The most important reasons to compare odds on CFL games
You could be forgiven for thinking that shopping around to find the best possible betting odds really isn’t that important. However,
odds comparison
is actually one of the most essential parts of the process when it comes to placing a bet on football or any other sport.
Why? There are multiple reasons we could list, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to finding the best value for your bets. More value equates to an overall better football betting experience. In almost all other aspects of our lives as consumers, we all shop around for the best price – and that should be no different when it comes to CFL odds.
How do bookmakers determine their CFL betting odds?
If you really want to have a true understanding of how odds work, and how you can find the best value bets, you have to look at things from the other side. Essentially, bookmakers set their odds by first calculating the realistic possibility of the two outcomes of a game, before then altering it slightly to protect their profits based on how they think betting will go. This will happen whether you are betting on the latest CFL game or on the
best F1 odds
– it’s just part and parcel of online gambling.
They will then change the odds in the run-up to the game based on how much money is coming in for either team. For example, let’s say there’s an upcoming game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. A few days after the line opens, the bookmaker might see a lot of money come in on Winnipeg. In this case, they would want to balance the books by shortening on Winnipeg and lengthening on Saskatchewan.
Why do CFL odds vary between bookmakers?
Bookmakers are all offering odds on the same CFL betting lines and games, so can the odds really differ between operators that much? Yes, they can. This is because it’s not only factors from the sporting side of things that determine the odds. As we said above, bookmakers will shift their odds based on the amount of money that they are seeing come in for a particular outcome of a betting line.
If we use the above example to expand slightly – a bookmaker might first have realistically calculated that Winnipeg has a 60% chance of winning and Saskatchewan has a 40% chance of winning, totaling 100%. On a completely fair market here, the odds would be -150 on Winnipeg and +150 on Saskatchewan. However, the bookie might then use past betting patterns to foresee more money coming in on Winnipeg, and so might offer them at -200 (66.7%) and Saskatchewan at +175 (36.4%). That gives a total percentage of 103.1% – that extra 3.1% is the bookie’s profit margin and is known as the overround.
The bookies may alter the odds to increase that percentage based on the betting partnerships they see happing in the lead-up to the game. Not all bookies will be seeing the same activity necessarily. That’s why you can have very different odds between operators.
There are three main odds formats used across the world today – decimal, fractional and American. Below, you can find these three different types of odds explained in detail. You can switch between the different odds formats easily by using our odds converter tool.
Decimal odds consist of a number greater than one that shows you how much your total returns would be per $1 stake. Therefore, to calculate your total returns, you simply need to multiply your stake by the odds number. For example, if you bet $10 on Saskatchewan at 2.1, your total potential returns would be: $10 x 2.1 = $21. To get your total profit, subtract your stake from the total returns: $21 – $10 = $11.
Fractional odds explained
With fractional CFL odds, each number represents a different thing – the number on the left tells you how much profit you stand to make, the number on the right tells you how much you need to stake to return that profit, and the two numbers added together tell you your total retutrns.
For example, if you bet $10 on Saskatchewan at 2/1, you would multiply the odds by 10 to show you how much you stand to win: $10 x 2/1=20/10. This shows you would stand to make a $20 profit from a $10. Your total returns in this case would be: $20 + $10 = $30.
Sometimes known as moneyline, this is the most commonly used CFL odds format in the US. There are two types of numbers to be understood here, positive and negative. With positive odds, the value represents how much profit you stand to make from a $100 bet. With negative odds, the value represents how much you would need to stake in order to make a $100 profit.
To use a CFL odds example
Winnipeg – 150
Saskatchewan +150
You would need to stake $150 on Winnipeg to make a $100 profit in this case, while with Saskatchewan, you would stand to make a $150 profit from a $100 stake.
How to calculate the expected value of your CFL odds
Knowing how to read the CFL odds only helps you to calculate your possible returns. What’s more important is to understand the potential value of your bets. You can do this by calculating the expected value (EV). The EV can be a little complex to get your head around at first, but you can use our betting odds calculator to do it for you.
Essentially, the expected value is calculated by first multiplying your total potential winnings by your realistic probability of winning. You then multiply your total potential losses by your realistic probability of losing. Finally, you subtract the loss value from the win value to get your EV.
- (Total potential winnings x win probability) – (Total potential losses x loss probability) = EV
Why loyalty doesn’t always pay with CFL odds
We’re not saying that loyalty is a bad thing here, however, failing to shop around for the best possible CFL odds can mean losing out on a lot of potential value. As we said above, it works the same as in any other aspect of our consumer lives. If you were to fly with the same airline every time you travel without checking the prices elsewhere, you would be losing serious value for money. And the same goes for betting odds.
Shop around for the best odds
Our odds comparison tool here at TheGruelingTruth.com is essentially the Skyscanner of betting odds. We pull together all of the CFL odds from every available online sportsbook and display them in real-time. As a result, you can shop around easily and be confident you’re getting the best possible value for your bets.
Other factors to consider when comparing CFL odds
Naturally, the odds themselves are extremely important when it comes to finding the best value CFL bets. However, the odds aren’t the only thing that needs to be taken into account when it comes to getting the best possible value. Things such as bonuses and VIP rewards also need to be taken into consideration.
It can quite often be the case that placing a bet with a bookmaker offering slightly worse odds, but a better bonus can be more valuable. If you are already signed up to a bookmaker, look for what rewards are available to you, such as enhanced odds. If you don’t yet have a betting account, consider the welcome bonus as well as the CFL odds being offered.
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CFL odds comparison vs live betting
Things naturally move a lot quicker when betting in-play, which does make comparing odds a lot more difficult. There are, however, some tricks of the trade – particularly when it comes to football and CFL odds. Football is, by its very nature a stop-start game. The best thing that you can do is utilize these pauses to jump on and find the best possible value for your live CFL bets. Half-time is when the odds are likely to stand still for the longest, and so this is optimal. However, pretty much any time-out or commercial break is a good time to check.
CFL odds – What’s the verdict?
To round up what we’ve learned here today, the key concept is that shopping around for the best CFL odds is all about finding the best possible value for your bets. As well as shopping around for the best odds, it’s important to understand how the odds work from the bookies’ point of view, and how you can use other factors to help find better value bets for everything from
football betting odds
to
tennis betting odds. That’s all from us here at TheGruelingTruth.com for now – until next time!
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CFL odds FAQ
🏈 What is the best bookmaker for CFL betting?
There’s a level of subjectivity to the answer to this question, as the best CFL bookmaker can change all the time. What we recommend doing instead is comparing the best odds for each bet all the time using the football odds comparison tool here at TheGruelingTruth.com.
🏆 What at the odds for the Grey Cup this year?
You can find the odds for this year’s Grey Cup here at TheGruelingTruth.com. With our comparison tool, you can find the odds on betting lines from all the bookmakers in real-time. That way, you will know the best odds at any given moment in the lead-up to the game.
💪 What are the best odds for the CFL season?
The best odds for the 2026 CFL season can be found via the comparison tool on our site. If you are unsure how to read odds, we also have other tools including odds converters and calculators. Follow the link to our site for more information – we’ve even covered the
best UFC odds
too.
