Top Five Tips for Beginner CFL Bettors

Sports are hugely popular all over the world and this is certainly true when it comes to football in Canada. The Canadian Football League is simply massive in the country and plays home to top sides like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Almost as popular as following CFL games in Canada though is betting on them! The changing landscape of sports betting for Canadians means that many now love to place wagers on who will win the next game or lift the Grey Cup come season end.

If you are new to sports wagering but looking to get into betting on CFL games, it is key to know that this industry is full of received wisdom which can be quite confusing if you’re a novice.

You are likely to hear all kinds of advice, from never betting on certain sides to take home the Grey Cup to always making sure that you compare sports betting odds before you bet on Canadian football. Some of this advice will be useful, some of it less so. To help you get started, here are five useful and fundamental CFL sports betting tips.

Be realistic

Anyone who has a basic understanding of Canadian football will probably make a few accurate predictions over the course of the 21-week regular season. There is, however, a significant difference between winning a few bets and winning often enough to generate a profit.

The fact of CFL sports betting is that the vast majority of those who engage in it lose money. Some people start off betting with the idea that their knowledge of teams like the Calgary Stampeders alone will help them beat the sportsbooks. This is a mistake! It is possible to earn from betting on CFL matches, but it requires more than a basic understanding of the sport.

It’s important to be realistic and create attainable goals as a newbie to wagering on Canadian Football League games. Your first goal for example should be centered on learning more about the league to eventually improve (such as working out which sides do well at home usually).

Set a strict budget

Every suggestion on this page is valuable for starting out wagering on CFL games, but none more so than this one. Whatever your financial situation, you must set up and stick to a betting budget. You must determine how much money you are prepared to risk and ensure that you do not increase your risk if you happen to lose it all.

You can opt to set daily, weekly or monthly budgets, or set aside a certain sum for CFL sports betting without time limits. All you have to make sure of is that your plan is affordable and that you stick to it. The golden rule when betting on this sport is never to wager money that you can’t afford to lose.

Be selective

When you take into account regular season games, playoffs and then the final Grey Cup match, it quickly becomes clear how many bets you could make on Canadian football. If you also add in the huge range of individual markets to get involved with (such as how many touchdowns a QB might throw per game), this gets even more expansive.

The key for new football bettors in Canada though is to be selective in the wagers you make. Once you have settled on CFL as the sport you are most familiar with to bet on, take the time then to focus on making a few, well-thought-out bets which stand a good chance of coming in. Many bettors for example will stick to betting on CFL sides they know well.

Value – not winners

Value is a concept that is often used in the context of sports betting and is certainly handy when betting on teams like the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL. It is however one that many bettors are unfamiliar with still. The notion is simple, since value is just a measurement of the link between the chances of a selection and the likelihood of the related result occurring.

A bet is said to have positive value when the chances of that selection winning are greater than the odds implied in the price set by the sportsbooks. Of course, calculating the true chances of a CFL bet winning is both art and science, but it is the only route to success when betting on this sport.

Keep records

Most fans of the Canadian Football League love to keep tabs on how their favourite sides are doing and all the latest off-field gossip. It is also worth CFL betting newbies tracking their sports betting efforts too. But why is this so key?

Firstly, without any notes, it’s difficult to monitor how much money you spend on football games across a season. Maintaining accurate betting records also allows you to review them regularly and seek methods to improve your CFL betting approach.