How to make the most of your NHL betting experience with a hybrid casino

Whether you’re a keen online gambler, or just getting started, you may be wondering about the difference between casino gambling and sports betting. Can you indulge in both at the same site?  And how can you use this to your advantage? We will cover everything you need to know about hybrid betting sites and why it’s become a popular place for Canadians to indulge in their gambling activities.

What is a hybrid betting site?

A hybrid betting site is a gambling site that features both sports betting and online casinos. It allows the player a flexibility in choice without having to register on multiple sites.

Is gambling on sports similar to gambling on casino games?

While they both involve wagering money on an as-yet-unknown outcome, casino gambling and sports betting have a few important differences. Many casino games, especially slots – which are the most popular type of game in online casinos – are games of luck. Even many table games, such as blackjack and craps, essentially come down to luck. And most would argue that the casino games that involve skill, such as poker, also have a huge element of luck involved.

With sports betting, you can still get lucky, or unlucky, but most serious sports bettors research the sports they’re betting on and know a lot about them. They will study the form of the players or teams involved. They’ll look at stats and analyze the data regarding what’s happened in previous tournaments and events and will base their bet on logic more than emotion.

Many people gamble on both casino games and sports events, but many others stick to one or the other. Lots of sports fans enjoy trying to predict the outcome of their favourite events and tournaments – whether they’re NHL fans or tennis aficionados – but wouldn’t be happy about the ‘blind luck’ of playing a slot machine. However, plenty of online casino gamers are perfectly comfortable trusting to luck when they play online games, and wouldn’t want to have to develop the expert knowledge required to feel confident placing sports bets.

Can I place sports bets at my online casino?

That depends, but very often yes. An online casino will often, though not always, have a sportsbook attached that is effectively integrated into the site, and you may even be able to use the same account, or a linked account. Check this while researching online gambling venues as they are all a little different, and make sure that you’re looking at the right information for the jurisdiction you live in.

Canadian players, for example, should make sure that they’re looking at Canadian online casino reviews when doing their research, as gambling laws are different in Canada than in the US. For US players, it’s vital to make sure that the online venue you’re checking out allows residents of your state to sign up, as each US state has its own gambling laws and restrictions.

If you’re already signed up at an online casino, finding out about sports offerings is often as simple as clicking the ‘sports’ tab in the website header. Likewise, if you’re signed up at a sportsbook and you see the word ‘casino’ in the header, you can click on that to see the site’s casino offerings. Just remember that there are pure casinos and also pure sportsbooks, so if you’re already registered with one or the other, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to access other types of online gambling.

Do both casino and sports betting sites offer bonuses?

It’s common to see bonuses offered at both casinos and sports betting sites. Usually, you can only get one sign-up bonus at any given gambling site, but sports betting and casino sites are often the exception. There will sometimes be two sign-up bonuses from the same site – one for playing casino games and one for placing your first sports bet.

The type of bonus offered may be very different, however. Casino bonuses tend to come in the form of free spins on a selected game or a matched deposit bonus, which means that when you deposit funds in your account, the casino will double those funds, so you have more to play with.

With a sportsbook, however, you are more likely to get a different type of bonus. Often, it will be a free bet (or multiple free bets) on selected events, or a ‘can’t lose’ cashback offer, whereby if your first bet loses, you get your original betting fee back, usually as betting credits so that you can try again.

With both casinos and sportsbooks, read the bonus terms and conditions carefully. Casino bonuses will almost always come with wagering requirements that must be met in order to claim your bonus and any winnings it generates. With sports betting, there will generally be restrictions on which events, markets and bet types you can use your free bets on, and even the odds that a particular bet offers.

Is sports betting better than casino gambling?

It’s hard to argue that one is inherently better (or more profitable) than the other, but each has its pros and cons. With casino gambling, there’s a built-in house edge, which is what people are referring to when they say that ‘the house always wins’. Over time, you’re unlikely to profit from casino gambling. Indeed, if everyone (or most people) did, the casino would quickly be out of business.

A sports betting operator is not able to build in a ‘house edge’ as such. The bookmakers are taking bets on something that’s completely out of their direct control. However, they do control the odds, and this is where something very similar to a casino house edge gets built in. Odds on likely outcomes will be very low, and on unlikely ones, they will be higher. Fewer people bet on unlikely outcomes, so even if they happen, the bookies have to pay out those higher amounts to only a few people. In short, it’s not really the case that one of these forms of gambling is better or more profitable than the other. The venue offering the bets will always ensure that the odds are in their favour, or they wouldn’t be able to stay in business. Therefore, the ‘best’ type of gambling for you is always the one you enjoy and feel most comfortable with.