Football is the most bet sport in the United States. It’s not even close. Americans love to bet on the NFL, and that goes for college football, too. We are taking a look at the most common football bets available online.
It’s largely only a North American sport, but it’s still the second-most bet sport in the world, behind European football. If you want to get in on the gridiron action, it’s important to learn about the most common football bets first.
The foundation for any good football bettor is learning how to wager on the most common football bets. After you are comfortable with making these bets, you can begin to branch out and get into more exotic wagers.
Let’s get into the most common football bets and how to win below.
Most Popular Football Bets
Point Spread
With the proliferation of online gambling over the past years, you’ve probably heard the media and pundits talk about the point spread of a game. It’s hard not to avoid gambling talk in the NFL.
If the sportsbook feels the two teams are dead equal, all things considered, there won’t be a point spread. You will simply have to predict who wins the game straight up.
The more lopsided the oddsmakers feel the final score will be, the higher the point spread will be at the online betting site. For instance, take for example a matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams.
Jacksonville Jaguars +14.5 (-110)
LA Rams -14.5 (-110)
In this example, to win your football bet, you have to correctly select if the Rams will win by more than 14 points. If you like the Jaguars, they don’t have to win for your bet to be successful.
Jacksonville must keep the final score within 14.5 points, though. A 15-point loss would be a losing bet, but a 14-point loss would be a winning wager. You can use this example for any point spread number.
The price of -110 indicates how much vig, or commission, you will have to pay the sportsbook for a win. A $110.00 wager will return $100.00 at -110.
Moneyline
The Moneyline is the most simple way to bet on a football game. It’s all about determining who is going to win the game. This sounds easy, but it’s important to note that finding the best value is how you beat the moneyline bet.
Let’s go back to our Jaguars vs. Rams example for the point spread. If you want to bet the Rams to win straight up on the moneyline, the oddsmakers are going to make you pay for this bet.
Jacksonville Jaguars (+700)
LA Rams (-1200)
In this instance, you will have to pay 1/12 odds on the Rams to win the game. Simply put, for a $1200.00 wager that wins, you’ll only make a profit of $100.00. Conversely, you could put $100.00 on the Jaguars for a $700.00 profit.
Over/Under – Total
The Over Under, also known as the total of a football game, has nothing to do with the winner or the margin of victory. The only aspect of the game that matters is the combined final score between both teams.
Do you want to support the defenses or offenses? Betting the Under on the total suggests that you believe the game is going to be a low-scoring final score. Conversely, if you like the Over, you are probably going to want to bet that there will be lots of points.
Over 47 (-115)
Under 47(-105)
This might be an example of an Over/Under bet that you may see online. 47 points suggest that it’s going to be an average final score.
In this case, you must correctly predict if there will be more than or less than 47 points at the end of the game. What about if the combined final score lands on 47 points? Then you will push your bet and receive a refund.
Prop Betting
Once you feel comfortable with the three most common football bets, there are other football wagers that might catch your attention. Are NFL prop bets worth betting?
Deep research is a must if you want to be profitable betting NFL props. For instance, a coach might want to get a certain player involved. If you are confident that they’re going to run the ball or pass more, this is important information to know as well.
The most common football bets for prop betting are player props. This is often Over Under prop bets. For instance, you can bet on whether a quarterback will throw for more or fewer yards, or how many completions they’ll have.
Wide receiver yards and receptions is another popular NFL prop bet. The same can be bet for rushing yards and running back receiving yards.
Teams often want to get different running backs involved in games. Ensure that you look ahead of time to see if there are any spoilers from the coaching staff.
Conclusion
Don’t restrict yourself to only one type of NFL bet. Every game is a different event and it may call for a different wager. The onus is on us as sports bettors to find the best value and exploit these holes in the sportsbook. If you want our best NFL betting sites for the upcoming season, check out the link.
