Montreal Canadiens Betting Options

The Montreal Canadiens are a team of superlatives. The oldest continuously-operating hockey club in the world predates the founding of the NHL itself and has won more Stanley Cups than any other team in the league. Naturally, the Habs have quite a dedicated following, and Quebecers are more than happy to put down a bet on the team. 

Thankfully, they can do so at their leisure now. The passage of Parliament Bill C-218 in 2021 allowed for single-game wagering and empowered the provincial lotteries – including Loto – Quebec – to explore sports betting in a manner they saw fit.

Although Quebec has had a close view of what a competitive sports betting market would look like, due to its proximity to Ontario, provincial authorities have not seen fit to open Quebec to commercial sportsbooks. As such, Canadiens bettors are obliged to use Mise-o-Jeu+ as their sportsbook close to home.

Regardless, it’s a good idea to understand the way that betting on the Montreal Canadiens works, irrespective of where you are. So, this page is your one-stop shop for information about betting on the Habs. 

Tonight’s Canadiens puck line

Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup odds

Top Apps for Betting the Montreal Canadiens

While you don’t have any choice of sportsbooks in Quebec just yet, you have plenty of options if you travel west into Ontario. There are now roughly two dozen sportsbook apps accepting wagers in the neighbouring province – so many that it can be difficult to choose if you happen to take a trip to play. Furthermore, there’s always the possibility that an open market could be coming to Quebec sometime in the future. So, here are our picks for the top sportsbook apps to bet the Montreal Canadiens.

Caesars Sportsbook

Caesars Sportsbook is unlikely to be an unfamiliar name to you. After all, Caesars is a worldwide casino brand, and the sportsbook app is simply its sports betting offering. As you might imagine, a company like Caesars has a tremendous app at its command.

The first thing to note about Caesars Sportsbook may not be something that immediately stands out. Its simplicity and ease-of-navigation is better than almost any other app on the market. While it’s not a frilly app, it is extremely friendly to use, especially if you are a new sports bettor looking to wager on the Habs.

Secondly, Caesars is one of the top destinations for same-game parlays. If you want to make parlay wagers but want to confine your legs to a Canadiens game, you can do so with this app. It may seem like a small thing, but there’s something to be said for combining your parlay wagers into a single game – at least, you won’t be spending an inordinate amount of time sweating the result.

Finally, Caesars Sportsbook has a tremendous live betting and live streaming suite. If you want to make wagers as a game wears on, it is critical that you be able to monitor the progress of the match. Caesars makes that possible, and you don’t even have to log out of the app.

BetMGM Sportsbook

The corporate heritage of BetMGM Sportsbook should come as no surprise. It is the sports betting app representing MGM Resorts, one of the world’s largest gaming companies. However, the app’s operators have clearly not elected to rest on the brand loyalty and recognition laurels that the MGM name conveys.

Instead, BetMGM Sportsbook is an absolutely dynamic app for bettors who want to preserve as much flexibility as they can. Once you place a wager, it may become eligible for the Cash Out option, which is a near-ubiquitous feature among sports betting apps these days. Such eligibility also puts you in line for BetMGM’s Edit My Bet feature, which is not ubiquitous in the slightest. You gain the opportunity to add elements to your wager, take out certain pieces, exchange other parts, and even increase the value of your bet. 

BetMGM Sportsbook is also one of the best places to go if you want more options than just the wagers on the Habs games. The incredible variety and diversity of betting markets with BetMGM is second-to-none. It’s not uncommon to find betting options for sports you may never have heard about, let alone placed a wager.

Finally, in keeping with its flexibility, BetMGM offers each bettor access to its Easy Parlay Builder. One of the biggest challenges for parlaying is navigating to the different constituent wagers you wish to add as legs. The EPB allows you to change both the sports you want and the types of wagers you’d like to make with only a couple of button pushes.

BetRivers Sportsbook

BetRivers Sportsbook is the sports betting face of Rush Street Interactive, an American casino operator with most of its physical locations in New England. Although BetRivers doesn’t bear the same cachet as some of the other sportsbook brands, there is one major reason that you should not like BetRivers pass you by: the odds.

