TORONTO — The Montreal Alouettes’ stunning 28-24 Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday was a pick for Proline bettors.
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., 62 per cent liked the Alouettes to win the game on the money line while 74 per cent were partial to the favoured Bombers winning by a touchdown (-6.5). And 59 per cent of wagers correctly had the over 47.5 total points.
Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira, the CFL’s leading rusher this season and its top Canadian, was the most popular pick as the first player to score a touchdown. And he didn’t disappoint, doing so on a five-yard run.
Teammate Kenny Lawler was the most popular selection in the any time touchdown scorer. But while Lawler led Winnipeg in receiving yards (three catches for 77 yards), he didn’t get into the end zone.
Oliveira was the most popular player prop bet at over 87.5 rushing yards, running for 120 yards. The second-most popular one was Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros under 272.5 total passing yards, which was a winning selection as Collaros threw for 236 yards.
Meanwhile in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills defeated the New York Jets 32-6 on Sunday as 59 per cent of customers took the winners -9.5. However just 21 per cent of bettors had the total under 39.5 points
On Sunday night, the Denver Broncos outscored Minnesota 12-3 in the fourth quarter for a 21-20 victory, snapping the Vikings’ five-game win streak. Forty-two per cent of bettors picked the Broncos to win the game while 54 per cent had the Vikings +1.5.
Thirty-two per cent correctly picked the total under 32.5 points.
On Monday night, the Philadelphia Eagles rallied for a 21-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch. Forty-seven per cent of wagers were on the Eagles to win while 26 per cent had the total under 46.5 points.
In NHL action Sunday morning, William Nylander scored in overtime to earn the Toronto Maple Leafs a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Sweden for the NHL Global Series. A total of 81 per cent of customers took the Leafs to win while 73 per cent had the total over 6.5 goals.
In the NBA on Sunday, the Toronto Raptors led throughout their 142-113 victory over the Detroit Pistons. That was a popular outcome as 55 per cent of bettors had Toronto -8.5 while 66 per cent correctly predicted the total over 222.5 points.
A digital player earned a $2,485 payout from a $15 wager on an eight-pick parlay while a retail customer turned a $2 bet into a $1,789 windfall on a five-pick parlay. Correctly predicting the exact scores of two NHL games — Boston 5-2 over Montreal and the New York Rangers 5-3 over New Jersey — earned another retail bettor $1,690 from a $5 wager.
And once again, the week’s top events were NFL games. They included: Philadelphia-Kansas City; Cincinnati-Baltimore; Minnesota-Denver; Dallas-Carolina; and New York Jets-Buffalo.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2023.
