A point spread is used in sports betting to even the odds between two unevenly matched teams. Each team is given a point total by the oddsmaker that can either be added or subtracted to the final score, thus factoring into if the bet was won or lost.
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- Learn how to bet ATS, or against the spread, with this informative breakdown. These Sports Betting 101 videos are meant to help you learn and start winning t.
- Point spread betting is the most popular form of sports betting. The vast majority of sports wagers use a point spread thanks to the popularity of football and basketball. Even though this type of betting is so popular, it may take awhile to understand. The point spread is sometimes known as an equalizer for sportsbook operators.
NFL football is the most popular sport to wager on in the United States. And with a steady stream of states legalizing sports betting in the US, the 2019-2020 NFL season could bring with it a historic amount of online sports betting.
Bettors can wager on NFL games in a variety of ways. Some of the most popular betting options for pro football games include point spread,
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NFL Football Betting Odds Explained
Before looking into the types of NFL bets, we must first understand what the NFL odds mean. Next to every NFL bet is a number with a plus (+) sign or a minus (-) sign next to them. This number will determine the final payout on winning bets. When there is a plus sign next to the bet this indicates an underdog and a minus symbol will be next to the favorite.
All NFL betting odds are based on a $100 bet. If you were to bet on the Dallas Cowboys (-300) and New York Giants (+240) game, Dallas is the favorite and the Giants are the underdog. A winning bet on Dallas would return $133 that includes your initial $100 bet plus $33 profit. On the flip side, a $100 bet on New York would return $340, $100 bet plus $240 profit.
Types of NFL Football Bets
- Point Spread
- Moneyline
- Totals (Over/Under)
- Teasers
- Parlays
- Futures
- Props
NFL Football Point Spread Betting
The most popular way to bet football is taking a team against the spread (ATS). This involves making a wager on either the favorite or underdog to cover the point spread. The point spread is how much the better team (favorite) is projected to beat the weaker team (underdog) by for the bet to win.
For example, the Dallas Cowboys are -3 over the New York Giants. The Cowboys are the favorites and the Giants are the underdogs. If you bet on the Cowboys, they must win the game by more than three points. If you bet on the Giants, they must lose by less than three points or win the game outright. If the game ends on exactly three points, the bet is considered a push and your wager is refunded.
The vig, or juice, is the amount charged by a sportsbook for taking the bet. That means whether the bet is on the Cowboys or Giants, you must wager at least $1.10 for every dollar you win. A $110 bet pays $100. The typical vig on an NFL wager is -110 but it can vary depending on the online sportsbook.
NFL Football Moneyline Betting
Betting the moneyline means you are wagering on the team to win the game outright with no point spread involved. Moneyline prices vary depending on the point spread. The higher the point spread, the more money you have to wager on the favorite and the bigger return on the underdog.
If the Cowboys are a -300 favorite on the moneyline, you have to risk $320 to win $100. If the Giants are +240 on the moneyline, a $100 bet wins $240, for a profit of $340. Sometimes people will bet the moneyline on an underdog they think has a chance to win outright because the payout is higher than taking that team on a straight bet with the point spread.
NFL Football Totals (Over/Under) Betting
Another way to wager on football games is betting the total. You can bet on over/under the total number of points scored by both teams. If the total is set at 49, the final score must be more than 49 points to win the over and fewer than 49 points to win the under.
If the Cowboys beat the Giants 28-24, the over 49 wins because the total number of points scored is 52. If the final score is 21-17, the under wins because the total points scored ended on 38. Should the score land exactly on 49, the bet is considered a push and the money wagered will be refunded.
NFL Football Teaser Betting
Teaser are popular because bettors can move the point spread to their advantage. Bettors either move down the point spread for a favorite or move up the spread for an underdog. Bettors can play teasers that give them anywhere from six points per game all the way up to 20.
With teasers, bettors choose at least two games and both must win for the bet to cash. Let’s say you play a three-team 7-point NFL teaser with the Cowboys -3, Eagles -8 and Browns +5. Since you can alter the point spread by seven points, the teaser would be Cowboys +4, Eagles -1 and Browns +12. If all three teams cover the new point spread, you win the bet.
Teasers give you a better chance to cover each game and offer a better payout than straight bets but are more difficult to win because two or more teams must beat the point spread.
NFL Football Parlay Betting
Parlay bets are wagers that include two or more teams with larger payouts than a straight bet. Parlay bets may include different sports, point spreads, moneylines and totals but all must win or the wager loses.
