With the NFL on its Super Bowl bye week, the NHL took centre stage with Proline bettors.
The hockey world converged on Toronto with the annual NHL all-star weekend. Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid won the revamped skills competition.
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., McDavid was the most popular choice to win the skills competition as 43 per cent of bettors had him topping the 12-man field.
The Oilers captain won the fastest skater event for a fourth time, finishing a lap around Scotiabank Arena in 13.408 seconds. A whopping 70 per cent of wagers were on McDavid to finish first.
McDavid also topped the shooting accuracy competition and was the second-most popular choice in the Toronto market behind Maple Leafs star Austin Matthews. McDavid was also first in the stickhandling event, with 61 per cent of bettors correctly taking him to win.
When it came to the actual game, Matthews earned MVP honours as his team downed Team McDavid 7-4. Matthews was the second-most favourite pick of Proline customers at 27 per cent.
Following a slow start to the season, Edmonton has now become the current favourite in Proline’s Stanley Cup outright market.
On Sunday, the Toronto Raptors dropped a 135-127 decision to the Oklahoma City Thunder in double overtime. Seventy-three per cent of bettors went against Toronto and took Oklahoma City to win while over 60 per cent correctly picked the over 235.5 points.
Only 37 per cent took Toronto on the point spread of +9.5.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics (league-best 38-12 record entering Wednesday's action) are the favourites in Proline's NBA championship outright market.
A $16 wager resulted in a $1,483.17 payday for a Proline digital customer who correctly picked a seven-leg NCAA basketball parlay. Another earned $1,211.14 from a $6 bet on an eight-leg NCAA basketball parlay.
Meanwhile, a retail bettor correctly picked an eight-leg soccer parlay that netted $1,466.20 from a $4 wager. Another pocketed $1,773.90 from a $5 bet on a six-leg soccer parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2024.
The Canadian Press
