How to Bet On Sports > How to Bet on the NFL

1. How To Bet On Nfl Games In Okc
2. How To Bet On Nfl Games In Las Vegas

“Football is a game played with arms, legs, and shoulders but mostly from the neck up”. – Knute Rockne

To bet on football, tell the ticket writer the bet number of the team you wish to bet, with the point spread and the amount you wish to wager. The payout, unless stated otherwise, is figured at odds of 10/11. Betting against the point spread is the most popular way to bet on an NFL game. When selecting the point spread, the individual betting has the option to take the favorite team and give points. How to Bet on Football: NFL Betting Lines and Odds Point Spread. A point spread in football is a figure made by odds specialists with sportsbooks to provide an advantage. The total in any NFL game. Below, further details on how do I bet on NFL games online. Bet on NFL Games. The above online sportsbooks can also be used for NFL betting with bitcoin if you prefer not to use your credit card.

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

How To Bet On Nfl Games In Okc

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.

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!

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.

Jump To: Odds Explained Best Sites For Online Betting NFL Betting Tools

Betting sports in this day and age is extremely popular, and it doesn't get any bigger in a sport than wagering on the NFL. In the United States, the NFL and football is king. It's the most popular sport in the country, by far. And betting on the NFL is just a popular.

Oddsmakers and online sportsbooks look forward to every NFL season, forming new betting lines, and a variety of wagers throughout the course of the season. We get into all of the detail around betting on the NFL below on this page, providing everything you want to know about betting on NFL games and more.

Types Of NFL Betting Odds Explained

As we said briefly before, there are a number of different types of wagers when it comes to NFL betting odds. Whether it's a futures wager, betting against the spread, or wagering on a player proposition betting lines as examples, there are certainly plenty of options.

Straight Wagers - A straight wager is one of the types of betting odds probably most often thought of when it comes to betting on the NFL. Oddsmakers explicitly form betting odds for individual games, installing a point spread. When betting on a game on the point spread, a bettor picks the team that they believe will cover the betting line. A bet is placed on either the favorite giving points, or the underdog getting points. The bet is won by picking the team which covered the point spread. But betting against the spread is not the only type of straight wager. There is also betting the moneyline. Here, a bet is placed on the team to win the game straight up without a point spread involved. It's definitely easier to pick, but the payouts are often not what they are when it comes to betting against the spread. An over/under point total is another type of straight wager as well. An NFL game is installed with a combined point total for the two teams, for which a bet is placed on the over or under total of the number.

Team & Player Props - There are two types of proposition betting lines when it comes to betting on the NFL. They are player props and team props. These betting lines are typically performance based, and for the most part are unrelated to the direct outcome of a game. For example, a player prop betting line for a game might be formed around a running back's over/under rush yards total, or a quarterback's touchdown total. Team prop betting odds are similar. Betting on which team will score first, or which teams will have the first turnover in a game might be examples of a team prop line for an individual game.

NFL Futures - Super Bowl betting odds are the most common type of futures betting line when it comes to NFL wagering. Super Bowl Odds are generally up all year long, even in the offseason. Pretty much the day after the previous year's Super Bowl is completed, oddsmakers will have next season's odds out. And then they stay up. Even once the NFL season starts, the Super Bowl Futures remain up, though they will likely change significantly depending on how teams fare during the season. Super Bowl Futures are not the only type of futures wager though, as NFC, AFC, and division odds are often formed in the offseason as well.

Live Betting - Through the technology now available at online sportsbooks, live betting is available in many sports. One of those of course is the NFL and all the games on the NFL regular season schedule. Live Betting usually has it's own section in an online sportsbooks, where it will list what games are available to be wagered on. There are a variety of different lines available for NFL, whether it be alternate point spreads, over under totals, and props. A player can place bets, or wait for the next ones. Live Betting is definitely a cool feature to check out.

Best USA Sportsbooks For Betting On NFL Games

Of course, because the NFL is so large within the U.S., you are going to need sportsbooks that accept USA bettors. We have a few listed below here but you want to be sure in case you are thinking about joining a betting site that we don't have listed here. Keep in mind, these are the sportsbooks we wager with and that have built our trust. Only when a sportsbook is good enough for us is when we'll recommend it to our readers.

Bovada - Live Betting On All Thursday, Sunday, & Monday Night NFL Games

It doesn't get much better when it comes to NFL betting than when you bet at Bovada. Formerly Bodog, Bovada is one of the foremost authorities in online sports betting, and have some of the best NFL betting lines available. Place a wager on their year-round Super Bowl Futures, or check out all of the game lines and prop bets during the season.

Bovada has the NFL betting scene covered. They offer a number of USA friendly deposit methods as well, making it easy for U.S players to fund their account, and begin betting right away.

BetOnline - Odds For Select Regular Season Games Available Months Before

BetOnline is another one of the top NFL betting sites around. They offer a great selection of betting odds for the NFL, along with some great welcome bonuses and bonuses for their current players. USA friendly deposit methods are also one of the great features at this online sportsbook. If you are considering wagering on the NFL, then BetOnline is certainly a site that a USA player should check out.

Resources To Help You Make Better Bets

When it comes to betting sports online, going in with information and options is key. And that is one of the goals we have. There are plenty of NFL betting resources to look at and review when wagering on the NFL, which we detail below.

NFL Betting Trends - These could be your best friend throughout the course of the season. And the best part is, all you have to do is look them up, the work is done for you! Oddsmakers identify hot and cold trends for teams and match ups during the year, which can definitely aid in a smart wager, giving you an advantage and not going in blind. Take advantage of these betting trends offered.

ATS Standings - Not only fun to look at, but very useful when you are betting simply because you don't just want to know about wins and losses straight up, you want to know how teams have fared against the spread. That's why there are ATS standings to review which details how teams have fared throughout the course of the year against the spreads that oddsmakers have issued for their games. This feature, like betting trends. are definitely tools at your disposal which can help.

How To Bet On Nfl Games In Las Vegas

Match Up Analysis - For NFL betting, our matchup info takes into account a number of aspects. These stats look at all the games for the week, and put them head to head for easier comparison. How they have fared against the spread, hot trends, cold trends, matchup history against this particular team, and more are all taken into consideration. You won't want to bet on an NFL game without first consulting these NFL matchups.