How to Bet on Curling in Canada: Match Winners, Ends Handicaps, Totals and a Season Plan from the Slams to the Olympics

Updated October 2026 · By the BetHubCA team

Curling is about as Canadian as it gets, and plenty of us have yelled "hurry hard" at a TV in a rink bar. Betting on it is a different skill from watching it, though. The markets are thinner than hockey, the scoring is odd if you've never thought about it, and one stone on the last end can flip a ticket. Here's how curling bets actually work, explained the way I'd walk a buddy through it before the Scotties or a Grand Slam weekend.

Ground rules first: legal age is 19 in most provinces and 18 in Manitoba and Quebec. Provincial sites (PlayNow in BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; Loto-Québec; ALC in Atlantic Canada) are the regulated options. Cloudbet, which we link to, holds a Curaçao licence and is not authorized by any Canadian province. This site doesn't serve Ontario or Alberta residents. All odds below are made-up examples, not tips.

Curling scoring in two minutes (because every bet depends on it)

A standard men's or women's game is 8 or 10 ends (10 at the Brier, the Scotties and Worlds; 8 on most Grand Slam and tour events). In each end both teams throw eight stones. Only one team can score in an end: the team with the stone closest to the button scores one point for each of its stones that sits closer than the opponent's best stone. If nobody is in the house, it's a blank end and nobody scores.

The team throwing last stone in an end has the hammer. Having the hammer is a big edge, and the basic strategy of the sport is built around it: with hammer you want to score two or more; if you can only get one, you'll often blank the end to keep the hammer. Without hammer you want to "steal" a point or force the other side to take just one. After a team scores, the hammer goes to the other team.

Why does this matter for betting? Because it makes curling scores sticky. Totals cluster around certain numbers, a team that's down two with hammer late is in much better shape than it looks, and extra ends happen more often than casual fans expect. If you understand the hammer, you already understand curling betting better than half the people placing bets on it.

The main curling markets

You won't see every market for every event. Big championships like the Brier, the Scotties, the World Championships and the Olympics get the most coverage. Grand Slam of Curling events usually get match winners and outrights. Smaller tour stops might only get a moneyline or nothing at all.

Moneyline: the easy one with a catch

A moneyline bet is simply which team wins. Extra ends count, so you don't have to worry about a tie. The catch is price. Top Canadian rinks are often heavy favourites against weaker fields in the round robin, and you'll see prices like 1.15 or 1.20 in decimal odds. At 1.20 you're risking C$50 to make C$10. That only works if the favourite really wins more than about 83% of the time, and curling isn't that predictable. One missed double on the eighth end and your "sure thing" is gone.

The moneyline is more interesting in games between two contenders, like a Brier semifinal or a Slam quarterfinal, where prices sit closer to even. That's where knowledge of form, ice and matchups actually helps.

Ends handicap: betting on the margin

The handicap (some books call it the spread or "ends handicap", even though it's really a points handicap) evens things up. If a favourite is -1.5, they need to win by two or more points. If you take the underdog +1.5, you win if they lose by one or win outright.

Here's the curling quirk: many close games are decided by exactly one point because the team with hammer in the last end only needs to take one to win. A team up by one without hammer in the last end is trying to force the opponent to a single point or steal. So a lot of games finish with a one-point margin, and that makes +1.5 on a decent underdog worth a look in tight matchups. On the other hand, when a team gets a big lead, the opponent may concede (shake hands) early. That locks in the margin at the time of the handshake, which can be large.

Always read the book's rules on concessions. Most settle on the official final score at the moment of concession, which is what you'd expect, but it's worth confirming.

Total points: why blanks and handshakes matter

A typical 8-end game might have a total line around 10.5 or 11.5; a 10-end championship game might be higher. Totals look simple, but three curling habits push them around:

• Blank ends. Elite teams blank ends to keep hammer. Every blank is an end with zero points, which helps the under.
• Early concessions. A team down big after six ends may shake hands rather than play out the game. Fewer ends played usually means fewer points, though the leading team's big end may already have pushed the total up.
• Extra ends. A game tied after regulation goes to an extra end, which adds at least one point (somebody has to win). That's a small bump to the total.

Ice also matters. Fast, keen ice at a big arena event can produce more aggressive play and bigger ends; heavy or frosty ice at a club venue can make hitting harder and change the style. If you can watch a draw or two before betting totals at a new venue, do it.

Extra end props

Some books offer "Will there be an extra end?" as a yes/no. Because the team with hammer in the last end is so often trying to win by exactly one, ties after regulation happen less than you'd guess from the scoreboard, but they're still common enough between evenly matched teams. Treat it like any other novelty prop: small stakes, and only when the two sides look very close on form and the ice.

Outrights: the Brier, Scotties, Slams and Worlds

Tournament winner bets are where a lot of Canadian curling money goes. A few format notes help:

• Round robin then playoffs. Most big events have a round robin, then a page playoff or bracket. Page playoff systems give the top seeds a second chance, which favours the top teams more than a straight knockout would.
• Grand Slam events often use a triple-knockout or pool format with shorter 8-end games. Shorter games mean more variance, so upsets are more common than at the Brier.
• Team Canada and defending champions at the Brier and Scotties get automatic spots, which can mean a strong team with a favourable schedule.
• Worlds and Olympics bring in Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and others. Canadian bettors tend to overrate Canadian rinks on patriotism alone. The European teams have been winning plenty of big events, so price them fairly.

