soccer fan and you love the thrill of bets, there are a ton of options waiting for you. Just make sure you pick your bookie carefully based on what youāre looking for in a betting website. If you find other bookies that arenāt on this list, ensure that theyāre properly licensed and certified to operate as some shady bookies still exist in Canada.
Also, remember that you arenāt necessarily tied to one bookie, you can sign up for multiple if thereās something good about each of them that you enjoy.