One of our favourite sports to bet on at SBD is the NFL we’ve constructed a detailed guide on how to bet on the NFL. There is tons of NFL betting sites on the internet that bettors can use to wager on the NFL. One of the benefits of betting online is the fact that there are a lot of NFL betting options.
Betting on the NFL
The majority of NFL bettors couldn’t list the types of bets offered by online sportsbooks and the reason is because most bettors only wager on the moneyline, point spread or over/under. There are a number of other types of bets in the NFL and we’re going to explain them below in detail.
» NFL Moneyline Bets
- Oakland Raiders +300 vs. New England Patriots -400
You want to avoid betting on the moneyline in the NFL for the most part because of the juice you need to risk. The only time it’s ok to bet on the moneyline in the NFL is if the point spread is very small. When you bet on the moneyline in the NFL your team needs to win the game by only 1+ point. In the example above the Patriots are expected to win and are huge favourites. You’d need to bet $400 to win $100 on the Patriots whereas you only need to bet $100 to win $300 on the Raiders.
» NFL Point Spread Bets
- Oakland Raiders +6.5 -110 vs. New England Patriots -6.5 -110
Every week the majority of wagers placed by bettors in the NFL are on the point spread. Typically the juice is -110 on both teams, but this can fluctuate during the week based on how much money is coming in on each team. To win an NFL point spread wager the favoured team (Team with the – Points) needs to win by more than the point spread or the underdog (Team with the + Points) needs to not lose by more than the spread. In our example above the Patriots need to win the game by 7+ points for Patriot backers to win the NFL point spread wager.
» NFL Over/Under Bets
- Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots – Over 44.5 -110 / Under 44.5 -110
The odds generally open at -110 on the over and under in NFL games and just like point spread bets, the odds can changes during the week based on how much action has been wagered on each side. Over/Under bets are real simple, as you simply need to bet on whether both teams will combine to score more or less than the point total set by the sportsbook you wager with. In our example the Raiders and Patriots need to score 45+ points for the over to win or score 44 or less points for the under to win.
» NFL Parlays
An NFL parlay is a bet where you combine at least two different outcomes on the same wager. For instance, you might take the Raiders to win by -6.5 over the Titans and the Patriots to win by -4.5 over the Colts on the same wager. In order to win an NFL parlay all of the outcomes need to win (Pushes = Tie in most cases), but the payout odds are bigger than straight wagers.
» NFL Teasers / Pleasers
Most NFL handicappers don’t bet on NFL teasers or pleasers, but we’re covering them in our guide anyways. Make sure you read up on the profitability of betting teasers or pleasers before betting them heavily. In an NFL teaser you’re allowed to move the spread in your favour and in a pleaser the spread moves against you. The payout odds on teasers decrease compared to normal parlays whereas the payout odds increase on pleasers. You need to bet at least 2+ games on a teaser or pleaser and the amount of points you can move the spread is dependant upon the sportsbook you bet with.
» NFL Prop Bets
Betting on prop bets in the NFL is extremely fun and makes watching games much more fun, but they can also be profitable if you spend time doing your research. An example of an NFL prop bet would be betting on Mendenhall to rush for over 67.5 yards against the Giants or betting on Manning to pass for over 212.5 yards against the Jaguars.
» NFL Future Bets
Many casual NFL handicappers don’t even consider future bets because they don’t have a big enough bankroll to lock up any of their money for an entire NFL season. Futures bets allow you to bet on division winners, conference winners and even the Superbowl winner before the season starts or during the season.