Stake Review for Candadians in February 2026 - Our Verdict

About Stake

If you haven't heard about Stake already, it is an internationally-famous betting site based in Curacao. It was founded in 2017 by Australians Matt Leibowitz and Dan Silver. Since then, it has become one of the most well-known brands in the world thanks to its unique cryptocurrency betting model and huge number of sponsorships. Canada’s own global superstar Drake is one of Stake’s biggest spokesmen. 

These advertising tactics have drawn a lot of criticism from regulators in multiple countries, including the UK and Australia. However, it has to be said that the ads work. Stake is one of the most popular sportsbooks in the world, especially among younger and more online bettors. It’s not just advertising though. Stake has over 40 unique sports betting markets, tons of promos, and a simple, beginner-friendly user interface. 

Is Stake legal in Canada?

Yes, Stake is legal in Canada except for Ontario. Stake is based outside of Canada and has a licence from the Government of Curacao. This makes it an offshore operator that Canadian players can access legally. Ontario sports betting sites must be licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and iGaming Ontario. Stake does not have a licence from these agencies, so it’s not available in the province of Ontario. 

Welcome Bonus

A sportsbook’s bonuses are some of the most important things to consider when picking where to bet on sports. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Stake welcome bonus and top ongoing promotions for existing players. 

Get a 200% Deposit Bonus up to $2000

When you sign up for a Stake account and use the promo code GLSTAKE, Stake will match 200% of your first deposit up to $2,000. All you need to do is enter the code when you fill out the registration form. Then, just deposit $10 or more into your account within 24 hours of signing up. Claiming the bonus is really that simple, but be aware of the terms and conditions. 

The Stake welcome bonus has a 40x wagering requirement. This is significantly higher than at other sites. Sports Interaction, for example, has a 6x wagering requirement, which our experts also marked down for being above the industry average. Until you satisfy Stake’s wagering requirement, you won’t be able to withdraw your initial deposit or any winnings earned from bonus bets. 

To sum it up, the Stake welcome bonus offers great value for money, but its restrictive terms aren’t ideal. It gives you $2 in bonus bets for every $1 deposited, so we would recommend the offer, but it’s probably best for more experienced bettors who are familiar with the best strategies for satisfying sportsbook wagering requirements. 

Ongoing Promotions 

All the top sports betting sites have ongoing promotions for existing users in addition to a generous welcome bonus. Here are some of the top bonuses at Stake right now. 

EPL - 2 Goal Lead Payout

When you place a moneyline bet on an EPL team to win, Stake will pay out your wager even if the match ends in a draw or a loss for your team. However, Stake will only do this if your team had a 2+ goal lead at any point in the match. 

NHL - 2 Goal Lead Payout

This offer is similar to the Stake EPL offer. However, your team doesn’t have to lose. If the NHL team you placed a moneyline bet on is leading by two goals or more at the end of the second period, Stake will pay out your winnings instantly.  

NBA - Half Time Payout

If you like to bet on the NBA, this promo allows you to collect your winnings at halftime when the team you wagered on to win is leading by 12 points or more. This promo is almost identical to the other early payout offers. Just remember to opt-in before you place your NBA moneyline bets. 

Champions League - Bad Beat Insurance

No one likes a bad beat. Stake knows this and has done sports bettors a huge favour by refunding Champions League moneyline bets if the team you bet on has a lead in the 80th minute, but fails to win. 

Sports Betting

One of the best ways to tell if a sportsbook is actually good is by looking at its betting options. That’s what we’re going to do here. For this Stake review, we’ve assessed its sports betting markets, odds, and live betting features. 

Leagues and Betting Options

Stake has over 45 unique sports available to bet on. This includes all the Big Four North American sports (basketball, hockey, baseball, football), as well as soccer and niche sports, like darts and cricket. 

NBA 

Basketball is arguably the most popular sport to bet on in Canada. Stake supports this big market with around 50 unique bets available for every NBA game, including team and player props. 

NFL

Whether you're a casual NFL fan who only likes to bet on the Super Bowl or a die-hard who looks for niche value markets, Stake has you covered. You’ll find basic betting markets for every NFL game, in addition to player props, team props, same-game parlays, and novelty markets for big matchups. 

NHL

Hockey is king in Canada and Stake knows it. The sportsbook has hockey promos, like the 2 Goal Lead Payout promo we discussed earlier, and dozens of bets for each game. You can also place outright bets on who will win the Stanley Cup, player award winners, and more.  

