Football Betting 101
How to Read Football Betting Odds. When looking to bet on a football game, there are four key pieces of information that you need to focus on: The rotation number, the point spread, the total, and the moneyline. The rotation number is a 3-digit number that you'll see in front of the team names. Ticket writers speak in numbers, not team names. If you have ever looked to bet on sports, then you are most likely familiar with the conventional ways to do it. Whether that be betting on the result straight-up, the spread, or a total, all of those aspects at the very least will be recognizable betting options to most sports fans. When the odds are presented in decimal form, simply divide 1 by the entire number, then multiply the answer by 100. For 2.26 odds, the process of conversion would look like this: 1/2.26 = 0.44247 x 100 = 44.25%. It’s important to calculate probability every time you make a bet.
- NFL Betting 101 Stats that Matter for Pro Football Handicapping by Trevor Whenham - 6/26/2019 It's time for the next chapter in our exploration of the basics of betting on football.
- Football Betting 101: Understanding Teasers and How to Use Them on Football by George Monroy - 8/11/2015 With football season right around the corner, bettors should be looking to take advantage of.
The NFL is the most popular league in America. And while watching the games are fun enough, one way to get more out of games is having a personal investment in the outcome. That is where betting comes in. Wagering on a game adds excitement and intrigue — while increasing the emotional interest because of the money involved. It is similar to fantasy football, except with the rooting interest being in the outcome, not players’ stats.
NFL betting: Ways to bet
Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list of sports betting odds and lines.
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Futures betting: Wagering on an outcome beyond a single game result. The most common futures bets are Super Bowl champion, followed by conference/division champion, making the playoffs and regular-season win totals.Single-game betting: Wagering on the outcome of a single game. It can be the straight outcome — which team wins outright. It can be against a point spread — whether a team wins or loses by a set number of points. Or it can be whether the combined point total goes Over or Under a predetermined number.Prop bets: Wagering on individual occurrences or individual player acts or performances, such as whether a player will score two touchdowns in a game or who scores the first TD of the game.Asian Football Betting
Live betting: Bets made after a game starts. As the game goes on, the point spread and Over/Under total will change, as will odds of each team to win outright. If a team favored before the game falls behind early, they may become the underdog.NFL betting: Key betting terms to know
Moneyline: This is betting for the outright winner of a game. The line is posted with a positive or negative number. A positive numbered line will profit more than the initial wager. Example: A line of +160 means that a $100 bet would profit $160. A negative number line profits less than the initial wager. Example: A line of -150 means one would have to bet $150 to profit $100 (getting $250 total — their original bet and the profit).Point spread: This is essentially a handicap for one team. A team with a negative spread number must win by more than that amount. If the line is Cardinals -3.5, they must win by 4 points or more to win the bet. A positive spread (ex: Bengals +3.5) means one can win the bet if that team loses by less than that amount. Betting the Bengals +3.5 means the bet wins if they lose by 3 points or less, or if they win outright.Over/Under: This is also referred to as the total. It is the line for the combined total points scored by the two teams. Often the lines are weighted. An Over/Under line of 45 (-120, +100) means one must bet 1.2-to-1 on the Over, while it’s an even-money bet (1-to-1) on the Under.Push: This is when the point spread or point total is matched exactly. If the line has a half point, this can’t happen. If the line finishes in a| PARLAY | PAYOUT |
| 2-teamer | 2.6 to 1 |
| 3-teamer | 6 to 1 |
| 4-teamer | 11 to 1 |
| 5-teamer | 22 to 1 |
| 6-teamer | 40 to 1 |
| 7-teamer | 80 to 1 |
| 8-teamer | 150 to 1 |
While they pay more than a straight bet, many consider these sucker bets. The sportsbooks make a lot of money on bettors’ losing parlay bets. Any bet that results in a push does not end the parlay; it is treated as if the game never happened. So a 4-team parlay with a push becomes a 3-team parlay and assumes 3-team odds.
NFL betting: How do odds work?
Odds are usually given in two styles. One is as a positive or negative number. The other is a ratio.
The positive and negative numbers were explained above, but what about ratios?
One might see 8/1 odds. This is the same as +800. A winning bet profits eight times the original bet. Odds with a smaller number on top (or first) are the same as a negative number. 2/5 odds mean every $5 wagered will profit $2 if the bet wins. The smaller the ratio is the more likely the expected outcome.
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With football season right around the corner, bettors should be looking to take advantage of every possible wager on the board by understanding what to bet, when to bet and how to bet. Most of the time the key to making a profit will be taking a straight spread or moneyline wager. However, expect the upcoming NFL season to provide many instances where a well-timed teaser is the best option on the board. Teasers are a simple, enticing and sometimes dangerous bet. Let's take a closer look.
What is a teaser?
A teaser is a wager that allows NFL bettors to move a spread in any direction. A bettor could reduce points from a favorite and move a -7.5 line down to a -1.5 line or add points to an underdog and move a +3.5 line up to a +9.5 line. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, there are a few 'catches'. The first stipulation is that a teaser is a combination wager like a parlay, and a bettor must typically tease two teams at minimum and up to eight teams (or more at certain sites). The other stipulations are that a line can be moved by six, 6.5 or seven points (for a standard teaser; some sites allow up to 20 points) and all legs of the bet must win in order for the teaser to pay out.
Are teasers a good bet?
Teasers can become a dangerous wager for new bettors because the idea of moving a spread in any direction creates the false sense of security with the thought that cushioning a line with extra points is a surefire way to win. The trouble with teasers is that every leg must win in order to get paid out, and a single blowout or one-point victory for the favorite will ruin the entire play. Teasers, in general, are not considered a great play by expert gamblers because they do not payout the correct odds, and the larger teaser you make-more points and more teams-the bigger 'sucker bet' it becomes.
How to use a teaser?
Back in the late 1980s and most of the 90s, basic strategy teasers were the surefire way to beat the sportsbooks with teasers. The payouts were larger, and expert NFL bettors would use a system where they would take two-team, six-point teasers called basic strategy teasers in order to gain a mathematical edge on the lines. The strategy took favorites of 7.5, eight and 8.5 points and lowered them by six points or underdogs of 1.5, two or 2.5 points and increased them by six points. The bet was used to take advantage of the most common margin of victory in the NFL or what is usually referred to as key numbers. Nearly 25 perfect of all NFL games end with a final margin of three or seven points, and manipulating two-team teasers around that mark was profitable for many years.
Are basic strategy teasers still used?
The oddsmakers have adjusted the vig and lines since the basic strategy teaser craze. The bet isn't necessarily profitable nowadays, but a basic strategy teaser is still the best and most recommended way to use the wager. In fact, basic strategy teasers have been profitable over the last three seasons (according to the games we tracked), and if a smart bettor were to handicap games well and choose his spots wisely, the wager could be a great way to manipulate certain lines to make money on the NFL season.
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The key is to not get caught up with other teasers and stick to two-team, six-point bets that fall within the guidelines of the wager. A 6.5-point spread is already anchored by the power of seven, so throwing it into a teaser would not be worth the risk of having to win two games. Basic strategy teasers can become a big part of your betting arsenal throughout the NFL season as long as you use them correctly.
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