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
There are several different types of football wager you can place, and two of them are significantly more popular than the others. The most popular of all is the point spread wager. Teasers – A teaser bet in the NFL is a combination of two or more wagers, which adds or takes away a certain amount of points from the point spread or total. All of the wagers that you place on your bet. Teasers – A teaser bet in the NFL is a combination of two or more wagers, which adds or takes away a certain amount of points from the point spread or total. All of the wagers that you place on your bet must win by or with the points, in order for you to receive a payout. As football fans, we can’t get enough of the action. On Saturdays, college football games are basically being played from the time we wake up until we go to bed. The sites listed above allow you to place bets from the comfort and convenience of your own home. Imagine waking up and making a bet on your favorite team before you even brush your. Place football bets online if they so choose. We’ve written the following page explaining things in more detail for those interested, or you can just keep reading for a quick guide to getting started online. Using Online Betting Sites. Using sports betting sites to bet on football online is relatively straightforward. It’s super easy to.
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:
Team | Spread at Kickoff | Final Score |
Indianapolis Colts | -9 (-110) | 23 |
Tennessee Titans | +9 (-110) | 20 |
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:
New York Giants | -600 |
Dallas Cowboys | +450 |
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.
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.
Team | Halftime Score | Halftime Spread | Final |
Arizona Cardinals | 13 | +3 (-110) | 27 |
St. Louis Rams | 17 | -3 (-110) | 24 |
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:
Team | Total or O/U | Final Score |
Green Bay Packers | 44.5o (-105) | 31 |
Pittsburgh Steelers | 44.5u (-115) | 25 |
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!
# of Teams | Payoff |
2 | 2.64/1 |
3 | 6/1 |
4 | 12.28/1 |
5 | 24.35/1 |
6 | 47.41/1 |
7 | 91.42/1 |
8 | 175.44/1 |
9 | 335.85/1 |
10 | 642.08/1 |
11 | 1226.70/1 |
12 | 2342.79/1 |
13 | 4473.51/1 |
14 | 8541.25/1 |
15 | 16306.94/1 |
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.
Place A Bet On Football
Sports betting is one of the favourite pastimes of many people. It’s something fun to spice up the match and maybe earn a little bit along the way. Some people even make a career out of it. Nowadays, a lot of things we love to do from time to time aren’t really available and we’re mostly confined to our living rooms and bedrooms. Luckily for us, you can easily place a bet from your smartphone and enjoy a football match with a little bit of extra weight to it.
Now, we don’t just play for fun. Most of us expect to win something from time to time. Well, in all honesty, we expect to win every time, but that’s not going to happen. However, winning a bet doesn’t have to be a rare occurrence, you can beef up your chances of winning if you know what you’re doing. There are some unwritten rules in the sports betting community. You bet on some all the time while avoiding the others at the same time.
We’ve decided to explore this a little bit further. We’re going to take a look at some of the most popular and hopefully, most profitable football leagues around the globe and see where should we bet our money on. If that seems like something you might be interested in, which we would hope so because who doesn’t like a little bit of extra pocket money, stay with us for a few moments and maybe learn a thing or two. Without further ado, let’s dive right in.a
1. Premier League – England
This is easily the most popular football league in the world. The big names, the big clubs with a rich tradition and shelves full of domestic and international trophies. It’s not by accident that England is the place most associated with football. With clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, it’s hard not to think about it when you’re thinking of placing a bet.
Chances are, if you’re a football fan, you’re watching Premier League on Saturday wherever you might live. That’s a good thing. If you’re watching the games on the regular, you can pick up on some things. You can see if any players could potentially be game-changers, the formation, tendencies and see how it all works out. You can use all of this information in your advantage when placing a bet.
Unfortunately, the Premier League has been known to let many people down. It’s not uncommon for a team like West Ham to beat Chelsea, it happens quite often to be fair. So, picking a winner can be a little tricky unless you’re really an expert. However, this unpredictability is what makes it interesting and what makes the odds a little bit higher, which can ultimately make your profits larger.
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2. La Liga – Spain
What makes La Liga so appealing is the stars that play football there. Just until a few years ago, you had inarguably the two greatest football players ever to play the game, face up at least twice a year. However, this does not impact betting in no way whatsoever. What does though is the fact that you can be 99% certain that Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will beat their opponents that week. The odds aren’t the greatest, but if you stack them up, you can probably double your investment.
The rest of the league is kind of a seesaw, they can win against anyone and they can lose as well. But, that’s what makes the odds better. However, betting on those will require some knowledge and strategy in order to win some money, but luckily for you, myprobet.com offers a nice guide on how to strategize when betting, so that might be helpful.
3. Eerste Divisie – Netherlands
If you’re someone that bets from time to time, you’re certainly familiar with the second league in the Netherlands. This league is a gold mine for those who like to play the goals. If we consider all the major football leagues in the world, this one has to be the absolute leader when it comes to goals scored. You can be almost certain that every match is going to finish with at least 3 goals scored. Naturally, the bookmakers know of this, so the odds aren’t that great, but if you’re winning more often than not, those aren’t really that important, aren’t they?
4. Serie B – Italy
This one would be virtually the opposite of the previously mentioned one. When it comes to goals, this is as uneventful as it can possibly get. Chances of GG3+ are virtually non-existent. Most of these matches end up being narrow victories by a goal or they end up in a draw. Rarely do we see a 3 goal game in Serie B. The safest bet around here is a draw at halftime or less than 2.5 goals. That’s essentially 80% of the matches played. It certainly isn’t something enjoyable to watch, unless you enjoy a total lack of offense, in which case, go ahead, but it’s pretty profitable if you play your cards right.
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5. MLS – USA
If you’re in Europe, this league has a certain appeal. First of all, it’s filled with European stars past their glory days, so it’s certainly something watchable during the night. The other things is – it’s played during the night for European folks. So, placing a bet and winning it is a good way to start a morning. There are some goals scored here, the ‘soccer’ as Americans call it, is still rising in popularity, so the games are really fast-paced and fun to watch in order to attract some viewers. Betting on more than 2.5 goals scored could be a good way to make some money.
6. League 2 – England
Many football enthusiasts would argue that the real English football isn’t played in the Premier League, but the lower ranks. Championship, League 1 and League 2 offer some fun games to watch. It’s a hard, physical game – but there are often a lot of goals scored. For League 2, you can be almost certain that at least half of the matches are going to end up being GG, so that might be something worth exploring.
There you have it, those we’re 6 of the most profitable football leagues to bet on, each with their unique appeal and strength. We’re sure there are others that are profitable as well, these are just the most popular ones.