Betting On The Football Games
If you live in the United States, you probably know just how popular football betting is, whether it is on college or professional games. When the Super Bowl comes around, the majority of the country has at least some money riding on the game in one way or another. Betting on a football game is actually very simple to do, even though there are many different types of bets and ways to gamble on the games.
- Football Games Betting Line
- Fun Football Betting Games
- Betting On Football Games In Texas
- Betting On Nfl Football Games
Betting on football isn't as simple as just picking the eventual winner of the game, you've got to consider who will win, but more importantly by how much. The point spread is considered the great equalizer in. Football Betting We adore the ‘beautiful game’ just as much as you do. Thanks to global coverage of the major football leagues such as the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and the leading continental club competitions like the UEFA Champions League, you can bet on pretty much any professional football. Football and basketball games are mostly bet using a point spread. The less popular major sports, baseball and hockey, are mostly bet using a moneyline. In an effort to make baseball and hockey more. Over/Under or totals betting allows you to bet on the combined number of points scored in an NFL game. Oddsmakers will set an estimated point total for a game and you can bet on if the final score.
If there is one word of caution, it is that betting on football for profit tends to be very difficult. Because of the large volume of betting action on games, it is that much easier for sportsbooks to set very accurate lines. When doing so, be sure to pick your wagers carefully and don’t bet on everything you possibly can.
For the most part, there are two areas that see just about all of the betting action in football, NCAAF (college football) and NFL (professional football). While there is also betting available on leagues in Canada and overseas, these are much less popular than top-level college and professional games, with its cousin, rugby, being more popular overseas. With that said, if you are betting on games in CFL, Arena, or other similar leagues, it will be that much easier for you to establish an actual profitable edge. The NFL is particularly notorious for how accurate the spreads and lines tend to be.Types of Football Bets
Football is most similar to basketball betting and baseball betting when it comes to the bets available, lines, and general numbers. The three main bets are moneyline, point spread, and point totals (over/under). Each of these bet types is very easy to understand and will generally be available for every game, with the exception of moneyline, which sometimes is not offered when a team is a very, very large favorite to win.
Moneyline Football Bets
A moneyline bet in football is when you are simply betting on one team to win straight up. To compensate for one team being better than the other, each side will have particular odds assigned. The team with a (+) in front of their odds is the underdog, and the team with a (-) will be the favorite. Using these, Team A -200 vs Team B +210 would mean that Team A is a sizable favorite. You would need to wager $200 on Team A in order to net a win of $100 profit. Conversely, a wager of $100 on Team B would pay $210 profit. Risk and reward is all that matters with a moneyline bet, because while you can bet on huge favorites in football, often times they will pay relatively low percentage returns.
Point Spread Football Bets
Point spreads in football are where things tend to get a bit more tricky. A point spread can easily go from good to bad with just a half-point movement. This is different than other sports where a half-point would not generally mean a whole lot. The reason for this is apparent to any football fan. Many football games are won by a few different numbers of points…3, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14 and so on. This happens because field goals are 3 points, extra points are 1 point, and touchdowns are 6 points. Since these are the primary way that points are scored, these intervals of points are the most frequent results in any given game.
If you are looking to bet on Dallas as a 7 point favorite, but you go to the sportsbook and see that they are now -7.5, this should give you considerable pause. While the line may seem awfully close to what it originally was, that less than a full point difference can easily be the difference between a winning and losing wager. These examples get even more extreme when a line moves 1, 2, and even 3 points. When player injuries or lineup changes are reported, it is fairly common for the lines to move this many points. Always look at the original line, see what changes may have occurred in terms of lineups or matchups, and then compare the point spread to the odds currently being offered.
Most football moneyline bets are offered at -110 odds. This goes for both the favorite or the underdog. If a sportsbook wants extra action on one side, the line may be -105 (5 points less vigorish), where if it wants less action on one side, the line may be at -115. Always make sure you look at what price you are getting in addition to how many points.
Total Points (Over/Under) Football Bets
Betting on point totals in football is the same as betting over/unders in any sport. If the total is 58, it means that the two teams combined must score over 58 points to win an “over” bet. Conversely, a bet on the under would win if the final score was 21-14 (35 total), for example. Weather conditions and player matchups are the most relevant factors in point total bets, and as is the case with point spreads, the unique scoring numbers used in football will play a major role in totals.