Each-way or "to reach the final" markets, when available, take a bit of the sting out of backing a favourite at a short outright price. Read the place terms carefully.

Mixed doubles: a different game

Mixed doubles has two players per side, six stones each per end (with one pre-placed stone per team), eight ends, and a power play option. Scoring is much higher and swings are bigger, so totals lines are higher and margins less predictable. Don't apply your four-player instincts here. If you're new, watch a few mixed doubles games before betting them, especially in an Olympic year when the event gets more coverage.

Live curling betting

Curling is one of the better sports for in-play betting if you understand the hammer, because the market sometimes reacts to the score more than to who throws last. Some things to keep in mind:

• Down one with hammer coming home is not the same as down one without it. The first is close to a coin flip or better; the second is a lot harder.
• After a team steals, the opponent gets hammer back. A steal is a big swing, but it also hands over the advantage for the next end.
• Streams can lag the betting feed by several seconds. Don't think you're quicker than the book.
• Set a limit before the game. In-play curling can feel slow and then suddenly decide itself on one shot.

What to research before you bet

1. Recent form and lineup. Curling teams change line-ups between seasons and sometimes mid-season. A new skip or third changes the team a lot.
2. Shooting percentages. Official stats at big events show player percentages by position. A skip shooting in the low 80s is having a rough week.
3. Head-to-head history. Top teams play each other constantly on tour. Some matchups are lopsided for reasons that don't show up in rankings.
4. Schedule. At the Brier and Scotties, teams can play two draws in a day. Fatigue late in the round robin is real.
5. Hammer to start. The team with last-stone advantage in the first end is decided by the draw-to-the-button or the schedule. It's a small edge, but it is an edge.
6. What's at stake. A team already locked into the playoffs may rest players or play loose in a final round robin draw.

A worked example

Say a Brier round robin game has these made-up prices: Team A 1.40, Team B 2.90, ends handicap Team A -1.5 at 2.05 and Team B +1.5 at 1.75, total points 11.5 with over at 1.90 and under at 1.90.

• C$20 on Team A at 1.40 returns C$28 (C$8 profit) if they win by any margin.
• C$20 on Team B +1.5 at 1.75 returns C$35 (C$15 profit) if Team B wins or loses by one.
• C$20 on under 11.5 at 1.90 returns C$38 if the final combined score is 11 or less.

If the game ends 7-6 to Team A after an extra end, the Team A moneyline wins, Team B +1.5 wins, and the total of 13 means over wins. That's a good example of how one extra end can help both sides of a ticket in different ways.

Common mistakes Canadian bettors make on curling

• Betting the flag. Backing a Canadian rink at the Worlds just because it's Canadian. The rest of the world has caught up.
• Stacking short favourites in a parlay. Four 1.20 favourites look safe. Curling upsets in 8-end games happen all the time, and one loss kills the whole slip.
• Ignoring blanks on totals. If two elite teams are playing a tight, defensive game, expect blanks and lean towards under lines.
• Chasing in-play. After a bad end, people double down. A curling game can feel like it's turning when it isn't.
• Betting events you can't watch or follow. Small tour events have thin information. If you can't get stats or a stream, skip it.

Where curling fits in Canada's betting rules

Single-event sports betting has been legal under the Criminal Code since 2021, and provinces run or license the regulated options. In BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan that's PlayNow; in Quebec it's Loto-Québec's Mise-o-jeu; in Atlantic Canada, ALC's Proline. Those regulated sites usually carry the Brier, the Scotties and the Worlds. Offshore books such as Cloudbet offer curling markets too, sometimes with more in-play options and crypto payments, but they aren't licensed by any Canadian province, so you don't get provincial player protection or a local complaints process. Choose knowingly.

If betting on curling or anything else stops being fun, free confidential help is a phone call away. Quebec's Jeu: aide et référence line is 1 800 461-0140, and other provincial lines are listed in the box on this page.

A simple curling season plan

1. Fall (Grand Slams and tour): small stakes, mainly to learn the teams and their styles. Track a few results in a notes app.
2. Winter (provincial playdowns, Scotties, Brier): this is where Canadian markets are deepest. Focus on matchups you've actually watched.
3. Spring (Worlds): respect the international rinks. Price, not the flag.
4. Olympic years: markets get bigger and casual money floods in. That can push popular teams too short, which is when patient bettors find value on the other side.

Set a season budget in C$ before the first Slam, and split it so one bad weekend can't wipe it out.

My take

Curling rewards bettors who understand the hammer and are patient enough to pass on most games. Start with moneylines and +1.5 handicaps in close matchups, learn how blank ends and handshakes shape totals, and save outrights for the big Canadian championships where you know the field. Keep stakes small, because thin markets carry bigger margins, and don't let pride in the home rink pick your bets for you. Enjoy the stones, and keep the betting as a side dish, not the meal.