All Types of Betting Strategies in Canada 2024

What are Betting Strategies and Why Do You Need Them?

In retrospect, the “strategies” we’re referring to for the sake of this post are mostly betting systems. We’ve also thrown a few traditional betting strategies in there. You might be wondering, why do you need betting strategies in the first place?

The answer is simple. You don’t.

If you take sports betting as a means to pass time, you don’t need any strategies. Just follow what your gut is telling you and enjoy the time.

However, when betting is a passion for you, that’s when you can benefit from strategies. They are mostly systems that lay out a plan for how you can wager your money. The mathematical reasoning will prove that you’ll make a profit as long as you don’t run out of bankroll.

Enough talking. Let’s get on with the best betting strategies that you can use in Canadian bookmakers.

The Best Betting Strategies

In this section, we’re going to list the best betting strategies that are historically proven to yield the best return. Instead of focusing on individual markets like over/under, points spreads, or money lines, we’re going to lay down the concept of each strategy with an example. We’ll also give you a list of pros and cons for each of them.

Martingale Strategy

No matter where you go in the world, including Canada, bettors know about the Martingale strategy. It’s pretty much the Jack Black of strategies. Not really feasible but a lot of fun to use, you know what we mean?

Interestingly, Martingale not only applies to sports betting but also to all kinds of events where luck is involved. In fact, you can apply this one to casino games as well! Basically, the Martingale system dictates to double up the wager every time you lose. So, if you place a bet on a market for $10 and lose, your next bet will be $20. The logic behind is pretty easy. As you keep on increasing the bets, you’ll recover all previous losses with 1 winning bet.

Let’s say you placed $10 for 1.50 odds. So, the winning payout would be $15. If you lose, you lose $10. For the next bet, you place $20 on the same odds according to Martingale. Now, if win, the winning payout would be $30. So, you made a $10 profit from this bet that recovered your $10 loss.

All things aside, there’s 1 fatal flaw to this strategy. It’ll burn your bankroll down like a flash paper caught on fire. As you keep doubling the wagers, if you don’t land a win soon enough, you can very well run out of money.

The Fibonacci Betting Strategy

Fibonacci is a very respected and effective betting strategy among both casino players and sports bettors. Yes, it’s the same Fibonacci that you know from by heart.

Although quite effective, this is one of the betting strategies that are riddled with controversies. There have been bettors who won lots of money. And then there are those who lost everything.

In layman’s terms, the Fibonacci betting system dictates you to follow the Fibonacci series every time you lose. Instead of doubling the money as you did with Martingale, you follow the series below:

0 – 1 – 1- 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 13 – 21 – 34 – 55 – 89 – 144 – 233 – 377…..

You get the idea, right? Also, you must maintain a minimum of 2.62 odds to recoup all previous losses as well as to make a profit. This could be a life-changing betting strategy if you can dial it in the right sport and on the right market.

Many betting strategies guide may tell you to only target tie bets for Fibonacci. But we don’t recommend that exclusively because the likelihood of a draw is pretty slim across the board.

Following the strategy, you’ll start betting with $1 or whatever you hold equivalent to $1. Then, move up the ladder. Also, don’t forget to move down 2 steps when you land a win. Otherwise, your bet value will go through roof in no time!

The 1-3-2-6 Betting Strategy

When it comes to betting strategies, this is one of the safest. It’s a positive progression strategy, unlike Martingale or Fibonacci. This strategy was primarily designed for even money bets, like the color bet in Roulette.

If we convert the paradigm for sports betting, we have 2.00 decimal odds or 1/1 for fractional odds. Because it means you win $2 for your $1 bet. Which is essentially $1 in stake and $1 in profit, making it a 1:1 or even money bet. So, when you find a market with at least 2.00 odds, you may apply the 1-3-2-6 system. The numbers in there are simply betting units. You’re free to set the betting unit size based on your bankroll.

For starters, if you have a $1,000 bankroll, you may set your betting unit at $10. So, you start betting with $10. If you win, the next stake will be $30 which is referring to the 3 betting units from the series.

If you win all 4 bets, you can just start over. If you lose 1 bet in the middle, you start over. This is one of the safest betting strategies out there. Also, the arbitrary nature of the stake values doesn’t put too much strain on your bankroll.

Arbitrage Betting

Arbitrage betting is one of the most foolproof betting strategies out there. And for some reason, this is the most intimidating way of betting for Canadian punters.

