Sport Select
Encyclopedia
Sport Select is to a group of sport
s betting games offered by Canada
's provincial
government
s. In Quebec
, the program is known as Pari sportif, in Ontario and Atlantic Canada it is known as Pro-Line while in British Columbia
, it is known as Sports Action. However, the rules for the games are similar in all provinces. Initially created to offer betting primarily on the North America
n major professional sports leagues, Sport Select has expanded to offer betting on competitions such as the English Premier League and college sports.
Sport Select (or equivalent) tickets can be purchased at all lottery centres across Canada, thus creating one of the most dense sports betting networks in the world. In addition, some provinces are now accepting wagers over the Internet
.
sports betting, and is the most popular Sport Select game. It does not offer betting on individual matches, partly because betting on a single sporting event is technically illegal under the Criminal Code of Canada
. Therefore, Pro-Line is a parlay game where bettors wager on the outcome of anywhere from two to six (BC and Atlantic) and three to six (Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada) of the matches offered by the lottery corporation. Decimal odds
are quoted for individual matches, the odds for each selection being multiplied to calculate the potential payout of the ticket. For the ticket to pay out, all selections must be correct. Some provinces offer Combo Play which does not require all selections to be correct for a payout, but a Combo Play ticket is effectively nothing more than a number of similar, individual Pro-Line tickets rolled into one. Overtime is considered when determining results, but overtime in soccer is not.
s where bettors are wagering against a quoted point spread. Bettors can make predictions on the outcomes of two to twelve games, depending on the province. The payouts offered vary by province.
s where bettors are wagering that the number of points scored in each match are over or under the quoted total. Bettors can make predictions on the outcomes of two to twelve games, depending on the province. The payouts offered vary by province.
or Nevada
generally maintains an overround (or "vig
") of about 110%, meaning the bookmaker can expect to pay out $100 for every $110 that is wagered. In Canada, however, the overround for an individual match in Sport Select odds often exceeds 130%. To make matters worse for the bettor, the parlay requirement compounds the overround - the actual vigorish is a minimum of 160% but can climb to well over 300% (if six selections are made). In jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom
where genuine compeititon is allowed, bookies often pay bonuses for winning parlay bets to help offset the compounded vig. Sport Select does not.
Another controversial frustration for PRO·LINE players in Atlantic Canada is the occurrence of Atlantic Lottery (ALC) 'capping' wagering on combinations and, on rare occasion, individual selections. This occurs when a significant amount of wagering is placed within a short span of time, typically on a specific combination of outcomes. The reasoning behind having such caps is to dissuade professional, or 'block', bettors from attempting to take advantage of potential flaws in the posted odds, and thus limits the liability for the corporation on a given combination of outcomes. Typical block betting behaviour involves placing large sums (often thousands of $) on a very small amount of combinations, trying to focus on perceived flaws as much as possible. Ultimately the PRO·LINE game is meant to be recreational and not for professionals. Unlike online-only betting operations where all transactions must be submitted by identity verified accounts, Atlantic Lottery operates across a network of retailers where wagers are accepted anonymously, thus making it more susceptible to such 'block' bettors. The capping of combinations serves to limit pro-betting while keeping all outcomes open for betting, in any other combination. If a combination of outcomes is capped, any subsequent transaction submitted to the system attempting to wager on this particular combination is rejected. This can be an annoyance to non-professional (casual) bettors legitimately trying to wager on a capped combination, but experienced bettors have come to understand the reasoning and adjust their wagers accordingly.
