How To Bet On Football Games

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

• Football Point Spreads: How They Work The theory with point spreads is that a wager on either team to win a football game is as close to a 505/50 shot as possible. You’re not actually betting on which team.
• There are several ways to bet on NFL games. When betting on the National Football League, you can wager on bet types likes the point spread, totals (also known as OVER/UNDERs), and the moneyline.
• As previously stated, NFL games are usually decided by three points or fewer. Since the betting market generally sides with the favorite, the sportsbooks will set better value on the underdog.

JOIN NOW AND BET ON THE NFL. Football has been the undisputed King of Sports Betting for decades. On a per-game basis, online betting on the NFL is more popular than any other sport, and there’s no single game that can touch the annual Super Bowl in terms of handle. Whether you’re just starting out with NFL betting. 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.

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:

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:

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.

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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.

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:

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.

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!

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Futures

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.

Football is the most bet upon sport in America, and 2020 promises to be no different, despite some delays and changes brought on by COVID-19. Super Bowl 55 is due to be played on February 7, 2021, slightly later than usual. Excited pundits are watching as the league progresses, with some bettors trying to make some extra money by betting on games.

But exactly how legal is it to be on an NFL game?

Sportsbook legalization in America

While federal laws govern gambling to some extent, most of the statutes that define, implement, and regulate it are generated at the state level. Therefore, the legality of betting on an NFL game may differ from one state to another.

Nearly 50% of America’s states have passed legislation enabling sportsbook betting since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992. This federal law proved a hindrance to states allowing sportsbook gambling, and its 2018 repeal paved the way for sports betting to spread across the country.

NFL sports betting takes place in three sportsbook formats: brick-and-mortar, domestic online and mobile, and offshore online. Twenty-one American states have brick-and-mortar facilities where NFL sports betting is legal. Nineteen allow online and mobile sports betting. VegasBetting.com keeps and updates a list of 2021 Super Bowl odds and ranks betting platforms for bettors’ convenience.

Offshore online NFL betting

Many online sportsbooks have operated legally outside America’s borders for decades, providing bettors with a means to make a wager on the outcome of NFL games. Using these betting sites will not render you in violation of federal gambling laws unless you are in New Jersey, Connecticut, or Washington State.

Connecticut and Washington State have similar laws that prohibit or restrict online gambling, although neither state has a record of enforcing these regulations. New Jersey has called for offshore online sportsbook providers to refrain from accepting bets from its residents, despite its regulations not prohibiting the practice.

What are the odds?

Most fans have reveled in a return to some semblance of normality that occurred when the football season commenced. As things stand, it seems that the Kansas City Chiefs are slated to repeat their Super Bowl 54 win next year. However, as matches continue, there is always a chance that this may change. If you plan to place your bet on strategy and not team loyalty alone, awareness of the odds is essential.

Next, decide what type of NFL bet you plan to cast. Your options include point spread, money line, totals over or under, prop bets, live or in-play, and long-term wagers. If you are new to betting on the NFL, it is advisable to do some research beforehand.

Tips and tricks for successful betting

How To Bet On Football Games

The objective of your NFL bet is not to bankrupt yourself and get into financial difficulties. Therefore, no matter how sure the bet, do not wager more than you can afford to lose. Many bettors start wagering at the beginning of a season to accumulate their winnings to finance a bet on the Super Bowl.

Always shop around for odds when placing a bet. Odds are not necessarily standardized and vary from one sportsbook to another. Choose one that gives you the best chance of maximizing your winnings.

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Placing a well-informed bet is a product of several factors, including game statistics, player performance expectations, and historical records. If you can harness this information into a projection model, you will have a good chance of winning. Bettors who use a statistical approach over an emotional one are more likely to win than their emotional counterparts.