TAMPA, Fla. _ If you're a betting man, odds are you lost some money when the Blue Jackets swept the Lightning in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But if you have faith in Tampa Bay, the team is favored once again to bring home the coveted piece of silverware _ and has been practically since the St. Louis Blues clinched the most recent Cup.
BookMaker lists the Lightning as No. 1 with 6.5/1 odds of winning the Cup this year.
John Lester, an odds consultant with BookMaker, said that if Lightning fans bet $100 on the team to win the Cup this season, they would get a return of $650 plus the $100 they put down originally. As for the negative numbers, in the case of a U.S. team winning the Cup this year, you would have to wager $900 to win $100 he said. On the other hand, if you took your chances on a Canadian team winning the hefty piece of silverware, you would win $600 for every $100 you bet.
In other words, the lower the number, the better the odds of winning. If you bet on a higher-numbered team, your odds are less likely to happen, but would yield a greater return.
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Here are the current odds for teams throughout the league:
NHL 2019-20 Stanley Cup by country
U.S. team, -900
Canadian team, 600
