Many Ontario residents get their start betting on sports via the OLGC’s corner store Proline betting. Proline was a great option for many Canadians before the internet came along. At the start, Proline offered great odds and an easy way to bet on a sports event instead of going to a bookie. But the rise of the internet and a decrease in Proline payout odds over the years have caused many Canadians to bet with online sportsbooks like Bet365 and Sports Interaction.
Proline vs Online Sportsbook Odds Value
Proline is a great product for your average Canadian who wants to place a few small bets on a game. But Proline comes up short in many ways. With Proline you can’t place a wager on a single game, you must parlay a minimum of two games.
The payout odds of those games are significantly less than an online sportsbook. In fact, a bet won on Proline yields a payout 20-30% less on average than a decent online sportsbook like Bet365 who offer straight up lines paying 1.90 instead of 1.70 generally offered from Proline.
Proline & Sportsbook Events Offered
Unfortunately, Canadians are unable to bet on a number of events using Proline. NBA being the main problem. But it appears that the NBA league and provincial and state betting rules regarding this may change for next year, so that’s good news. But for many other events like World Junior Hockey Championships, UFC or MMA events and many other events, Canadians cannot place wagers using OLGC Proline.
Online Sportsbook Betting Options > Proline
When it comes to betting options between Proline and online sports betting sites, there really is no comparison. Proline has added lots of betting features over the past years including Pro Picks, Props, Pools and others. These are vast improvements but online sportsbooks offer more than ten times the number of prop and game betting options than Proline.
Online sportsbooks are able to easily organize this information on an easy to use website and have computers collect and compile all the data. Online sportsbooks are also able to offer Canadians teaser bets and line adjustments not too mention a number of props on a score, first touchdown, alternative spread, the margin of victory, correct score, Over/Under player performances and even bet live. Offering all these bets on simple paper sheets in convenience stores would be very confusing for clients and vendors, its better organized in an online betting platform.
Sports Betting Payouts and Deposits
An interesting distinction between Proline and Sportsbooks is when it comes to deposits and withdrawals. Proline can be a convenience or inconvenience in this regard. With Proline Canadians must pay for tickets in Cash and get paid out in Cash. This is a convenience because its easy to pop over to the store play a ticket and get paid out.
But its really easy to sit at home and place wagers online with a sportsbook. Proline has a fairly low limit on tickets as well, the maximum you can put down on a Proline ticket is $100 whereas online with a sportsbook like Pinnacle Sports, they will accept wagers on big games up to $20,000 If your Proline winning ticket exceeds $300 you need to mail it in to the OLGC to receive a payout.
Whereas online sportsbooks can send this money back to your credit card, wire it to your bank account or just hold it in your balance. Canadians can also fund their betting accounts using methods such as Instadebit, IDebit, PaySafeCard and Entropay which can make payouts and deposits really fast and easy. So if you are simply looking to place small bets with cash, Proline may still be a good option for you. But for more exotic bets or you would rather place bets at home a sportsbook account might be a good additional option as well.
Incentives and Promotions
One huge advantage for Canadians to use a sportsbook instead of Proline is that online sports betting sites routinely provide new customers with a sign-up bonus. They can do this because of the amount of betting volume they have because they offer bets to customers around the world and not just a specific province or country. Its just like getting comped at a casino.
These bonuses do come with some strings though, you can’t just sign up and withdrawal bonus money, you usually have to bet through the bonus money once or three times before you can make a withdrawal. Generally its pretty easy to clear a bonus and make a withdrawal, especially if you stick with a sportsbook for most of your bets for a few weeks. For instance, a sportsbook like Bet365 offers a 100% bonus T&C apply (18+), so you can deposit $100 and bet at $200.
The most you can lose is $100 still. But if you can win some bets you can leave with the bonus money in addition to your winnings:)
Safety and Security
In the early 1990s of the online gambling business there were a few online casinos who were fly by night business’s but since then things have changed a lot. Most of the top sportsbooks today, and the ones we feature here on this website are publicly traded companies and some of the largest corporations in the world. They use the same security features on their site that many banks use and there is always a paper trail of your bets as long as your a customer.
In other words, you can’t lose a winning ticket. You can always login and check your selections on your phone, friends computer anywhere with internet access and know that your account will be secure. Betting with online sportsbooks in Canada is legal and if you would like to learn more about the sportsbooks we recommend click here.