English Premier League

Soccer is Stake’s biggest sports betting market. The English Premier League is the league it has the most bets for. There are regularly over 100 unique betting markets for each game — even for matches between relegation candidates. These markets include the basic 1x2 moneyline bets, handicap wagers, and special player props, like the amount of shots a player will have in a game. 

Betting Odds

Stake gets its betting odds from leading odds provider Sportradar. This ensures that the odds are fair and competitive with the other top sports betting sites in Canada. Generally speaking, the best value for Stake is its soccer odds because it has so many bets. You’ll also get good value in the futures market because it’s regularly first to the market for many bets. 

One area that Stake lags behind, though, is boosted bets. Other sites have daily offers, while Stake only has promos for VIPs. On the bright side, the number of early payout promos makes up for this. 

Live Betting and Streaming

Stake offers live betting for all of its sports markets. The bets are laid out in an attractive, simple menu for each game, which allows for quick stress-free betting before the lines change. 

Live streaming is available for some sports, but not the NBA or other top leagues. Although, these options are available in other countries. We wish Stake would make this clearer. Live streams are fast and reliable, but often we see a game advertised that we click on only to get a “This stream is not available in your region” message. 

Mobile App

The Stake app is only for iOS devices and it’s only available outside of Ontario. In our opinion, it’s better than the desktop site. Stake’s simple design just looks more attractive on a smaller screen. This makes the app more streamlined and easy to use. 

The app is not a major upgrade compared to the mobile site, though. Push notifications is the only major feature missing from the Stake mobile site compared to the app. You can’t go wrong using either option.

Payment Methods

When Stake first got started, it was a crypto-only platform. It now accepts fiat currencies in select countries, including Canada. Below, we’ll break down the most popular cryptocurrencies available at Stake and how to use CAD at Stake in Canada. 

Deposit Methods

Stake accepts more cryptocurrencies than all the other top sportsbooks in Canada. In total, you have more than 24 different options to choose from. Most other sites don’t have any. If you’re not a crypto user, don’t worry. You can also make deposits via bank transfer. 

Withdrawal Methods 

Similar to the deposit methods, most Stake withdrawal methods are cryptocurrencies. The only fiat option is Interac e-Transfer, which will be available if you’ve verified your identity and phone number. 

Payout Speed

Stake payout speed depends on your withdrawal method. Most crypto withdrawals process almost instantly (under an hour), but some servers are slower than others. There can also be delays if the servers are busy. Still, almost all crypto withdrawals take less than 24 hours. Interac withdrawals, on the other hand, take 1-3 business days. You can track your withdrawals from the Transactions tab on your account profile. 

Customer Support

Stake offers 24/7 customer support via live chat and by email at support@stake.com. We’ve tested both options for this Stake review and were left very impressed. Support is much faster than at other sites. It usually takes just a few minutes to connect with an agent using the live chat and emails rarely go longer than 24 hours unanswered. The Stake customer support representatives we spoke to were friendly, professional, and helpful. 

If we had to criticise Stake customer support for anything, it would be the lack of phone support. Another thing is the FAQ articles and Help Center. Neither were really localised for the Canadian sports betting market, so information wasn’t always relevant. Again though, these are minor issues that we see a lot at offshore sports betting sites. 

User Experience

Ease of Use

Stake is very easy to use. Sign-up with your emails takes just a few minutes. The KYC checks are done automatically, which means you don’t have to wait days to get your identity verified. Everyday features, like placing bets and making withdrawals, are also very user-friendly, thanks to Stake’s simple interface. 

Managing Your Account

Stake allows for fairly basic changes to your account. You can choose your preferred language from a list of 15 options, including French. You can also change the odds from decimal to your preferred format. Outside of that, most of the changes are superficial. Most relate to the global leaderboards and whether your name is displayed.

You can also increase your account's security by adding a two factor authentication. 

Responsible Gambling Options

Stake has a wide variety of responsible gambling tools and resources under its Stake Smart responsible gambling menu. This feature allows you to place daily, weekly, or monthly loss, deposit, and betting limits on your account. In our opinion, Stake’s process for doing this is much simpler than at other sites. 

You can also easily take a break from play with short-term timeouts of 24 hours, 48 hours, 7 days, 30 days, 2 months, or 3 months. If you need to step away for a longer period of time, Stake has a voluntary self exclusion feature, which allows for breaks of 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 10 years or permanently.  

