Types of Bets Explained — Moneyline, Parlays & Props

Sports betting in Canada offers a wider variety of bet types than ever before. Whether you are placing your first wager on an NHL game or looking to diversify beyond single bets, understanding every bet structure — and the distinct risk-reward profile of each — is essential for making informed decisions. This guide covers every bet type available on major Canadian sportsbooks, from the simplest straight bet to complex round robins and same-game parlays.

Not all bet types are created equal. Some are designed for entertainment value and big payouts (parlays, same-game parlays). Others are built for consistent, disciplined profitability (singles, line-shopped straight bets). Understanding which bet type suits your goals, bankroll management, and approach to the game will help you build a smarter betting strategy from the ground up.

We have organized this guide from simplest to most complex, with clear explanations of how each bet type works, how the odds are calculated, and the strategic contexts in which each type is most useful. We use hockey examples throughout, since NHL betting is the most popular sports wagering market for Canadians. For NHL-specific strategies, see our hockey betting guide.

1. Single Bets (Straight Bets) —

The single bet — also called a straight bet or moneyline bet — is the foundation of sports wagering. You place one bet on one outcome. If it wins, you collect your profit plus your returned stake. If it loses, your stake is gone. There are no additional legs, no cascading losses, and no complex settlement.

Single bets in hockey betting come in several forms:

• Moneyline single: Pick the winner of the game. Toronto -145 or Ottawa +125.
• Puck line single: Pick a team to cover the -1.5 or +1.5 goal spread — hockey's version of handicap betting.
• Totals single: Pick over or under the posted goal total, typically -110 on each side.
• Prop single: Pick one player or team statistical outcome.

Professional bettors overwhelmingly focus on single bets. The reason is simple: variance management. A single bet that loses costs you one unit. A four-leg parlay that loses on the last leg costs you one unit of stake but denies you the return from three correct picks. Singles let your edge compound over time without the catastrophic variance of multi-leg structures.

2. Parlay Bets

A parlay combines two or more individual bets into a single wager. The odds from each leg are multiplied together, creating a larger potential payout. But there is a critical catch: every leg must win. A single loss in a parlay of five teams voids the entire bet, regardless of how many correct picks you made.

How Parlay Odds Are Calculated

Convert each American odds line to decimal format, multiply them together, then convert back. A 3-team parlay of -110/-110/-110 produces:

• -110 → 1.909 (decimal)
• 1.909 × 1.909 × 1.909 = 6.96 (decimal)
• Equivalent to approximately +596 American

Sportsbooks often advertise parlay payouts that are slightly lower than the true mathematical odds — our guide to reading betting odds explains how to spot these margins — this is the additional margin they extract beyond the individual bet vigs. The more legs added, the larger this hidden margin becomes.

Parlay Strategy

Parlays are best used sparingly, with a maximum of 2 to 3 legs, when you have strong conviction on multiple games and the legs are not correlated (from different games). Combining the Oilers moneyline with the Flames moneyline on the same night is a correlated parlay if they share common opponents; most books allow it, but the payout reflects the correlation.

Parlays are entertainment bets for most recreational bettors. If you enjoy the larger potential payouts and understand the elevated risk, a small parlay stake (1 to 2% of bankroll maximum) can provide excitement without threatening your overall betting health. Many sportsbooks with bonus offers let you use free bets on parlays, reducing your risk to zero on the first wager.

3. Teaser Bets

A teaser is a modified parlay where you adjust the point spread or total in your favour by a set number of points. In exchange for this favourable adjustment, the odds are reduced. Teasers are most common in NFL betting (6-point teasers) and basketball (4-point teasers).

In hockey, teasers are less common because the puck line is fixed at 1.5 goals and does not vary much. Some sportsbooks offer hockey teasers on the total, allowing you to move the line by half a goal in your preferred direction across multiple games. For example, a 5.5 total becomes 5.0 (favour the under) or 6.0 (favour the over) after the teaser adjustment.

Teasers are most valuable when you are moving the total or spread through a key number that dramatically changes the probability of winning. In hockey, moving through 5.5 goals is the most significant adjustment since games ending 3-2 and 4-2 are common outcomes that cross that threshold.

4. Round Robin Bets

A round robin takes a selection of 3 or more teams and creates all possible 2-team (or 3-team) parlays from that group. If you pick 4 teams for a round robin of 2-leg parlays, the book creates 6 separate parlays (all possible 2-team combinations from 4 teams: AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD). Each parlay is staked separately.

Round Robin Example

You select Toronto, Edmonton, and Winnipeg — 3 teams. A 2-leg round robin creates 3 parlays:

1. Toronto + Edmonton
2. Toronto + Winnipeg
3. Edmonton + Winnipeg

If Edmonton loses but Toronto and Winnipeg both win, you lose the Edmonton parlays (1 and 3) but win the Toronto-Winnipeg parlay (2). This partial return is the key advantage of round robins over standard parlays: a single leg failure does not void all returns.

The cost: you stake multiple parlay units instead of one. A 3-team 2-leg round robin costs 3x your parlay stake. A 4-team round robin costs 6x. The insurance has a price, and it is important to understand the total cost before placing a round robin.

5. Futures Bets

Futures are wagers on outcomes that are determined over a long time horizon — weeks, months, or an entire season. The most popular NHL futures markets include:

• Stanley Cup Winner: Available all season; prices shift dramatically with performance and injuries.
• Conference Championship Winner: Eastern or Western Conference champion.
• Presidents Trophy: Best regular season record in the NHL.
• Hart Trophy: Most valuable player, voted by the PHWA.
• Vezina Trophy: Best goaltender.
• Calder Trophy: Best rookie.
• Division Winner: Which team wins each of the four NHL divisions.
• Team to make the Playoffs: Yes/No market on playoff qualification.

