The NFL is the most popular league in America. And while watching the games are fun enough, one way to get more out of games is having a personal investment in the outcome. That is where betting comes in. Wagering on a game adds excitement and intrigue — while increasing the emotional interest because of the money involved. It is similar to fantasy football, except with the rooting interest being in the outcome, not players’ stats.
NFL Spread betting Explained Spread is the number of points that one team is getting as an advantage in the game, also known as handicap. “Covering the spread” is betting on the favorite to win the match by more points than the spread.
NFL betting: Ways to bet
Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list of sports betting odds and lines.
Understand the basics of NFL betting If you are new to betting on sports, understanding the terminology is a good place to begin. While you may have had a lot of success betting on the NFL at work. There are many ways to benefit from NFL betting offers from free bets, to risk-free bets, to big odds boosts on hot favourites and more. As the nation’s football focus narrows from the. Point spread betting is the most popular form of sports betting. The vast majority of sports wagers use a point spread thanks to the popularity of football and basketball. Even though this type of betting is so popular, it may take awhile to understand. The point spread is sometimes known as an equalizer for sportsbook operators.
Futures betting: Wagering on an outcome beyond a single game result. The most common futures bets are Super Bowl champion, followed by conference/division champion, making the playoffs and regular-season win totals.Single-game betting: Wagering on the outcome of a single game. It can be the straight outcome — which team wins outright. It can be against a point spread — whether a team wins or loses by a set number of points. Or it can be whether the combined point total goes Over or Under a predetermined number.Prop bets: Wagering on individual occurrences or individual player acts or performances, such as whether a player will score two touchdowns in a game or who scores the first TD of the game.Live betting: Bets made after a game starts. As the game goes on, the point spread and Over/Under total will change, as will odds of each team to win outright. If a team favored before the game falls behind early, they may become the underdog.NFL betting: Key betting terms to know
Moneyline: This is betting for the outright winner of a game. The line is posted with a positive or negative number. A positive numbered line will profit more than the initial wager. Example: A line of +160 means that a $100 bet would profit $160. A negative number line profits less than the initial wager. Example: A line of -150 means one would have to bet $150 to profit $100 (getting $250 total — their original bet and the profit).Point spread: This is essentially a handicap for one team. A team with a negative spread number must win by more than that amount. If the line is Cardinals -3.5, they must win by 4 points or more to win the bet. A positive spread (ex: Bengals +3.5) means one can win the bet if that team loses by less than that amount. Betting the Bengals +3.5 means the bet wins if they lose by 3 points or less, or if they win outright.Over/Under: This is also referred to as the total. It is the line for the combined total points scored by the two teams. Often the lines are weighted. An Over/Under line of 45 (-120, +100) means one must bet 1.2-to-1 on the Over, while it’s an even-money bet (1-to-1) on the Under.Push: This is when the point spread or point total is matched exactly. If the line has a half point, this can’t happen. If the line finishes in a push, all money is refunded. If the line was Cardinals -3 and they win by exactly 3 points, the bettor gets his money back.Parlay: A combination of two or more bets in which all bets must win in order for the parlay to win; if any one bet loses the entire parlay loses. The benefit is a successful parlay pays more. Moneylines, point spreads and Over/Unders can be parlayed. Sportsbooks differ in payouts, but the average payoffs are:| PARLAY | PAYOUT |
| 2-teamer | 2.6 to 1 |
| 3-teamer | 6 to 1 |
| 4-teamer | 11 to 1 |
| 5-teamer | 22 to 1 |
| 6-teamer | 40 to 1 |
| 7-teamer | 80 to 1 |
| 8-teamer | 150 to 1 |
While they pay more than a straight bet, many consider these sucker bets. The sportsbooks make a lot of money on bettors’ losing parlay bets. Any bet that results in a push does not end the parlay; it is treated as if the game never happened. So a 4-team parlay with a push becomes a 3-team parlay and assumes 3-team odds.
NFL betting: How do odds work?
Odds are usually given in two styles. One is as a positive or negative number. The other is a ratio.
The positive and negative numbers were explained above, but what about ratios?
One might see 8/1 odds. This is the same as +800. A winning bet profits eight times the original bet. Odds with a smaller number on top (or first) are the same as a negative number. 2/5 odds mean every $5 wagered will profit $2 if the bet wins. The smaller the ratio is the more likely the expected outcome.
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For the novice, the placing of bets can be a confusing area unless properly explained, particularly in the NFL. This article will explain the basics of odds and the types of bets that can be made.
Understanding odds
The first thing to understand is how odds are expressed. These show how much you will win when a bet comes off. In NFL betting, these take the form of a number preceded by a + or a -sign and are based around a $100 unit – although it’s important to realise that the bet can be of any size. So, if the New York Giants are playing the Baltimore Ravens and are favorites to win, the odds might be expressed as -110. This means that you will need to put a bet of $110 on that will win you $100 if the Giants come out on top. On the other hand, the odds on the Ravens, who are the underdogs, winning would be expressed as +220. In this case, your successful $100 bet would win you $220.
The most popular types of bet
Although you might imagine that there’s just one kind of bet, win or lose, you’d be wrong. There are a number of different wagers that you can make on an individual game, player or even the team’s overall success in a season.
Point spread
By far the most commonly placed bet is the point spread, also sometimes called line betting or sides. It’s a bet that tries to predict how many points the winner should win by. Here’s an example of how it works.
Ravens +4.5 -110
Giants -4.5 -110
As we’ve seen, in this game the Giants are the favorites and for bet to be a winning one they will need to beat the Ravens by at least 5 points. At the odds of -110, a $110 bet will return winnings of $100.
Nfl Betting Lines Explained
But if you bet on the Ravens and they either lose by less than 5 points, or win outright, the bet will be a successful one.
Totals
The second most popular type of bet and the easiest to understand. It’s simply a question of estimating how many points in total will be scored by both sides in a game and betting on whether it will be over or under this amount. As a bet it will be expressed like this.
Giants v Ravens
Over 42.5 -110
Under 42.5 -110
Money Line betting
If you just want to get behind your team and bet on them to win then a money line bet is the one for you. This is typically the sort of bet that many people will be placing on the forthcoming Super Bowl when the teams meet in Tampa on February 7th. So, eyes will be firmly fixed on the Super Bowl odds when the playoffs have produced the finalists. It looks like the favorites will be the Kansas City Chiefs with the Green Bay Packers not far behind. In both cases we could be looking at relatively long odds of -150 or more.
Futures
A number of people may already have had their sights on a Super Bowl appearance for their team and backed this up with a futures wager. Usually made at the start of the season, these look at what might have happened by its end. From winning the division to emerging victorious in the Super Bowl, these can cover many eventualities and are a good way to keep interest going through the season.
Parlays
These are when a number of bets are combined and can add up to some very impressive winnings if they all come off. But here’s the rub – they all have to come off if you’re going to win. This can be frustrating if you get 4 or 5 wins out of a total of 6 bets in a parlay as you end up winning not a cent. But nothing ventured, nothing gained . . .
Props
Nfl Betting Explained Odds
Props, or propositions to give them their full name, cover a wide range of predictions that you can make. For example, you can bet on whether Patrick Mahomes will become even more of a record-breaker in 2020, even whether the coin toss before a game will come up heads or tails.
So, as you can see, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to NFL betting. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Then, very soon, you’ll be wondering why it took until 2018 for it to be allowed at all.