A parlay payout depends on the number of teams in the bet and the sportsbook. A three-team parlay will often pay out at odds of +600. So, if you bet a three-team parlay with the Cowboys -3, Eagles -8 and Browns +5 for $100, the payout would be $600 if all three entrees win, for a profit of $700. Like teasers, parlays are harder than straight bets because at least two separate wagers must hit for it to win.
NFL Football Futures Betting
A futures bet is exactly what the name suggests: a bet paid out in the future if it wins. The most popular futures bet in football is wagering on which team will win the Super Bowl. Let’s say you bet $100 on the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl at odds of +700 in August. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, you win $700, plus the $100 you wagered for a profit of $800, but have to wait until February to collect the money. Bettors can often find value with future bets early because odds change throughout the season.
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NFL Football Prop Betting
There are many different NFL prop, or proposition bets, including player props, game props and season props. A player prop is exclusive to the outcome of a particular player. For example, Tom Brady to throw over/under 2.5 touchdowns in a game.
A game prop is something specific to that game like will their be a safety scored. Bettors can wager yes or no. The Super Bowl now has over 500 player and game props and those wagers have helped the increasing popularity of the game.
A season prop is how a player or team will perform overall in that year. You can bet whether or not teams make the playoffs or over/under how many wins they have at the end of the year. One of the most popular season props is who will win the NFL MVP. In 2018, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes won the MVP after opening the season at odds of 100/1. A $100 bet on Mahomes would have paid $10,000, netting a profit of $10,100.
(Top photo: USA Today Sports Images)
(Super Bowl photo: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread. Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to understand once it is explained to you. We will explain what betting against the spread means below.
What is Betting Against The Spread?
For each NFL game the oddsmakers set a number of points in which the favored team is favored by. Bettors can then either choose for the favored team to win by more than the number of points set, or bet on the underdogs to lose by less than the number of points they are underdogs by or win the game straight up. For example, the spread could be set on the favored team at 6.5 points. This would mean in order for a bet on the favored team on the spread to win they would need to win by more than 6.5 points (7 or more) in order to win the bet. It also means that a bet on the underdog team would win if the underdogs lost by less than 6.5 points (6 or less) or won the game outright.
Example of NFL Spread Bet
Below is an example of what NFL spread betting would look like:
Matchup
- TeamsSpread
- Dallas Cowboys -2.5
- New York Giants +2-5
Las Vegas Nfl Odds
The negative (-) sign indicates that the Cowboys are the favorites, while the positive (+) sign indicates that the New York Giants are the underdogs. With the spread set at 2.5 points, a bet on the Cowboys would mean that they would have to win by more than 2.5 points (3 or more) in order for you to win that bet. A bet on New York would mean that the Giants would have to either lose by 2.5 or less points (2 or less) or win the game outright in order for your bet to win.
Here is another example with a screenshot taken from 5Dimes.eu during Week 3 of the 2013 NFL season:
Here you can see that the Rams are +3.5, while the Cowboys are -3.5. So for this example the Cowboys are 3.5 point favorites, while the Rams are underdogs of 3.5 points. If you were to bet on St Louis you would need them to lose by 3 or fewer points or just win the game outright. If you were to bet on Dallas you would need the Cowboys to win by 4 or more points.
If the Cowboys were to win by 3 points, lets say 30-27, any bets on the Rams +3.5 would win. Even though the Rams didn’t win the game they covered the spread of 3.5 points.
Now if the Cowboys were to win by 4 points, lets say 31-27, the Cowboys have covered the spread and anyone who wagered on Dallas would win their bets.
Other NFL Spread Betting Information
You may often notice that the spread is sometimes set at an even number such as 3, 6 , 10, etc. In this case if the favored team won by the exact amount set for the spread the bet would be pushed, and all bets would be returned. For example, if the Patriots were 3 point favorites and they won by a FG (3 points) than this would results in a push, meaning no matter which side you bet on you would get your money returned to you.
The most common NFL spreads are usually set between about 2.5-10.5 points, but you will also almost always have games each week with spreads lower than 2.5 and higher than 10.5. In the event that the oddsmakers feel the game doesn’t need a spread, it would be set at 0 or what some call a pick’em (both teams are given even odds to win for this type of bet).
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The odds given on the spread are usually -110 unless otherwise noted. It is not uncommon to see one side of the spread being -105, with the other side being -115. If you don’t see any odds listed for each side of NFL spreads you are supposed to assume the odds are -110 on each. Not sure how to read NFL betting odds? Check out our Sports Betting Odds guide.
Football Point Spread Vegas
Now that you know the basics of NFL spread betting you’ll want to check out our Sports Betting Strategy guide which has some great NFL strategy articles written by a professional bettor.