BetRivers Sportsbook commonly has the best odds in the market. No matter the type of wager you want to make, you are unlikely to find friendlier deals and lines than you will with BetRivers. Even if the app is clunky and not a name you know well, the savings from the odds you can realize make it worth a spot in your rotation.

BetRivers also makes it easier to decide on the bets you want to make because of its statistics hub. Your access to this feature allows you to compile relevant details and important pieces of information much more efficiently than if you had to hunt all the bits yourself. It is rare to find a sportsbook with such a player-friendly application, as making it easier on you is certainly not in BetRivers’ best interests.

Finally, BetRivers Sportsbook is home to a delightful live streaming suite that allows you to monitor the progress of your wagers in real time. Live streaming is one of those things you never knew you needed until you had it, but BetRivers has it in spades.

Bet365 Sportsbook

Bet365 Sportsbook is the North American version of one of Europe’s most successful sports betting shops. The company has only recently made the leap across the pond, but it has done so in quite the style.

For one thing, you cannot replicate the decades of experience that bet365 Sportsbook brings to the table. No wager and almost no sport will give the app’s intelligentsia pause, as they’ve walked almost every one of those roads before.

You can also look forward to bet365 if you are a live betting aficionado. Bet365 Sportsbook may just be the world leader when it comes to live betting, and you’ll find scads of options on any game you choose to wager. Furthermore, you can monitor the progress of any of these games through bet365’s live streaming function.

Bet365 Sportsbook is one of the best places to go if you need to get help, too. The app offers an unusually robust customer service offering. No matter the day or the time, you can always find someone waiting to assist you if things go wrong with your bet365 Sportsbook experience. 

DraftKings Sportsbook

The DraftKings name is likely a familiar one to you. After all, the company has made its mark as a top DFS provider for decades now, and its catchy commercial spots don’t hurt, either. However, in an odd twist, DraftKings has ceased its daily fantasy sports service in Ontario and replaced it with its sportsbook product. To be honest, it’s a clear upgrade for Ontarians and visitors to the province. 

For one thing, DraftKings Sportsbook offers more opportunities for social engagement than any other major sportsbook brand on the market. Its DraftKings Social is a one-of-a-kind social media platform that allows you to interact with other bettors on the app. You can also compete directly with these fellow handicappers through DraftKings’ betting pools, which create a tournament-like atmosphere and challenge you to rise higher on the pay ladder than other bettors.

DraftKings is also a hub for parlay bettors. One of the hardest things about building a parlay is navigating to the different sports, games, and wagers that you want to use as your bet’s legs. The DraftKings Parlay Builder simplifies that procedure and allows you to jump to the bets you want with only a few button presses. 

Finally, DraftKings is one of the best places for pure market and wager diversity. There are opportunities to bet on sports you may never have heard mentioned before, let alone considered wagering. Even if you stick solely to betting on the Montreal Canadiens, you’ll find an incredible selection of types of wagers to choose. Of particular note, you can use the Parlay Builder to make same game parlays – meaning that you don’t have to venture outside of the Habs game to take a shot at big money.

How to Bet the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec

If you want to bet the Montreal Canadiens without making a trip to Ontario, you do have a single option available to you. Mise-o-Jeu+ is the online sportsbook app serving the province of Quebec. It is owned and operated by the provincial lottery, Loto-Quebec.

There are some positives to playing on Mise-o-Jeu+. For one thing, there are now nearly two dozen sports available for play and an excellent selection for the major sports. The app is also home to an excellent utility for live betting, which may come in handy if you decide to watch the Habs game all the way through to the end.

However, Mise-o-Jeu+ lags behind the app choices you will find in Ontario or other competitive markets in a couple of key areas. For one thing, there are no bonus or promotional opportunities you can use, whether you are a new player or a veteran of the app. Mise-o-Jeu+ is also a bit anemic when it comes to the customer support options you have. 