When to Bet Football Games
As mentioned earlier, beating football sports betting is very difficult to do. With that said, there are certain times and circumstance where winning bets can be easier than others. In the NFL, betting on games early in the season will offer you a much better chance of finding an edge than it will betting on games later on. The reason for this is because the sportsbooks and general public alike have not seen teams play a significant number of minutes when a season first starts.
Betting Early in the Season
You can take advantage of this by betting on teams who you think will either over or underachieve against public expectations. Offseason roster moves, rookies, and coaching changes will all influence early season results and will give you a chance to bet on games with an actual advantage. This will be challenging to sustain, and your bets should generally reduce in frequency as the season goes on, whether it is in college or professional games.
Betting Playoffs and Championship Games
Other than early in the season, another good time to bet on football is in playoffs or championship games. This is when the public betting action is at its peak, so you will be able to bet against the “squares” who don’t have true insight and are betting either on their favorite teams or whoever happens to have the best record. Fading the public is more popular in football betting than it is in any other sport.
Football Futures and Prop Bets
Super Bowl futures are a bigger attraction than futures bets in any other sports. A lot of people wager on who will win the World Series or NBA Finals, but those numbers pale in comparison to how many are betting on their favorite teams, underdogs, or huge favorites to win the Super Bowl. The attraction is easy to see, betting on a football futures wager gives you the chance to root for something all season long. In addition to the winner of the Super Bowl, you can also bet on who will win divisions, conferences, and even who will be MVP.
Prop bets are most prevalent on individual games, again seeing the most action during the Super Bowl. Crazy prop bets like the length of the National Anthem, who will win the coin toss and so on can be bet on for the SB, but a regular game will offer more “normal” wagers, like the over/under on total receiving or passing yards for players. In recent years, may sharp sports bettors have been able to make the most money by wagering on these individual player props due to their lack of accuracy and betting volume.
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How to Bet On Sports > How to Bet on the NFL
“Football is a game played with arms, legs, and shoulders but mostly from the neck up”. – Knute Rockne
Introduction
SportsInsights.com’s general betting articles discuss the intricacies of sports betting as it pertains to each major U.S. sport. This article will concentrate on how to bet on the NFL. We will try to utilize that “neck up” part of our bodies to gain an edge on the linesmakers, but first we must know the basics. The NFL is by far the most popular bet of all major American sports, culminating with the most popular game of the year, the Superbowl. This article will shed light on each football wager type including spread, moneyline, totals, parlays/teasers, halftimes, and futures.
Spread Betting
Like many high scoring sports, NFL wagering is dictated by the point spread. The spread, or line, is a type of side bet that equalizes the chance of winning a wager. The line offered for any given team will be accompanied with a – or + symbol to indicate whether a team is a favorite or an underdog. The example below displays the spread from the Sports Insights archives at the time of kickoff:
| Team | Spread at Kickoff | Final Score |
| Indianapolis Colts | -9 (-110) | 23 |
| Tennessee Titans | +9 (-110) | 20 |
Generally, the number next to the spread is “-110”. This is what’s known as the juice, vig or odds. The juice is a fraction of the wager taken from the bettor if the bet wins. In this instance, a winning wager of $110 will yield a profit of $100.The example above demonstrates that, although Indianapolis won the contest, Tennessee covered the spread by losing by less than nine points. An important aspect of sports betting is capturing the best line possible. A great way to achieve this is by shopping for the best line.
Moneyline
In the parity driven NFL, the phrase “any given Sunday” is more prevalent than ever, which is why Moneyline (ML) bets can be very profitable when betting on the underdog. A moneyline wager is one that is placed on either the favorite or the underdog to win straight up. The example below is from Week 10 of the 2010-11 NFL season:
| New York Giants | -600 |
| Dallas Cowboys | +450 |
To win $100 dollars wagering on the New York Giants one must lay $600. Whereas, a $100 bet on the Dallas Cowboys earns a profit of $450. Due to the high risk and low reward presented by betting on the NY Giants, bettors may choose to fade, or go against them, and place a smaller wager on the Cowboys. The Cowboys did indeed win this Week 10 shocker at the New Meadowlands by a score of 33-20.