Stand Out Feature: VIP Rewards 

Stake’s early payout promos and other bonus offers are some of the best things about the sportsbook. With the Stake VIP program, you can unlock even better offers, such as rakeback bonuses, which give you back a percentage of your losses as bonus bets. You can also earn a monthly bonus, reload deposit bonus offers, weekly boosts, and other VIP benefits. If you get to a high enough level, you’ll even get a dedicated VIP host. 

This feature is especially beneficial to sports bettors because all settled sports bets and racing bets contribute 3x to your VIP progress compared to other types of bets at Stake Canada. 

Expert Opinion - Cody Aceveda

I only knew a little bit about Stake before doing this review, and, honestly, I didn’t have high expectations. I thought the site was going to be all flash and no substance. As I did this Stake review, I realised I was really wrong about that. Stake has a lot of great features and way more sports betting markets than I expected. 

The best feature, in my opinion, is the live betting menu. Stake makes it very easy to keep track of games and makes live streaming simple with clean graphics that make it clear which games can be streamed. I also really like the number of live bets available. Although, almost all of the live markets I found in this Stake review are also available at other sites. 

Another standout feature is the number of ongoing promos. Stake has bonuses for almost every major sport, including soccer, hockey, basketball, and football. Most of these offers are early payout promos, which aren’t as valuable as reload bonuses or cashback promos, but they offer good security for new bettors. It’s also always a good thing to win, even when the team you bet on actually loses. 

Finally, I really liked the Stake user interface. Stake has a mobile-first design, which allows for a great user experience on iOS and Android devices. The addition of the iOS app is another major plus, but I personally liked the mobile site itself better. 

Now for the negatives. Most of the things I disliked about Stake are easy to overlook, like the simple website design compared to the mobile layout. On the other hand, the 40x wagering requirement is a big issue that can’t be ignored. If you’re not sure why I care about this so much, consider a $50 bonus. If you claimed just $50, you’d have to wager $2,000 to satisfy the requirement. That’s a big ask. Sites like Sports Interaction, Betway, and bet365 all have lower wagering requirements, so I would personally go with them over Stake. That said, I wouldn’t blame anyone who says Stake’s other features are worth agreeing to this steep wagering requirement. 

Final Verdict 

Our major takeaway from this Stake review is that Stake is a good betting site, but it’s not one of the best sportsbooks in Canada. While it has great markets, unmatched crypto betting options, fair odds, and a good user interface, there are also some big downsides. 

For one, the Stake bonus has a 40x wagering requirement. This may sound like a small issue, but as you heard from our expert, it can make a massive difference to your bottom line. The limited number of fiat options are also underwhelming compared to other top Canadian sports betting sites. 

With all this being said, none of the negatives would make us reject Stake. It’s a good site with a robust bonus. Just make sure you understand the terms when you sign up. Speaking of signing up, here’s a quick overview of the Stake registration process that you can use to create your account now:

1. Follow the links in this Stake review to go to the Stake website. 
2. Select Register and fill out the sign up form.
3. Enter the Stake promo code GLSTAKE into the Referral Code box.
4. Agree to the terms and conditions and complete the registration form.

These four steps are all you need to do to create your account. Don’t forget to verify your identity and make your first deposit within 24 hours of signing up. If you wait too long, you’ll miss out on your bonus. 

FAQ

Is Stake Canada legit? 

Yes, Stake Canada is legit. Stake is an internationally-recognised sports betting site with hundreds of thousands of players from all around the world. Additionally, the site is licensed by the Government of Curacao, which ensures that it is using fair business practices. 

Does Stake actually pay?

Yes, Stake actually pays out real money winnings. It is a trustworthy sports betting site that pays out real money for winnings bets. The only real difference between Stake and other sports betting sites in Canada is that it is primarily a crypto betting site instead of one that uses fiat currency. 

Does Stake have an app?

Yes, Stake has an app for iOS devices. It is available to download on the Apple App Store. You should be able to use it in every province, except for Ontario. 

Does Stake offer good customer support?

Yes, in our opinion, Stake offers very good customer support. Once you create your account, representatives are available 24/7 to help you with any issue. Stake also has support by email. Both are useful options that we recommend bettors take advantage of. 

Does Stake accept cryptocurrency?

Yes. In fact, Stake is primarily a cryptocurrency sports betting site. You can use over two dozen cryptocurrencies at Stake.com, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. If you prefer fiat currency, you make deposits and withdrawals with CAD via bank transfer and Interac. 

What is Stake’s payout percentage?

Stake doesn’t disclose its vig (i.e., what the house edge is). However, Stake’s odds are very competitive compared to the other top sites in Canada.