Though most experts agree that the odds offered on Sport Select are such that even the sharpest punter would have no hope of making a profit
in the long term, some have. See, for instance, the 2007 Tax Court of Canada case R. v. Leblanc, in which two brothers netted $5.5 million on $50 million in bets over five years. The Tax Court ruled the profit was not taxable.
as well, unlike what would be the case with most bookmakers the rules of Sport Select provide for betting on "ties" in nearly every sport including football
, basketball
and in some provinces baseball
, even though ties are never allowed in basketball or baseball and are rare in football. Consequently, Sport Select mandates that any game decided by five points or less in basketball, three points or less in football or one run in baseball (where applicable) is declared a "tie". Furthermore, when the NHL introduced shootouts
in for the 2005–06 season the lottery corporations (in contrast to most bookmakers) quickly ruled that shootout results would not count, specifically so they could keep offering "ties" in hockey. In Ontario, a hockey game that goes to a shootout counts as both a Tie and a Visitor or Home win, depending on the outcome. The rule is loathed by most Canadian gamblers because the size of the winning margin often means little to the teams on the field/court. Many bettors believe the rule's true purpose is to confuse gamblers and allow for larger vigs.
teams, particularly those in the smaller markets, have become increasingly agitated for not receiving a portion of the profits from NHL betting. The clubs argue that the provinces are making millions of dollars on events for which they assume all responsibility, expense and risk, and that those revenues would disappear if the clubs were to fold or move. These arguments were bolstered by the 2004–05 NHL lockout, which cost the provinces more than $100 million in lost revenue. Nonetheless, most provinces have rejected the request outright - although the British Columbia Lottery Corporation
agreed to licence the Vancouver Canucks
' name and logo for a fee while the Alberta
n government agreed to allow the Calgary Flames
and Edmonton Oilers
to conduct a separate, joint lottery.
The different NHL teams in Canada are the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadiens, the Vancouver Canucks, the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, the Winnipeg Jets and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
, wagering on NBA games nearly cost Toronto
an NBA franchise due to the strict league rules prohibiting gambling. The Toronto Raptors
began play in the league only after the provincial lottery corporation agreed to stop offering these wagers. , the Raptors are still forced to pay millions of dollars each year into a charitable fund and to the provincial lottery corporation to compensate it for the perceived loss of revenue. The same might happen if the NBA decides to put a team in Las Vegas.
and college football
, much to the annoyance of the NCAA
and others who would prefer to keep gambling out of amateur
sport. At the start of the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Loto-Québec
caused a major uproar when they attempted to compensate for the lost revenue by offering odds on QMJHL games. Players in this major junior league are aged 16 to 20 and make about $
30 per week in meal money. Faced with intense opposition, wagering on QMJHL games was quietly abandoned.
and are starting to do business with reputable offshore bookmakers or betting exchanges. The exchanges in particular often offer odds that are up to 50% better than what would be offered for an individual match on Sport Select. Moreover, both traditional bookmakers and exchanges offer single sports betting, thus greatly increasing a bettor's chances of winning.
Estimates of the amount of money the provinces lose to offshore competition are rough, but believed to be in the millions. According to some analysts, the provincial lottery corporations are already losing more revenue to the offshore firms than they continue to make by tilting the rules and odds in their favour.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s betting games offered by Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's provincial
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s. In Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the program is known as Pari sportif, in Ontario and Atlantic Canada it is known as Pro-Line while in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, it is known as Sports Action. However, the rules for the games are similar in all provinces. Initially created to offer betting primarily on the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n major professional sports leagues, Sport Select has expanded to offer betting on competitions such as the English Premier League and college sports.
Sport Select (or equivalent) tickets can be purchased at all lottery centres across Canada, thus creating one of the most dense sports betting networks in the world. In addition, some provinces are now accepting wagers over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Sport Select games
Each province offers versions of these three games under rules similar to those described below:Pro-Line
Known as Oddset in British Columbia and Mise-O-Jeu in Quebec, Pro-Line offers fixed-oddsFixed-odds gambling
Fixed-odds betting is a form of wagering against odds offered by a bookmaker, an individual, or on a bet exchange.-Calculating fixed odds:It is customary with fixed-odds gambling to know the odds at the time of the placement of the wager , although this category also includes wagers whose price is...
sports betting, and is the most popular Sport Select game. It does not offer betting on individual matches, partly because betting on a single sporting event is technically illegal under the Criminal Code of Canada
Criminal Code of Canada
The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...
