CFL football betting will become a staple at sportsbooks for the next few months, and we’ll be handicapping the Canadian version of pro football and providing free picks on individual games.  Yesterday we posted an introduction to CFL football, and today we’ll delve into some specific aspects of handicapping the sport.  In this installment we’ll talk about a few basic concepts of betting CFL side plays and in a subsquent post look at totals.

It’s Still Football:

At its essence, handicapping CFL football isn’t much different than handicapping the NFL game.  The qualities that spell success in the NFL also translate to success in the CFL–so teams that run the ball well, have a positive turnover ratio, and play good defense are usually the ones challenging for the Grey Cup title at the end of the year.  It may be more difficult to find success in the CFL without good offensive balance–you’ll seldom find good teams that pass the ball well but struggle on the ground and vice versa.

Laying big pointspreads is never a good idea in any form of football, but is particularly unwise in the CFL.  As we discussed yesterday, teams are required to have a certain number of roster spots filled by Canadian natives.  The result is a greater degree of parity between the teams at the top and bottom of the standings.  There simply isn’t the talent pool of Canadian football players to avoid this.  Everyone has heard the old adage that ‘on any given Sunday’ any NFL team can beat any other.  That’s true to an even greater degree in the CFL.

For the handicapper, this means that you should look for opportunities to play competitive underdogs.  If you choose to lay points with a favorite, pick your spots carefully.

Home Field is Important:

And don’t think that home field advantage isn’t important in the CFL.  It is, and may be more valuable up north than in the NFL.  Just take a look at the 2009 CFL standings for proof of this.  Only one team in the league had a winning record on the road (Grey Cup champions Montreal).  Hamilton was a solid 6-3 at home, just 3-6 on the road.  Calgary had a similar situation with a 6-2-1 mark at home and a 4-5 record away.  Toronto was bad everywhere (1-8 at home, 2-7 on the road) but once their fortunes begin to turn around it’ll likely show up in a better home record first and foremost.

We’ll update on the pointspread tendencies of CFL teams in home/away situations  as the year progresses, but the sum total of this is that one of the strongest CFL betting positions you can find is a competitive home underdog.  With only one team in the league having a winning record on the road, you’ll not only get your share of pointspread covers but quite a few outright winners.

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