Also known as Arbing, this strategy dictates a punter place bets on all outcomes of an event, at different bookmakers! For easier understanding, let’s consider a hockey match between Team A and Team B. For the money line bet, you either root for Team A or Team B. But Arbitrage betting allows you to place money on both outcomes, at 2 different bookmakers.

Now, if there’s a difference between the offered odds at the 2 bookmakers, which most definitely will be the case, you can yield a small profit. Also, as you’re covering all grounds, there’s practically no way for you to lose the bet. Different punters go with different approaches when it comes to arbing. Some only stick to the outright bets to minimize complexity. Others may go for more than 1 market at a time to increase the likelihood of a profit. Some punters even leave no stones unturned and go for all available markets at once.

As there is no mathematical reasoning behind this betting strategy, we’re not going to bore you with one. Let’s look at an example instead. Remember the football match between Team A and Team B? Let’s say the offered odds on them at Bookmaker X are 1.50 and 1.90. On the other hand, Bookmaker Y offers 1.60 and 2.00 odds for the same event respectively.

If you wager $100 on each team at the 2 bookmakers, you either win $150 for Team A at Bookmaker X or $200 for Team B at Bookmaker Y. You can draw up the other outcomes from this theory.

Dutching

The reason we’re exploring the Dutching betting strategy right after arbitrage is that they’re very similar. In fact, many Canadian punters confuse between the 2 on a regular. So, in our betting strategies guide, let’s clarify the differences once and for all.

Similar to arbitrage, you place multiple bets for the same event. But you don’t do it at different bookmakers. Rather, you stick to the sportsbook of your choice and choose your selections. Experts say that Dutching is perfect for multi-outcome events, meaning a sport that can yield more than 2 or 3 results. However, the betting strategies theory indicates that Dutching will work on any number of selections.

The primary goal of Dutching is to give you the same winnings for all selections. But the odds will certainly differ between markets. Let’s look at an example to understand what’s happening here.

If two selections have 3.00 and 3.60 odds respectively for a projected $100 win, your stakes should be as follows:

$100/3.00 = $33.33 for the first selection

$100/3.60 = $27.78 for the second selection

So, your total stake amounts at ($33.33 + $27.78) = $61.11 for the projected $100 win. So, if you want to win $100 from a Dutching bet, you need to place $61.11 on the 2 selections.

From here, you can add more selections or change your winnings to discover new patterns.

1x on Home Outsiders

1×2 bets have been extremely popular among punters for years. It’s one of those betting strategies that people don’t give too much thought to. But they should. When an outsider plays at a home ground for the favorite team, the “home” win bet is almost a no-brainer.

Of course, you need to consider all the possible outcomes that may take place. Incidents like player injuries, weather, or team management can influence the outcome of even a very straightforward game. But in most cases, you can expect the home favorite team to win and the odds will reflect that. Sure, the odds are shorter but you stand a better chance to win these bets consistently. It also works flawlessly for new Canadian punters with a limited bankroll.

So, if you stick to the 1x bet for long enough, you expect to grow your bankroll at a steady rate. The good thing is that the 1×2 bet is very common and it’s offered at almost all bookmakers in circulation today. One thing to remember here is that this strategy may not work for underdog home teams. It might work once or twice but not enough times to make it one of the betting strategies. So, stick to your favorites.

The Kelly Criterion

This is one of the finest betting strategies and lots of punters have benefited from it. After all, it’s the brainchild of scientist Mr. John Kelly. Due to the complex mathematical calculations, we don’t see many punters using this one. It’s mostly reserved by veteran punters.

That’s why we believe you should learn the Kelly Criterion. It’ll give you the edge you need over the everyday punters in Canada and hopefully make some big gains.

Before you can use the Kelly Criterion, you must know how bankrolls are managed. You need to break yours down into single units. Much like when you created a $10 betting unit for the 1-3-2-6 system. The equation utilizes the offered odds on the market in decimal format, the probability of winning, and the probability of losing. It’s not one of the foolproof betting strategies in any way because you have to rely heavily on how well you can determine the winning probability.

Yes, it’s up to you to determine! That’s why it’s mostly used by veteran punters instead of beginners.

You start by putting the values into the equation, which is:

Value Calculation = (Winning probability * odds) – 1. The value you get will go into the next Kelly equation where you actually calculate the sweet spot for your bankroll percentage.