All in all, it’s…okay. You could do better, but you could also do much worse. For a convenient option, it’s not too bad. Still – if you have the time to drive to the west (Ontario), there are far better options available.

Types of Montreal Canadiens wagers

No matter where you choose to bet on the Habs, the types of wagers at your disposal are sure to fall into one of a few categories. It’s important to understand how each of them works. Some of these are going to feel more comfortable to you than others, and it’s crucial to start figuring out the ones you want to do.

  • Puck line – The puck line is hockey’s version of the point spread, one of sports betting’s basic wagers. The problem with the point spread is that it relies upon a margin of victory, which is often a minimal single goal for Canadiens games. So, sportsbooks set the line at 1.5 goals and vary the payouts more dramatically instead. 
  • Moneyline – Moneylines are the simplest of sports bets because they only care about which team wins. The tricky part for most people with moneylines is their listing format, which uses positive and negative three-digit numbers to illustrate payout ratios for prospective bettors. A negative number is the amount you must bet to win CAD100, and a positive number is the amount that a CAD100 bet will yield in profit.
  • Totals (Over/under) – A totals bet, or the over/under, is a bet about the combined number of goals that the Montreal Canadiens and their opponents score during a game. The sportsbook estimates the total, and you bet that the actual total will be higher (the “over”) or lower (the “under”). 
  • Futures – Futures are wagers that take many games into account for their settlement. In fact, they tend to revolve around the outcome of an entire season of play by focusing on the eventual Stanley Cup winner or any Habs player that wins an end-of-season award. Futures wagers usually have long lists of wagering possibilities due to the fact that every team and most relevant players have a chance of winning – mathematically, anyway.
  • Propositions – Propositions, or prop bets, are wagers about the possibilities surrounding statistical milestones or other events during a contest. In essence, they are usually “yes/no” questions, and your bet serves as your answer. You may also see multiple choice options for certain props, but at a basic level, they tend to focus on whether a team or player will achieve an arbitrary measure within a given timeframe.
  • Live betting – Live betting, or in-play wagering, is a type of prop bet that occurs only after the game has begun. These wagers are extremely short-lived propositions and are heavily dependent on the progress of the game for their formation. It’s not unusual for live bets to constitute the majority of wagering options during a game and for their presence to inflate the number of potential bets on a single game over one hundred.
  • Parlays – Parlays are combination wagers that smash together several different single bets into one amalgamated bet. You pick your individual bets as components, then indicate that you wish to fold them into a parlay. Each component bet is called a “leg.” Parlays are high-risk, high-reward wagers because of their standing rule – you must pick every single leg correctly if you want to get paid. Even a single mistake is fatal to the success of your bet.

Sportsbook bonuses and how they work

Although the primary location for bonuses is going to be in the province to the west, there are still some opportunities for you to take advantage of promotions in Quebec. Loto-Quebec has a dedicated area for bonuses, and you’re certain to encounter them if you take a trip to Ontario. So, here are the main types of sportsbook bonuses and how they work for you, the Montreal Canadiens bettor:

  • No deposit – A no deposit bonus puts betting funds in your pocket without requiring you to invest anything of your own. Actually, that’s a bit of a misnomer – you’ll have to invest your time and personal information in the form of your registration for the app. The bonus will allow you to try the site for free.
  • Deposit – A deposit bonus augments the amount of your deposit by a certain percentage. The percentage varies from bonus to bonus, but it adds money on top of your deposited funds. Each deposit bonus will also come with a hard cap on the amount of bonus money you can get, so don’t be disappointed that you can’t double every dollar in your bank account.
  • Risk-free wager – A risk-free wager is a bonus opportunity that only kicks in if you lose your bet or your series of bets during a specified time period. The risk-free award will come back to you as site credits for a percentage of your net loss over the period. Like deposit bonuses, there is also a hard cap on the amount of refund you can get.
  • Odds boosts – Odds boosts inflate the amount of payout that you can get for certain bets each day. The inflation has nothing to do with a reassessment of the team’s chance for winning or anything – it is an artificial movement of the line or payout ratio in your favour. The boost will add roughly 25% to the potential payout of the bet.
  • Loyalty programs – Loyalty programs dole out points to you for every dollar you wager. Your accrued point total is used to determine your placement within the program’s tiered system. Each successive level of the system yields greater rewards for you, including free bets, restaurant comps, and hotel visits. Points may also be redeemable in a specialized store on the app for merchandise branded to the sportsbook or casino.

