Many Proline bettors didn’t see Canada’s early ouster from the world junior hockey championship coming.
Canada’s quest for a third straight tournament title ended Tuesday with a stunning 3-2 quarterfinal loss to Czechia in Sweden. The Canadians rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the contest before Jakub Stancl score his second goal of the game with 11.7 seconds remaining in regulation to give Czechia the upset victory.
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., only 29 per cent of Proline players had Czechia to win while 46 per cent had the victors +2.5 goals. When the world junior futures market closed Sunday, Canada had taken 55 per cent of bets to that point, ahead of the United States (28 per cent) and Sweden (13 per cent).
American college football decided its championship finalists Monday with two semifinal contests. Top-ranked Michigan got past No. 4 Alabama 27-20 in overtime to win the Rose Bowl while second-ranked Washington edged No. 3 Texas 37-31 in the Sugar Bowl.
Michigan and Washington will square off in the championship game Monday night.
Forty per cent of Proline bettors picked Michigan to win while 86 per cent correctly selected the total over 45.5 points. Meanwhile, 57 per cent of wagers were on Washington winning its contest with 69 per cent taking the Huskies +2.5 points. Another 71 per cent predicted the total over 63.5 points.
Meanwhile in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills kept their hopes for a fourth straight AFC East division title alive with a 27-21 win over the New England Patriots. The Bills can clinch the conference title with a regular season-ending road win over the Miami Dolphins.
A whopping 83 per cent of bettors had Buffalo winning its game versus the Patriots while 70 per cent successfully predicted New England +15.5. Eighty-nine per cent of players had the total over 39.5 points.
On Saturday night, the Dallas Cowboys held on for a 20-19 win over the Detroit Lions. Detroit appeared to go ahead on a late two-point convert but it was called back as the Lions were called for an ineligible player downfield and illegal touching after referee Brad Allen announced offensive tackle Dan Skipper as eligible instead of the Lions’ preferred offensive lineman, Taylor Decker, who caught the two-point conversion pass.
Sixty-two per cent of Proline players had Dallas winning but just 38 per cent took the Lions +5.5 while 22 per cent predicted the total under 51.5 points.
It was a successful Toronto debut for RJ Barrett as the Canadian — obtained in an earlier trade from the New York Knicks — had 19 points in leading the Raptors past the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-121 on Monday.
A total of 57 per cent of bettors had Toronto winning while 62 per cent took the total over 228.5 points.
On Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped a 3-2 decision to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Leafs fifth loss in six games. Only 26 per cent of Proline bettors picked Carolina to win while just 18 per cent took the total under 6.5 goals.
A Proline retail customer turned a $30 wager on an 11-pick NFL parlay into a $13,261 payout while a digital player won $2,629 on a $1 bet on a 12-pick NFL parlay.
Football continues to garner plenty of interest from Proline players. The top three events were NFL games (Detroit-Dallas, New York Jets-Cleveland Browns, Green Bay-Minnesota) with Michigan-Alabama and Washington-Texas rounding out the top five.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2024.
