How and Where Can I Bet on Lacrosse?

If you’re wondering how and where to bet on lacrosse, then you’ve come to the right place. Not every lacrosse fan may be familiar with the terminology and way that sports betting works, so if you’re a newcomer to the sports betting realm, we’ve provided a breakdown of the different types of bets you can place and some things to keep in mind if you choose to bet on college lacrosse, the PLL or NLL.

Where Can I Bet on Lacrosse?

Before placing a bet on a lacrosse game or league outcome, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re legally eligible to bet on sports in your country or state. Since the PLL and NLL are located in North America, we’ll focus on the online sportsbooks available in Canada and the United States. As of 2020, when sports betting on pro lacrosse first became available, these online sportsbooks have offered sports betting on either the PLL or NLL in some capacity.

So far, Barstool Sportsbook, bet365, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, CoolBet Canada, DraftKings, FanDuel and FOX Bet have all had betting on lacrosse available at some point.

If any of these sportsbooks are available, simply download the app and create an account. In order to ensure you’re getting the best odds, you’ll want to potentially download multiple sportsbooks apps and compare odds.

How Do I Bet on Lacrosse?

Once you’ve signed up with your preferred sportsbook, you simply need to make a deposit and then you’re ready to start betting on lacrosse! Now that you’re setup, you may be wondering how to read the odds displayed and what types of bets you can place. Before we dive into types of bets, we need to set ground rules and establish how you can place bets and ultimately make money.

How to Read Lacrosse Lines and Betting Odds

First, the odds of each bet are based on the likelihood or probability of an event happening. Plainly, the less likely the oddsmakers feel that something is to happen, the more money you can make off a bet should you win. When odds are listed, North American Sportsbooks display how much money you would make on a traditional $100 bet. This doesn’t mean you have to bet that amount, but is an easy way of showing how much a bettor would earn if their bet was to win.

Sportsbooks will give favored teams or results odds that require betting more money than a bettor would win and these bets are referred to as having “juice” or “vig” and are denoted with a minus sign (-). On the other hand, sportsbooks will give underdogs or the result that is less likely to occur “plus money” odds, which are denoted with a plus sign (+) and will win more money than a bettor needs to bet.

Let’s use a game between the Halifax Thunderbirds and Rochester Knighthawks as an example. If the odds that the Knighthawks will win are listed as +130, then a $100 bet would win an additional $130. Yet, if the Thunderbirds are listed at -130, then you would have to place a $130 bet in order to win an additional $100. In order to be profitable long-term, you want to limit your bets that require laying a lot of “juice.” Yet, remember the key is to win your bet and just because “plus money” bets can earn a greater return on your wager, doesn’t mean it’s always wise to bet underdogs or results with unlikely probability.

How to Place a Lacrosse Futures Bet

Futures bets are those placed on events that are happening far in the future (seems obvious right?) Usually you’ll find those types of bets on things like who will win a leagues championship. The formula to understanding how much money you are going to make on futures bets might seem complicated, but it’s simple. For example if the Whipsnakes are 3/1 odds, for every $1 you bet, you will get $3 back if the Whipsnakes win. So if you bet $10 on the Whipsnakes to win the championship, you would get $30 plus your original $10 should they win.

The future odds will almost always have “plus money” odds and the greater the odds, the bigger the potential payout. With that being said, larger odds imply that the sportsbook thinks a team is less likely to win. For example, at the start of the 2021-22 NLL season, the Saskatchewan Rush opened as favorites to win the NLL Championship with +550 odds. A $100 bet on them would earn $550 should they win. The New York Riptide on the other hand opened with +10000 odds, meaning the sportsbooks think their chances are much slimmer. Due to their longer odds, a $100 bet on them would return $10,000.

Keep in mind though, odds can change for better or worse. At the start of the 2021 PLL season, Chaos LC had the second-best odds to win the championship at 4/1 or +400. After an 0-3 start, their odds were at +1500, making them long shots to win in the sportsbooks eyes, but a low risk, high reward bet for bettors who thought they could still win the championship.

Sometimes it is better to take a wait and see approach to placing a future bet, especially when you like one of the favorites since you can actually get a more valuable payout if that team has a slow start or goes through a slump, much like Chaos LC did.

