There were some tasty betting tidbits concerning the Toronto Maple Leafs from wins over the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers over the weekend. Trends in NHL betting either show that the team is legitimately good or the annual delusion in the region about the team before the inevitable playoff crash is starting to take hold.
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s Proline sportsbook, 87% of customers had the Leafs to beat the Red Wings Saturday night (4-1 win), and 74% had them beating the Flyers (6-2 win). Moneypuck.com has the Wings at 5.2% to win the draft lottery and select Connor Bedard, while the Flyers are at 5.3%. These aren’t great hockey teams.
Still, fans and bettors at Ontario sportsbooks have had years of great regular seasons. But are the Maple Leafs a playoff team that can win a round? Toronto has not won a postseason series since 2004, when the Leafs took a first-round Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2 over the Ottawa Senators. Toronto was eliminated by Philadelphia in the next round that year and has lost seven consecutive series since.
Next for the Leafs are the Predators tonight at Toronto. Nashville is on the edge of playoff contention in the Western Conference. Matt Murray (10-4, 2.57 GAA) is the probable starter in goal for the Leafs. That game is followed by the Wings again on Thursday night, in Detroit.
Interesting tidbits for those using Ontario sports betting apps: Toronto is 16-3-3 when scoring the first goal of the game and are 14-3-1 when leading after one period.
NFL Notables for Ontario Bettors
The Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers Sunday Night Football showdown was Proline’s top selling event of the week. This setup had Proline players backing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to win and make the playoffs, as they took Green Bay on the Moneyline at a 76% clip. Green Bay -4.5 Spread was also very popular at 72%. The Lions won 20-16, with a lot of chatter now more about the future of Rodgers as an NFL quarterback.
Also on the Proline front, a digital customer turned a $125 wager on a 12-pick NFL parlay into a total payout of $19,902. Another digital customer turned a $30 wager on a 12-pick college basketball parlay into a total payout of $8,424.
Ontario Sports Betting Q3 Numbers Update
We await Ontario online gambling stats from the third quarter of legal gaming in the province, covering the period of Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.
Q2, you might remember, showed a nice uptick in gross gaming revenue for the span of July 1 to Sept. 30. Q2 market numbers showed total wagers at $6.04 billion, with total gaming revenue at $267 million. Those figures represented hikes of 48% and 65%, respectively, from Q1 numbers (April 4, when betting launched, to June 30).
A spokesperson from iGaming Ontario told OntarioBets.com this week that a specific date hasn’t been set yet for the release of those numbers, but that they will be released “soon”. Stay tuned.
And turn to us for information on the top Ontario casino apps too.
Canadian Gaming Summit Dates Set
The date for this year’s Canadian Gaming Summit – the big gaming and betting event, in its 26th year – has been set for June 13-15, again at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The event is under new management by SBC, the events and media company that runs regional and global industry events such as CasinoBeats Summit, SBC Summit North America, SBC Summit Barcelona, and SBC Summit Latinoamerica.
SBC will be working closely with the Canadian Gaming Association, which previously ran the event.
There will be over 150 world-class speakers, panels covering a whole variety of topics, as well as an exhibition floor featuring over 75 companies operating in Canada.
Check with OntarioBets.com for the latest on Toronto online casinos including a list of features and perks from each operator.