Strategies for Montreal Canadiens bettors

Since single-game sports betting has been available in Quebec since 2021, it’s possible that you are a seasoned sports bettor now. You may already understand what to do, what to look for, and when it’s a good time to bet. However, if you are still new to the process or want to see if there are a few other ideas you’ve missed, the tips below should get you going:

  • Strive for objectivity. You’ve been a Habs fan for decades. Nothing would make you happier than to celebrate their successes and fatten your wallet in the process. However, it is crucial that you take a step back and consider each game and each bet like the teams don’t matter to you. Don’t let your fandom blind you into a bad bet.
  • Stay on the bunny slopes. New skiers have to begin their journeys on the slopes with the lowest-relief angles and the easiest ride – the bunny slopes. So, too, should you begin your sports betting journey. Stick to the simplest bets. Don’t make your betslip a complicated mess – especially if you are starting out.
  • Apply realism at all times. Think about what a line or spread is saying. For instance, say that a Montreal Canadiens game has a published total of 6.5 goals. Well…that means the over bettors need a minimum of seven goals to win their bets. Ask yourself how often you see NHL games where both teams score seven goals. In other words, use your knowledge of hockey in general and the Habs in specific to guide your decision-making. 
  • Don’t bet out of habit, tradition, or a hard-and-fast pattern. Each wager should have its own justification in your mind. If you are betting because it’s what you’ve always bet, stop – take a moment and consider the situation at hand. Don’t always bet the favourites, either – the whole point of odds is that the favourites usually win, but not always. There should be very little about your betting style that could be described as “robotic.” 
  • Don’t wager with money you need. Finally, make sure that the money you wager is money you can afford to lose. Literally, if you are betting with money that you couldn’t just as easily throw into the garbage, you shouldn’t be betting with it. Your gambling money should never matter to you. If it does, it’s a problem.

How Mise-o-Jeu+ odds and Vegas odds compare

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA is likely the mecca for sports betting. The city in the desert enjoyed a virtual monopoly on sports betting in the US for nearly three decades, and even with the spread of sports betting across North America, it remains the center of the continent’s sports betting universe. So, you may be wondering how the odds in a Vegas sportsbook compare to the ones that you’ll find with Mise-o-Jeu+. 

The best way to describe the relationship between the two is as a road forking into two. Both locations’ odds start out in the same place, but diverge from each other as the game approaches. 

The reason for the divergence is the presence of bettors in Quebec that have different motivations and experiences than the bettors in Las Vegas. Regardless of which group you encounter, the odds on Mise-o-Jeu+ for Habs games are much more likely to move.

The first group of Quebecers who affect the games’ odds are the fans. Despite our suggestion above that you remain impartial when considering a bet on the Montreal Canadiens, the reality is that many bettors will pump the line for their favourite team, regardless of whether such a bet makes sense. So, you may see lines that are more favourable for the Habs’ opponents on Mise-o-Jeu+ than you would in Las Vegas.

The other group that might move the lines in Quebec more than in Vegas are the true expert sports bettors that call the Montreal area home. This group has the same talents as the wizards in Las Vegas, but has the added benefits of access to deeper, timelier, and more reliable sources of team information. If it seems like there is a move away from the Habs in Quebec, it very well could mean that the “smart” money close to home knows something, and you might be well-advised to bet accordingly.

These differences may not always be huge, of course, and if you are betting from Quebec, it’s ultimately an academic question since Mise-o-Jeu+ is the only option you have, anyway. However, if you have access to the Ontario market (with several apps that undoubtedly get their odds from their Vegas counterparts) or are planning a trip to the States, it’s a good idea to understand what you’re seeing.

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