Likewise, longshots at the start of the season can lose value as they find success throughout the season. Consider betting on future odds sort of like investing in the stock market. You want to buy the “dips” or when a team that you think will win it all has a weak stretch. Yet, keep in mind, there is no consolation for second place and ultimately you’re trying to predict a champion. Placing a futures bet gets risky. Luckily, given their high risk, a small bet can still return a high reward if correct.

How to Place a Lacrosse Moneyline Bet

Straight bets or bets on the “moneyline” are on a single game and is simply a bet on who you think will win. The underdog’s odds will have a plus sign (+) next to it, while the favorite will feature a minus (-). To bet the favorite, you will have to bet more money than you’d make if your bet is correct. On the flipside, betting on an underdog will make you more money than you’d need to put down or “lay.” 

For example, a game between the Whipsnakes and Chaos in 2020 saw the Whipsnakes favored to win with -286 odds and the Chaos as underdogs with +230 odds. This means you’d have to risk $28.60 to win $10 on a Whipsnakes moneyline bet. On the other side, if you wanted to bet on the Chaos, a $10 bet on the moneyline would return $23.00 if the Chaos won.

How to Place a Lacrosse Bet Against the Spread

Point spreads are another type of bet you can make which, when broken down, break down to what the point differential at the end of the game are. When you place a bet against the spread or “ATS” you are either “getting” points for a bet on an underdog or “giving” points for a bet on the favorite. The spread often involves the use of half points to prevent a “push” or a result where neither the bettor or sportsbook wins.

For example when the New York Riptide and Philadelphia Wings faced off in 2021, CoolBet Canada listed the Wings (-2.5) as the favorite and Riptide (+2.5) as the underdog. This means that if you place your bet on the Wings (-2.5) they must win by three goals or more to cover the spread. If the Riptide lose by two or less goals or even win outright, the spread would not be covered, and you would not have won a bet on the Wings (-2.5). These bets will give the underdogs minus odds since they are receiving points on their final total, where as the favorites often get plus odds since they not only need to win, but need to do so by more than the spread.

How to Place a Lacrosse Bet on the Total

Total bets are made on the total amount of points to be scored in the game. Your bet would be placed on either the teams combining to score more points (over) or less points (under) than the given number. Going back to the Redwoods-Atlas game, the total or “over/under” was set at 21.5. If the final score is 12-10, that’s a total of 22 goals, meaning a bet on “over” the total would win. If the total points scored ends up being less than 22, then it would hit the “under” and you would not win.

In the rare circumstance where a total does not include a half point, like in the Waterdogs-Chrome game above, if the total number of points equaled the total set by the sportsbook (in this case 22), then the result would be considered a “push” and the amount that a bettor wagered would be returned.

How to Create a Lacrosse Parlay Bet

Parlay bets are something else you’ll see mentioned. Parlay bets are simply multiple bets wrapped into one and can often provide bettors with a larger return if all of their bets in the parlay win. However, if one of these multiple bets doesn’t hit, you lose all of your money. The appeal of parlays is the ability to win even more money when making multiple correct bets, but they are riskier and not often a profitable strategy long-term.

For example, let’s say you parlay a bet on the Buffalo Bandits moneyline along with a bet on the Toronto Rock against the spread. Your combined odds would likely be better than if you place each bet individually. Yet, if the Bandits win their game, but the Rock don’t cover the spread, then you would lose all your money on that bet, despite getting one of the results correct.

How to Place a Lacrosse Prop Bet

Finally we’re going to end with prop bets. These are the one off bets that are based around more specific things such as “How many goals will Lyle Thompson score during the Cannons game against Chaos?” A bet like this will usually be a total or “over/under” bet featuring a number such as 2.5. Other types of prop bets can be things like “Who scores the first goal of the playoffs?” Sometimes for this type of prop bet you will get options such that list two players and leave an option of the field. For example, a prop bet on who scores the opening goal could give you the options of Matt Rambo, Josh Byrne, Joe Nardella, or anyone else. All four of these options would have different odds based on the likelihood.

So now that you have a brief understanding of what each type of bet is, you can start thinking about whether you want to place a bet on college lacrosse, the PLL or NLL. Check out the Bet On Lacrosse podcast for more betting analysis and check out our social media for the Pro Lacrosse Talk team’s weekly picks.

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