With the Conference Championship this weekend, now is a good time to learn how to bet on the NFL. This is because even if you are not a football fan or gambler, everyone else is probably talking about it. Therefore, this is a great conversation topic and way to network around the water cooler, Thus, this Beginners Guide to NFL Betting will give you the basic of betting on the NFL!
At first, betting on football or any sports may seem easy. You just decide which team will win, give the *bookie some money, if your team wins, you collect money. Unfortunately, there is a bit more to that because of the football betting odds. However, once you know how to read them, the process will still remain easy to understand.
*In case you don’t know what is a bookie, it is the person that sets odds and takes your bet. If you win, he gives you money, if you lose, they take your money!
Beginners Guide to NFL Betting – How to Bet on the Most Popular Types of Wagers
What is the NFL (National Football League) and How to Bet on it
The majority of sports gamblers probably already know about American football. However, for this Beginners Guide to NFL Betting , here is some quick information before we start. The National Football League (NFL) is the professional association for American football and is made up of 32 teams. These 32 teams are equally divided into the America Football Conference and the National Football Conference.
Furthermore, these teams are split into 8 divisions and each team will play 16 games during the regular NFL season. During the NFL Playoffs, the best team of each division will play against each other to see who is the best. Afterwards, the winner of each Division will play to see who is the best in the AFC and the NFC. Last but not least, the winner of each conference will battle it our during the Super Bowl.
Since there are 272 NFL matchups in a year, this makes for quite a bit of NFL available to fans. For bookies, this is a very lucrative time of the year as football fans tend to bet a lot. If you are thinking about How to Become a Bookie during the football season, you are not the only one!
Betting on the NFL is fairly easy depending on where you live. In the U.S. most states have legal sports betting available. If that is the case, you just go to your nearest sportsbook, look at the odds and place your bets. Some states also have online betting which makes it even easier t bet on football.
If it is not available, there is always the option to bet with a local bookie or an offshore sportsbook. Just know that you do it at your own risk!
>> Thinking about becoming an NFL Bookie? Then take a look at this tutorial on How to be an NFL Bookie
Explaining the NFL Point Spread
The NFL season starts in September and the most popular NFL bet is point spread betting.
Here is an example of a point spread odds for the NFL:
- Kansas City Chiefs: -+4 -110
- Baltimore Ravens: -4 -110
The first number is the point spread made by NFL lines handicappers. When there is a “-“ before the number, it means the team will probably win the game. Thus, if you bet the Ravens at -4, they have to win by more than 4 to win the wager.
On the other hand, if you bet the Chiefs at +4, it means they are the underdog. Thus, they have to lose the game by less than 4 points to win your bet.
The number after the pointspread is for the “vig” or “Juice” which is the commission the sportsbook takes. The “-110” means that they charge a 10% commission for takin that wager. If the number was “-108”, it would mean they take an 8% commission for taking that bet.
How to bet on the NFL Over/Under
This type of bet is also known as betting on the total. You bet on whether the total final score of both teams will be over or under a certain number.
Here is an example of an Over/Under betting odds:
- Kansas City Chiefs: -O 44 -112
- Baltimore Ravens: U 44 -108
Betting on the NFL money Line
This last bet is just as popular as the point spread as you basically bet on who will win. However, there depending on the matchup, you may have to wager a lot of money to win a small amount.
Here is an example of an NFL Money Line
- Kansas City Chiefs: +164
- Baltimore Ravens: -205
Looking at these odds, the Ravens are the favorite team as you have to wager $205 to win $100.
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