Whether you’re a Football betting rookie or just need to hone your skills, this article offers some betting basics that should help you successfully bet on NFL and College football games with any of the available online sportsbooks.
Most Common Football Betting Types
Moneylines – Betting the moneyline is simply picking who will win the game. Odds are associated with each team, based on their probability of winning. The bigger the favourite, the lower the odds and payout. The bigger the underdog, the higher the odds and payout, if they find a way to win.
Point Spreads – A point spread in football is a figure made by odds specialists to provide an advantage or disadvantage based on the expected margin of victory or defeat for a given NFL team. The “favorite” team would be at the disadvantage as it would need to win the game by a certain number of points, while the “underdog” would be given an advantage to not lose the game by a set number of points or to win outright. It shows each team with a (+) or (-) handicap, commonly referred to as the ‘line’. You win a point spread by predicting the winner of a game with the line factored into the final score.
Betting Totals (Over/Under) – When betting on the “total,” you are no longer concerned with which team will win the game. Instead, your focus is strictly on how many points will be scored overall. You may also hear this type of bet referred to as “over-under betting.”
Parlays – A parlay is when you make multiple picks like a moneyline, spread and totals bet in separate games but on one single ticket. In order to win your parlay, you would need all bets to hit.
Futures – Bets available for future events, like who will be the league champion, who will be MVP and more. Futures are offered well in advance of any season and are continually adjusted as it unfolds. For example, within 24 hours of the final whistle in the Super Bowl, bettors can begin wagering on who will win next year’s Super Bowl. Before the teams playing are determined, you can handpick which of the 32 NFL franchises will hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Prop Bets – Prop bets can take many forms and be related to specific outcomes in a game (game props), player performance (player props), team performance (team props) and more. NFL prop bets are like a game within the game that many bettors play because it doesn’t typically determine the final outcome of the matchup. “Quarterback O/U Passing Yards” is an example but sportsbooks get very creative and you could also see something like “Colour of Gatorade dumped on winning coach”.
Live/In-Game Betting – Many sportsbooks allow you to bet on the various lines, mostly described above, throughout the game. This is called live betting. Of course, the lines and odds will shift throughout the game depending on how things are progressing on the field. You will have to be quick as your window to place these bets is very small.
Now that you’re primed for football betting, check some of the available sportsbooks and what they have to offer for you.