It goes like:

Bankroll percentage to stake = Value Calculated/(odds -1). The result you get will be in decimal and you have to convert it to a percentage by multiplying it by 100. What you get is the percentage of your bankroll that you should stake for this particular bet.

Just like this, you can determine how much to bet for the most efficient betting practices across a wide range of sports. The problem is that if you determine the winning probability wrong, the math will be far from approximate.

But we believe in you and we know you can figure things out on your own.

Live Bet on Over 1.5 Goals Every Time

Live betting has changed the sports betting paradigm forever. The ability to change bets in real-time has brought a massive influx of new players who only focus on this type of betting. You don’t necessarily have to be a live betting enthusiast to follow this betting strategy though.

This could be one of the greatest betting strategies you’ve ever used if you can time everything correctly. We’ve specifically chosen the 1.50 goals over because it yields the most likelihood of boosted odds. And it’s best if you stick to football for this one. When a match starts, the 1.50 over markets don’t have very lucrative odds. It might even be under 1.20 and usually not longer than 1.50.

As the match unfolds, if the score remains 0-0 long enough, the odds lengthen quite dramatically. Again, we know this because we’ve seen it happen in the past. And it’s consisted across all bookmakers. This is why it’s tremendously important that you follow every minute of the match. Ideally, you should opt for a sportsbook that offers live streaming for football matches. In fact, you should prioritize live streaming for all of the betting strategies we’ve been discussing in this guide.

How the odds change will actually depend on how hyped the match is. The more tension there is on the field, the higher you can expect the odds to go. It might take a few trials and errors to figure out exactly when you should cash the bet out.

Fading the Public

We’ve now entered the uncharted territory of betting strategies. These are not technically betting systems. Rather, these are observations by veteran punters over many years that yield real results.

For example, Fade the Public is one of those betting strategies that you won’t find on many guides. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You “fade” the public by betting against them! In any sporting event, there’s 1 favorite and 1 underdog. The public will always favor the favorite team and so the odds are shorter. The favorites even get handicaps a lot of the time to balance the odds with the underdog.

As the public is mostly betting in favor of the favorite, you do the opposite and bet on the underdog. Now, this is a very risky move and you may very well lose the stake. To prevent that, you need impeccable research on the game before it rolls out. You need to be certain that the underdog will win. It might be due to bad management on the favorite team, serious injuries, or any recent developments that may have thrown the players off.

The reason this strategy works so well is that the underdogs have longer odds. The more the skill imbalance, the longer the odds go. So, if you can predict what will happen before the match, you can walk away with massive profits.

Master 1 Sport

Instead of jumping all over, isn’t it better to lay back and focus on 1? We might be discussing betting strategies but it’s something that applies to every context of life. When you try to juggle a lot at once, it doesn’t yield good results in most cases.

So, one of the best strategies we can suggest you is to master 1 sport for betting instead of looking all over. Let’s take football for example. Pretty much every bookmaker in the world, which includes Canada, offers football. Needless to say, there are more than enough markets in football to keep you occupied.

When you focus on 1 sport instead of a bunch, you can truly dial in your mastery on the bet slip. Every bet you place will be an informed one because you know what to expect. You can stay on top of any developments within the team by simply following the news.

Overall, when you’re more focused on 1 sport, you can become the master of your own trade. Then, you won’t even need any complex mathematical betting strategies to win. Your gut will draw up the strategy for you.

FAQ: Betting Strategies

Can I win with strategies all the time?

No. It’s very important that you understand this. Betting strategies cannot guarantee a win in any way. If they could, there won’t be any more sports betting in the world. You can strategize all you want but you still need lady luck by your side.

Which strategies are best for high rollers?

If you have a massive budget to bet with, go with negative progression betting strategies. Both Martingale and Fibonacci should do the trick.

Which strategies are better for punters with a limited budget in Canada?

If you have a limited budget, we ideally recommend you to stay away from negative progression betting. You may try the 1-3-2-6 system, the Kelly criterion, or fading the public.

What should I research about a sport before applying betting strategies?

The key is to always know what you’re doing. If you’re a football fan, know everything about the sport. If you’re targeting a particular event, know the teams, the players, what makes them better, and look into previous statistics.

Is there a betting strategy that applies to all situations?

No. Every strategy is different and they differ even further when put in the context of sports. So, you have to figure out which betting strategies and how to utilize them for your gain.