You’ve always been a fan of the National Football League. You watch the games intently, know the players on every team, and are familiar with the nuances of the sport. Every Sunday of the fall season, as well as Thursdays and Mondays, are blocked off on your calendar. You are watching football, no questions asked. Well, perhaps one question – with all that knowledge of the NFL, why aren’t you making it pay off by wagering on NFL games?
Best NFL Betting Sites
Once you’ve decided that betting on football is for you, finding a place to make those wagers is a breeze. There are a number of quality online sportsbooks available. Check out the bonus sign up offers from any of our partner sites listed below.
NFL Betting Options
Moneyline
This is the simplest form of wagering on the NFL, and also the least complicated to figure out. Say the Los Angeles Chargers are playing the Oakland Raiders. The Chargers are listed in the moneyline as +270, while the Raiders are -150. These are the returns based on a $100 wager. As the underdog, were you to wager $100 on the Chargers and they win the game, you’d earn a profit of $270. But since the Raiders are favored to win the game, you would need to bet $150 on Oakland in order to win $100.
Point Spread
This form of wagering is designed by the sportsbooks in an effort to balance the money wagered on the game evenly between both teams by assigning points to both teams. Let’s say on that same Raiders-Chargers game, the Raiders were listed at minus-6 and the Chargers at plus-6. Oakland is favored and must win by at least seven points in order for you to cash your ticket. As the underdog, if you play the Chargers, you get six points. If they win outright or lose by less than six, you are a winner.
Over/under
Also known as the total, this isn’t a bet on either team, it’s a bet on how many points the two teams will combine to score during the game. A sportsbook establishes a number as the total points it estimates will be scored in a specific game. Say the Raiders-Chargers game was assigned 45 as the total. That means the sportsbook believes this will be the number of combined points scored by the two teams. If you think they will score more, you bet over. If you think they will score less, play the under wager.
Types of NFL Bets
Single Bets
As the name implies, a single bet is a straight wager on one aspect of an NFL game that is available for wagering purposes. Also known as a straight bet, it is as simple as the name implies. You pick your game, and then you pick your wager – moneyline, point spread, or total. Once you’ve made the call, you place your wager on that solitary aspect, and await the outcome. It isn’t complicated at all. In fact, it’s very straightforward and also the easiest method for a novice bettor to get in on the action.
Parlays
If hitting on one game is fun, imagine the thrill you’ll get when you correctly wager on two, three, five, or even 10 games. That’s what a parlay wager is. You pick out a number of games, either on one day, or over the course of the week, and play that ticket. A parlay wager is a terrific method to garner a significant return on a smaller wager. But there’s a drawback. It’s also an all or nothing bet. If you hit on nine out of 10 games, it’s the same as hitting on none out of 10 – a loser.
Teasers
A teaser bet combines a number of wagers together. It can be as small as two or as large as 10 bets. With teaser betting, the line is shifted in favor of the bettor. Teasers are generally offered in six, 6.5 or seven-point formats. You choose how many points you want shifted to your favor. Say you played a seven-point teaser on these three bets – Carolina +7.5, Miami -2.5 and Arizona +6. Applying the teaser, the bet would now read: Carolina +14.5, Miami +4.5 and Arizona +13. All three teams must win for you to win.
Live Betting
The form of wager that is growing the fastest in popularity, live or in-play wagering allows you to place bets on a game in progress. There are a number of advantages to live betting. If a wager you played isn’t going your way, you can place another wager in game to help recoup your potential losses. If a game is too close to call, you can wait and get a feel for how it is progressing and then jump in with a wager. Lines will change continuously during the game, so it’s the patient bettor who finds the right time to wager.
Prop Bets
Legend has it that a wager on if 300-pound Chicago Bears defensive tackle/fullback William (The Refrigerator) Perry would score a TD in Super Bowl XX led to the explosion of the NFL prop or proposition bet. Prop bets cover events that occur in or around the game, and some, like the coin toss, are 50-50 calls. Others can be more elaborate. What song will the Super Bowl halftime act open with? What color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach at the end of the game? You don’t need to know the NFL to bet props.
Future Bets
Which team is going to win the Super Bowl? What player will be named the NFL’s MVP, or the league’s rookie of the year? Who will go with the first overall pick of the NFL Draft? How many games will the Seattle Seahawks win this season? Which team will sign that coveted free agent quarterback? All of these questions are examples of future bets. The lines on future bets tend to be lucrative, since they are often so unpredictable, so why not get your Nostradamus on and see if you can’t prognosticate yourself a profit?
Placing the Best NFL Bets
Whether you want the best NFL bets this week, the best bets for this weekend or if you are planning the long game and just want an NFL betting guide for all types of bets, there are some things you need to keep in mind. For one, check out the odds to win the upcoming Super Bowl:
| Event |  |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | +600 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | +750 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | +1000 |
| Green Bay Packers | +1200 |
| Los Angeles Rams | +1100 |
| San Francisco 49ers | +1400 |
You definitely have to know where to bet on NFL games. While there are plenty of places to bet on the NFL online, not all of them are equal. You should only use football betting sites that have been reviewed by experts, like the ones on this page.
Betting on football games is easy to start, but hard to master. You will develop your own strategy for all the football betting games. However, it is a good idea to start out with some tips for placing football wagers from the experts.
How To Bet On The NFL
One of the best aspects of betting on the NFL is that it is far and away the No. 1 sport for wagering in North America. If you are betting on NFL games, the odds are in your favor that many of your friends are doing likewise. Whether you prefer point spread, moneyline or total wagering, or you are the more extravagant type who likes to roll the dice with prop or future betting, or are an adventurous risk taker who prefers parlays, the NFL undoubtedly has a bet that suits your personality.
Key NFL Betting Strategies & Tips
If you are someone who dives in with both feet when you undertake a new venture, if you are the person who does their homework and seeks to unearth all the information that's out there in order to make what you are doing a success, there's good news. Thanks to the popularity of betting on the NFL, you will find no shortage of wagering strategies and tips available online. Some are free to the public, while others are paid tout services. The method you choose to follow is entirely up to you.
Here's some NFL betting tips to keep in mind:
- Play within your means. Establish a bankroll and a weekly betting limit before the season starts and stick to the plan.
- Line shop. Betting lines vary from sportsbook to sportsbook. Seek out the line that best suits your wager.
- Know your time zones. East Coast teams generally don't do well in West Coast games and vice versa.
- Home underdogs are always a good play.
- Injuries, injuries, injuries. Never wager until you've seen the weekly NFL injury report. One key player out can swing a game.
- The house has the advantage. Don't try to play every game. Pick out the best bets each week and play them and only them.
- If you have a bad week, suck it up and move on. Even the world's best NFL gamblers are lucky to win more than six out of 10 bets.
- Don't drink and bet. Drinking and driving could kill you. Drinking and wagering will destroy your common sense and with it, your bankroll.
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