. Therefore, Pro-Line is a parlay game where bettors wager on the outcome of anywhere from two to six (BC and Atlantic) and three to six (Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada) of the matches offered by the lottery corporation. Decimal odds
Fixed-odds gambling
Fixed-odds betting is a form of wagering against odds offered by a bookmaker, an individual, or on a bet exchange.-Calculating fixed odds:It is customary with fixed-odds gambling to know the odds at the time of the placement of the wager , although this category also includes wagers whose price is...
are quoted for individual matches, the odds for each selection being multiplied to calculate the potential payout of the ticket. For the ticket to pay out, all selections must be correct. Some provinces offer Combo Play which does not require all selections to be correct for a payout, but a Combo Play ticket is effectively nothing more than a number of similar, individual Pro-Line tickets rolled into one. Overtime is considered when determining results, but overtime in soccer is not.
Point spread
Point Spread is similar to those games offered by other bookmakerBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s where bettors are wagering against a quoted point spread. Bettors can make predictions on the outcomes of two to twelve games, depending on the province. The payouts offered vary by province.
Over/Under
Also known as Total in Quebec, Over/Under is similar to those games offered by other bookmakerBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s where bettors are wagering that the number of points scored in each match are over or under the quoted total. Bettors can make predictions on the outcomes of two to twelve games, depending on the province. The payouts offered vary by province.
Odds
In recent years, Sport Select has come under increasingly heavy criticism from Canadian gamblers due to the poor odds it offers (from the gambler's perspective). A private bookmaker licensed in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
or Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
generally maintains an overround (or "vig
Vig
Vig may refer to:* Vigorish, or "vig", a fee charged by a bookmaker for servicesVig may also refer to:* Butch Vig, music producer and drummer for rock band Garbage...
") of about 110%, meaning the bookmaker can expect to pay out $100 for every $110 that is wagered. In Canada, however, the overround for an individual match in Sport Select odds often exceeds 130%. To make matters worse for the bettor, the parlay requirement compounds the overround - the actual vigorish is a minimum of 160% but can climb to well over 300% (if six selections are made). In jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
where genuine compeititon is allowed, bookies often pay bonuses for winning parlay bets to help offset the compounded vig. Sport Select does not.
Another controversial frustration for PRO·LINE players in Atlantic Canada is the occurrence of Atlantic Lottery (ALC) 'capping' wagering on combinations and, on rare occasion, individual selections. This occurs when a significant amount of wagering is placed within a short span of time, typically on a specific combination of outcomes. The reasoning behind having such caps is to dissuade professional, or 'block', bettors from attempting to take advantage of potential flaws in the posted odds, and thus limits the liability for the corporation on a given combination of outcomes. Typical block betting behaviour involves placing large sums (often thousands of $) on a very small amount of combinations, trying to focus on perceived flaws as much as possible. Ultimately the PRO·LINE game is meant to be recreational and not for professionals. Unlike online-only betting operations where all transactions must be submitted by identity verified accounts, Atlantic Lottery operates across a network of retailers where wagers are accepted anonymously, thus making it more susceptible to such 'block' bettors. The capping of combinations serves to limit pro-betting while keeping all outcomes open for betting, in any other combination. If a combination of outcomes is capped, any subsequent transaction submitted to the system attempting to wager on this particular combination is rejected. This can be an annoyance to non-professional (casual) bettors legitimately trying to wager on a capped combination, but experienced bettors have come to understand the reasoning and adjust their wagers accordingly.
Though most experts agree that the odds offered on Sport Select are such that even the sharpest punter would have no hope of making a profit
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
in the long term, some have. See, for instance, the 2007 Tax Court of Canada case R. v. Leblanc, in which two brothers netted $5.5 million on $50 million in bets over five years. The Tax Court ruled the profit was not taxable.
