How Pool Betting Works
Pool betting combines wagers into a shared pool, with final returns determined according to the applicable betting rules. It is also called pari-mutuel betting, the system used at racetracks for more than a century.
What is pool betting?
With a traditional bookmaker you accept a fixed price when you place a bet, and the bookmaker takes the other side. If your selection wins, the bookmaker pays you at that price whatever anyone else did.
In a pool, nobody takes the other side. Every customer who joins a market puts their stake into the same pool. When the pool closes, a published deduction is taken and everything that remains is paid out to the people who picked the winning outcome, in proportion to how much each of them staked.
That means the odds are set by the customers in the pool, not by us, and they are not known until the pool closes.
Pool odds and fixed odds
| Pool betting | Fixed odds | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the price | The total stakes on each outcome | The bookmaker |
| When the price is known | After the pool closes | When the bet is placed |
| Operator's income | A published deduction from each pool | A margin built into every price |
| Effect of other customers | More money on your pick lowers your return | None after your bet is accepted |
| If nobody backs the winner | Pool void, stakes returned | Not applicable |
How betting pools work
- A pool opens for each market on each event, for example the moneyline on an NHL game or the winner of a UFC bout.
- Customers join the pool by choosing an outcome and a stake in Canadian dollars. Each stake is added to the total for that outcome.
- The pool closes at the scheduled start of the event. No stakes are accepted after that point.
- The deduction is taken. The percentage for each pool is published with the pool before it opens and does not change.
- The event finishes and the result is confirmed by the official source for that sport.
- The remaining pool is paid out to winning stakes, in proportion to each stake.
When odds are finalized
Final odds are calculated once, at the moment the pool closes. Before that, any figure you see for a pool can only describe how the money is spread at that moment, and it can move in either direction as more customers join.
For that reason we do not show preliminary prices as if they were guaranteed. The event pages on this site show the markets that will run and the time the pool closes. The final odds for each outcome appear in your account once the pool has closed.
Final odds
The final odds for an outcome are the amount returned for each dollar staked on it, including the dollar itself. They are calculated as the pool after deduction divided by the total staked on the winning outcome, and shown to two decimal places.
Returns are rounded down to the cent. Any fractions of a cent left from rounding remain in the pool account and are not paid to any customer.
How returns are calculated
A hockey moneyline pool
The figures below are invented to show the arithmetic. They are not real pool sizes, and the 15% deduction is hypothetical: the real deduction is the one published for each pool.
| Staked on the home team | CA$6,000.00 |
| Staked on the away team | CA$4,000.00 |
| Total pool | CA$10,000.00 |
| Deduction, if it were 15% | CA$1,500.00 |
| Pool available to winners | CA$8,500.00 |
If the away team wins
8,500 ÷ 4,000 = 2.125, shown as 2.13. A CA$50 stake returns 50 × 2.125 = CA$106.25, which is the CA$50 stake plus CA$56.25.
If the home team wins
8,500 ÷ 6,000 = 1.4167, shown as 1.42. A CA$50 stake returns 50 × 1.41666… = CA$70.83 after rounding down to the cent.
Notice that the more popular outcome pays less. If more customers had joined on the away team before the pool closed, the away team's final odds would have fallen.
Understanding betting odds
Odds describe how much a winning stake returns. The same price can be written three ways, and different countries prefer different formats. We show final pool odds in decimal format, the clearest way to see the total return.
Decimal odds
The total returned for each dollar staked, stake included. Decimal 2.50 means a CA$10 stake returns CA$25.
American odds
Common in North America. A plus number is the profit on a CA$100 stake (+150 means CA$150 profit). A minus number is the stake needed to make CA$100 profit (−200 means stake CA$200 to win CA$100).
Fractional odds
Profit relative to stake. 3/2 means CA$3 profit for every CA$2 staked.
Format conversion
| Decimal | American | Fractional | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.50 | −200 | 1/2 | 66.7% |
| 2.00 | +100 | 1/1 | 50.0% |
| 2.50 | +150 | 3/2 | 40.0% |
| 3.00 | +200 | 2/1 | 33.3% |
| 5.00 | +400 | 4/1 | 20.0% |
Conversion examples only. Implied chance is 1 ÷ decimal odds; it reflects how the pool was staked, not the true probability of the outcome.
American (decimal < 2) = −100 ÷ (decimal − 1)
Betting markets
Each market below runs as a separate pool for each event. Which markets are available depends on the sport.
Match Winner (Moneyline)
Pick the winner. In most sports this includes overtime. Hockey moneyline includes the shootout.
Point Spread, Run Line, Puck Line
A handicap fixed when the pool opens. Your pick wins if it beats the other side after the handicap is applied.
Totals (Over/Under)
Combined score of both sides compared with a line fixed when the pool opens. If the score lands exactly on the line, stakes on that market are returned.
3-Way Result
Home win, draw or away win at the end of regulation time only.
Period markets
First quarter, first half or first five innings winner. A tie for that period voids the pool.
Outright and tournament markets
Tournament winner, top 10 finish or fight method of victory, settled when the competition ends.
Sport-specific details are on each sport page, for example hockey, baseball and tennis.
Settlement rules
- Pools are settled on the official result published by the governing body or league for the event. Results changed after settlement, through appeals or stat corrections, are not taken into account.
- If nobody staked on the winning outcome, the pool is void and every stake is returned in full.
- If an event is postponed and does not start within 48 hours of its scheduled start, all pools on it are void and stakes are returned.
- If an event is abandoned before the minimum playing time for its sport, full-event pools are void. Pools on periods already completed stand.
- Dead heats and ties on the line are settled under the rule published for that market. Where a market has no published dead-heat rule, the pool is void.
- If a market was published with an obvious error, such as the wrong teams or a handicap that does not match the event, the pool is void.
Betting rules
- You must be 18 or older, or the higher minimum age set by your province, and hold one verified account.
- All stakes, deductions and returns are in Canadian dollars.
- A stake is final once confirmed and cannot be cancelled. It is returned only if the pool is void.
- Pools close at the scheduled start time of the event, even if the event begins late.
- Stakes may not be placed by anyone with inside knowledge of the event, including athletes, officials and team staff on events they are connected to.
- We may limit or refuse stakes, and void pools, where we find collusion, fraud or a breach of the Terms and Conditions.
Understanding betting risks
Every pool has losing stakes. The deduction means that, taken together, customers in a pool always get back less than they put in. Pool betting is entertainment with a cost, not a way to earn money.
Past results do not predict future ones, and the popularity of an outcome in a pool is not evidence that it is likely to happen. Decide on a budget before you start and stop when you reach it.
Stay in control
- Set deposit, loss and session limits in your account. Reductions apply immediately; increases take 24 hours.
- Use a reality check to be reminded how long you have been logged in.
- Take a break with a cooling-off period, or self-exclude for six months, one year or five years.