NFL Betting is the Most Popular in the United States
Betting on NFL and college football is on the rise in the United States. Football is, of course, the nation’s No. 1 spectator sport and, as such, a huge portion of the bets placed in the U.S. are on NFL and NCAA games. The question for you is, “How can you get in on the action?”
If you haven’t bet on football or don’t have a lot of experience doing so, it helps to first gain some understanding of the basics of betting on the sport.
NFL Betting Lines
When you bet on football whether NFL or college, you can do so in a number of different ways. The easiest to understand is moneyline betting. When you bet on the moneyline, you simply are betting on a team to win.
Totals betting is pretty straightforward too at America’s Bookie. A game total is established and you can wager on whether or not the final combined score of the game will go OVER or UNDER that total.
Betting on the point spread requires some additional knowledge. A point spread is established by oddsmakers to level the playing field between two teams. Let’s look at examples of each.
Moneyline Betting
The typical NFL moneyline bet might look something like this where the favorite is denoted with a “-” sign and the underdog is given a “+” sign.
MIAMI +225
BUFFALO -180
In this case, Buffalo is the favorite and Miami the underdog.
Odds are expressed as American odds and represent the following. If you bet on Buffalo and they win, a $180 bet would payout $100. On the other end, a $100 bet would payout $225. It’s just one example, but you can see why bettors like underdogs.
Must Read: Mid-Season NFL Pro Handicapping Report Cards
Totals Betting in the NFL
In totals betting, you place a wager on whether the final score goes OVER or UNDER the posted game total. Such a bet would look like this.
MIAMI O48 (-110)
BUFFALO U48 (-110)
In the example, the total is 48. The (-110) indicates the odds and means that a $110 bettor will win $100. If the final score ends up 24-23 and you bet on the UNDER, you win. It doesn’t matter who wins the game when betting totals.
Lots of times you can get all the information you need by reading football news.
Point Spread Betting
The other traditional method of betting on football is wagering on the point spread. We can use the same example with Buffalo as the favorite and Miami the underdog.
MIAMI +5.5 (-110)
BUFFALO -5.5 (-110)
In this case, if you bet on Buffalo you need the Bills to win by at least six points in order to cash a winning ticket. If you bet on the Dolphins, you need them to lose by fewer than 5.5 points or win outright.
Often, spreads are expressed in halves so that wagers do not end up in what is termed a Push. If a point spread is 6, and the final score is 26-20 there are no winners or losers. That is a Push. When that happens bets are refunded. To avoid a Push, spreads will often be numbers like 5.5, 4.5, and so on.
If you bet on Buffalo and the Bills won 38-30, they would “cover” the spread. That means you win and a $110 bet would payout $100.
Moneyline, point spread, and totals betting are the most common bets on football. There are many others as well including futures and props. Learn the basics first before you move on to more exotic bets.
