So, with the ongoing NFL season, you want to try your luck with betting but don’t know where to start? Well, lucky you, because this article will discuss some basic types of bets, you can make in NFL betting and understand how they work. Don’t worry; this wouldn’t be too overtly complicated, and in fact, we’re going to break them down and make it as understandable as possible. Let’s start.
Point Spread
Have you ever heard of phrases like “against the spread” or “cover the spread”? If you did, then you’re off to a good start. This is what we call point spread betting, and it’s one of the most popular types of bet you can do in the NFL. If you’re a long-time football fan, you should know that football games are rarely level on the playing field. Perfect matchups are rare, so the spread is the bookies’ way of leveling the playing field. But how?
For a bet to win, a team should cover their respective NFL betting. That means the favorite shouldn’t only win the game but win the game by a specified number of points. On the other hand, for the underdog bet to win, they need to win within a specified number of points or outright win the game itself. Let’s give an example.
Cowboys: -5.5
Giants: +5.5
In this scenario, the Cowboys are the favorites, indicated by the negative sign, while the giants are the underdogs with their positive sign. If you bet on the Cowboys to cover the spread, they need to win with more than 5.5 points in the game, or otherwise, you lose the bet. On the other hand, if you bet on the Giants to cover the spread, they need to lose with no more than 5.5 point difference or outright win the game.
If you’re wondering, the “.5” is there to avoid having a push. A push happens when a score is equivalent to the odds. For example, in this scenario, a push will happen if the Cowboys with a 5-point difference or the Giants lose with an exact 5-point difference against the Cowboys. Since you can’t score decimal places in football, it needs to be a 6-point difference for the Cowboys for you to win the game.
Moneyline Betting
This one is also popular and very simple. An NFL money line bet is you picking which team you think will win; easy as that. Since there are skill discrepancies in both teams, the favorite would come with a premium if you bet on them.
For example, let’s say that the Cowboys have odds of -160 while the Giants have +140. If you bet on the Cowboys with $100 and they win, you’d have a payout of $162. This is your winnings of $62 and your original $100 bet.
Meanwhile, if you bet on the Giants to win, and they do, you’d take $240 with winnings of $140 and your original bet of $100. You might think this is unfair but remember, the favorites are slated to win, which poses less risk, and they offset that risk for the underdog bets by giving them an incentive to bet on the underdog.
Totals
This one is easy. All you have to do in this type of bet is to guess how many total points both teams would accrue at the end of the game. The bookie will publish their prediction, and if you think the total would be less than what’s predicted, you can bet on the under. On the other hand, if you think the total points would be more than what’s predicted, you can bet on the over.
NFL Futures
If you have a talent for predicting the future, this one should be for you. Based on the name itself, NFL futures require you to make bets based on the season’s predictions. For example, you can bet on which team will win the Super Bowl, predict which team will lose in their first round in the playoffs, etc.
This one is quite lucrative since the payout is enormous. For example, if you bet that the Kansas City Chiefs will win the Super Bowl for $100, your payout will be $600, depending on the odds the bookie published.
NFL Prop Bets
This one is more popular in the Super Bowl but is also available for the current season. Prop bets range from the most absurd kind of bets to the outright ridiculous ones. For example, you can bet on how long the national anthem will be sung or who will be the leading entertainment during the halftime show. You can also bet on how many yards a specific quarterback will have in the Super Bowl, which player will be injured, etc.
Final Words
You can commonly play these types of bets within the NFL. They might be complicated now, but once you get the hang of it, they’ll be easy as ABC. You just need a bit of experience with these bets, and sooner or later, you’ll have tons of fun betting on the NFL.