Ties
While ties are a common in soccer and used to be common in ice hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
as well, unlike what would be the case with most bookmakers the rules of Sport Select provide for betting on "ties" in nearly every sport including football
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and in some provinces baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, even though ties are never allowed in basketball or baseball and are rare in football. Consequently, Sport Select mandates that any game decided by five points or less in basketball, three points or less in football or one run in baseball (where applicable) is declared a "tie". Furthermore, when the NHL introduced shootouts
Shoot Out
Shoot Out is a 1971 western film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars Gregory Peck and Patricia Quinn.This was the second-to-last of the 65 films directed by Hathaway.-Plot:Clay Lomax gets out of prison after serving nearly eight years...
in for the 2005–06 season the lottery corporations (in contrast to most bookmakers) quickly ruled that shootout results would not count, specifically so they could keep offering "ties" in hockey. In Ontario, a hockey game that goes to a shootout counts as both a Tie and a Visitor or Home win, depending on the outcome. The rule is loathed by most Canadian gamblers because the size of the winning margin often means little to the teams on the field/court. Many bettors believe the rule's true purpose is to confuse gamblers and allow for larger vigs.
Canadian NHL teams
Canada's NHLNational Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
teams, particularly those in the smaller markets, have become increasingly agitated for not receiving a portion of the profits from NHL betting. The clubs argue that the provinces are making millions of dollars on events for which they assume all responsibility, expense and risk, and that those revenues would disappear if the clubs were to fold or move. These arguments were bolstered by the 2004–05 NHL lockout, which cost the provinces more than $100 million in lost revenue. Nonetheless, most provinces have rejected the request outright - although the British Columbia Lottery Corporation
British Columbia Lottery Corporation
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation is a Crown Corporation of the Province of British Columbia, Canada.It has provided government sanctioned lottery services in British Columbia since 1985...
agreed to licence the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
' name and logo for a fee while the Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
n government agreed to allow the Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
and Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
to conduct a separate, joint lottery.
The different NHL teams in Canada are the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadiens, the Vancouver Canucks, the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, the Winnipeg Jets and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ontario and the NBA
In OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, wagering on NBA games nearly cost Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
an NBA franchise due to the strict league rules prohibiting gambling. The Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's re-expansion...
began play in the league only after the provincial lottery corporation agreed to stop offering these wagers. , the Raptors are still forced to pay millions of dollars each year into a charitable fund and to the provincial lottery corporation to compensate it for the perceived loss of revenue. The same might happen if the NBA decides to put a team in Las Vegas.
College and youth sports
In recent years, provinces have started offering odds on college basketballCollege basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
and college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
, much to the annoyance of the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
and others who would prefer to keep gambling out of amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
sport. At the start of the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Loto-Québec
Loto-Québec
Loto-Québec is a government agency that develops and operates lotteries in the province of Quebec, Canada.-Loto-Québec's mission:Loto-Québec is a Québec government corporation whose mandate is to operate games of chance in the province in an orderly and measured way. It was created in 1969 to...
caused a major uproar when they attempted to compensate for the lost revenue by offering odds on QMJHL games. Players in this major junior league are aged 16 to 20 and make about $
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
30 per week in meal money. Faced with intense opposition, wagering on QMJHL games was quietly abandoned.
Responses
In response to what is perceived as extreme arrogance and a lack of respect from what is effectively the state bookmaker, many Canadian gamblers have taken advantage of the InternetOnline gambling
Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...
and are starting to do business with reputable offshore bookmakers or betting exchanges. The exchanges in particular often offer odds that are up to 50% better than what would be offered for an individual match on Sport Select. Moreover, both traditional bookmakers and exchanges offer single sports betting, thus greatly increasing a bettor's chances of winning.
Estimates of the amount of money the provinces lose to offshore competition are rough, but believed to be in the millions. According to some analysts, the provincial lottery corporations are already losing more revenue to the offshore firms than they continue to make by tilting the rules and odds in their favour.