Futures betting is high variance but can be extremely rewarding when you identify value early. Betting a team at +2000 before the season who goes on to win the Cup turns C$50 into C$1,050. The challenge is that a single injury to a star player can collapse a team's championship odds instantly, and your capital is tied up for months with no ability to cash out (unless a cash-out option is offered).

The optimal timing for futures bets: before the season opens (when the market is less efficient and larger odds are available on legitimate contenders), during a meaningful mid-season slump by a legitimate contender (temporary price inflation due to short-term results), or immediately after a playoff bracket is set (when second-round odds may not yet reflect the full quality of an underseeded team).

6. Prop Bets

Proposition bets are wagers on specific events within a game that do not necessarily relate to the final score. Props have exploded in popularity since single-event betting legalization, and Canadian sportsbooks now offer dozens of props per NHL game during the regular season — and hundreds during marquee playoff games.

Player Props

• Anytime Goal Scorer: Will this player score at least one goal?
• First Goal Scorer: Will this player score the first goal of the game?
• Shots on Goal Over/Under: Most commonly set at 2.5, 3.5, or 4.5 shots.
• Points (Goals + Assists) Over/Under: 0.5 for most players, 1.5 for elite scorers.
• Power Play Points: Points scored only during power play situations.
• Goaltender Saves Over/Under: Total saves in regulation plus overtime.
• Goaltender Wins: Will the starting goaltender record a win?

Team Props

• First Period Result: Which team wins the first period?
• Team Total Goals Over/Under: How many goals will one specific team score?
• Total Penalty Minutes: Combined penalty minutes in the game.
• Method of Victory: Will the game be decided in regulation, overtime, or shootout?
• Both Teams to Score: Will both teams score at least one goal?

Props are the most line-shopping-intensive market. Player prop prices can vary by 15 to 25 cents between sportsbooks on the same bet, making it essential to compare odds across operators like 888sport and Caesars Sportsbook before placing a prop wager.

7. Live Bets (In-Play Betting)

Live betting allows you to place wagers after a game has started, with odds updating in real time. Every major Canadian sportsbook offers live betting on NHL games, with markets refreshing after each significant game event.

Common Live Betting Markets for Hockey

• Live Moneyline: Updated win probability based on current score and time remaining.
• Live Puck Line: Adjusted puck line based on current score (e.g., -0.5 if tied with 5 minutes left).
• Live Total Goals: Remaining goals to be scored, adjusted for current score and period.
• Period Winner: Which team wins the current period from this point forward.
• Next Goal Scorer: Which player scores the next goal.
• Next Team to Score: Simpler version of next goal scorer at the team level.
• Live Player Props: Updated shot, goal, and assist props based on current game performance.

Live betting rewards game-watching over model-based selection. Bettors who understand hockey flow — who can recognize when a team has territorial dominance but an unlucky score, or when a goaltender is wobbling before the statistics show it — have a genuine edge in live markets that algorithm-dependent bettors cannot easily replicate.

8. Same-Game Parlays (SGP)

Same-game parlays are a specialized parlay type where all legs come from the same game. They have become one of the most popular bet types since their introduction because they allow bettors to express a holistic view of a single game — who wins, how they win, and which individual players perform — in one structured bet.

Sportsbooks apply a correlation adjustment to SGPs because the legs are not independent events. A team winning correlates with their star players scoring, which correlates with the total going over. The book reduces the payout to account for this correlation, but the remaining payout is still typically attractive relative to the true probability of all legs winning.

Bet Type Comparison Table

Which Bet Type Should You Use?

The honest answer depends on your goals, analytical style, and bankroll. Here is a framework for choosing:

• If you want consistent long-term profitability: Singles only. Line shop across multiple books. Focus on one market (moneylines, totals, or specific props) and develop deep expertise in it.
• If you enjoy elevated entertainment with larger payouts: 2 to 3-leg parlays on your highest-conviction picks, with small stakes (never more than 2 to 3% of bankroll per parlay).
• If you have strong conviction on a single game: Same-game parlay with 2 to 3 correlated legs. Research the game thoroughly and construct the SGP around outcomes that move together.
• If you watch games live and read momentum well: Supplement your pre-game single bets with selective live bets when you identify value in real-time.
• If you want season-long exposure to a team you believe in: A small futures bet (1 to 2% of bankroll) on your top Stanley Cup contender, placed before the season or early in the year.

No bet type is inherently superior in isolation. The goal is to match the bet type to your analytical edge. Bettors who excel at identifying goaltender matchups should focus on game-by-game singles and totals. Bettors who track player usage and line combinations should focus on props and same-game parlays. Align your bet type to where your knowledge is deepest.

Responsible Betting Across All Bet Types

One of the most important things to understand about bet types is how they affect spending velocity. Parlays and same-game parlays are engaging and create frequent action, which can accelerate betting more than straight bets. Be aware of how each format affects your natural pace of play and set clear limits regardless of which bet type you prefer.

All major Canadian sportsbooks offer deposit limits, session time limits, and reality check alerts. These tools work across all bet types and all deposit amounts. Using them proactively — before you start betting, not after a losing session — is the mark of a responsible bettor.

Frequently Asked Questions