The Spread and Moneyline are contributing factors for Sports Insights’ Steam Moves and Smart Money Betting Systems.
Quarter and 1st Half Lines
The majority of bets on any sport are usually on the final outcome of the particular contest. However, for sports like the NFL and NBA, there are 1st quarter and 1st half lines offered as well. The quarter spread is used to determine who will be the winner at the end of the 1st quarter. The same is true for a 1st half line, only the wager ends when the first two quarters are completed. Generally, the 1st half spread will be close to half of the overall spread on the game.
Halftime Lines
There are also in-game bets being placed DURING halftime, to determine the outcome of the second half, known as the halftime, or 2nd half, line. The 2nd half line accounts for what happened in the first half to help determine how the rest of the game will play out.
| Team | Halftime Score | Halftime Spread | Final |
| Arizona Cardinals | 13 | +3 (-110) | 27 |
| St. Louis Rams | 17 | -3 (-110) | 24 |
For the purposes of a halftime bet, the game essentially restarts at 0 to 0. According to the halftime spread, the Arizona Cardinals are expected to be outscored by the St. Louis Rams by 3 points throughout the entire 2nd half. A halftime bet of $110 dollars on the Arizona Cardinals would lead to a profit of $100, because, not only did the Cardinals beat the spread, they won the game outright. These bets are taken during halftime, leaving a small window for the bets to be placed. You can track halftime odds easily using our Sportsbook Insider live odds software.
Totals or Over/Under
The concept of betting on totals, or Over/Under (O/U), is quite simplistic. The bettor wagers on whether the TOTAL points scored in a game will fall over or under a pre-determined number set by the sportsbook. Much like the point spread, game totals can be swayed by public opinion. The example below, from the SI Archive, shows the opening totals line for Superbowl XLV:
Football Games Betting Line
| Team | Total or O/U | Final Score |
| Green Bay Packers | 44.5o (-105) | 31 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 44.5u (-115) | 25 |
As you can see above, the combined score for Superbowl XLV was 56, and since this line was offered at reduced juice, a wager on the over at 44.5 of only $105 would yield a profit of $100. This line closed at a high of 46 points at some books, demonstrating how the public, who tend to show a proclivity for high scoring games, can increase an O/U line.
Fun Football Betting Games
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Parlays/Teasers
Parlays are wagers placed in combination with the spread, moneyline, and totals to increase the payout. A parlay is only a winner when ALL individual plays hit. A teaser is the same as parlay, except you put points down in your favor to help the bet come to fruition. For example, if the proposed line is -13 and you have a 6-point teaser, your new line is -7. A teaser may have reduced some of the risks of the parlay, but you still have to hit each individual play and the payout is reduced significantly. Many sportsbooks let you bet up to 15 times for one parlay, and if all wagers are at -110, that’s a payout of 16,306.94/1!
| # of Teams | Payoff |
| 2 | 2.64/1 |
| 3 | 6/1 |
| 4 | 12.28/1 |
| 5 | 24.35/1 |
| 6 | 47.41/1 |
| 7 | 91.42/1 |
| 8 | 175.44/1 |
| 9 | 335.85/1 |
| 10 | 642.08/1 |
| 11 | 1226.70/1 |
| 12 | 2342.79/1 |
| 13 | 4473.51/1 |
| 14 | 8541.25/1 |
| 15 | 16306.94/1 |
Futures
Betting On Nfl Football Games
Futures bets are exactly what they sound like, a wager placed on an event that will occur in the future. As you can imagine, the most popular futures bet in the NFL is who will win the Superbowl. In fact, the Team Odds to win it all are released within a week after the previous year’s championship. It is not uncommon to see last year’s worse team to be 100/1 dogs or worse. Naturally, Futures are not limited to simply who will win the big game. Much like proposition (prop) bets for any particular contest, you can place several futures bets on potential outcomes, from who will win what division to who will win the league’s MVP. Futures Odds can be found at nearly any reputable sportsbook, but some have a limited selection of wagers they will actually take.