Betting on the NFL has undoubtedly become a popular pastime is watching the games themselves. Millions of Americans across the country are watching and betting on the games to enjoy the thrill the games bring and win big.
Now that the Super Bowl is almost upon us, many more fans would be tuning in to watch the games and, with them, sports betting beginners.
If you are one of them who are brushing up their game before the Super Bowl starts, then you’re in the right place. Getting into NFL betting is not an easy task since the learning curve is high for most beginners. Just the terms alone can scare people off from participating. However, if you learn the basics, you will get the gist of NFL betting instantly, and you can place the bets you want.
But if you want to up your game and be an expert instantly, then sorry to break it to you, even after learning the basics, it will still not be sure that you’ll win more than you lose. After all, NFL betting, just like any form of gambling, is based mostly on chance and luck. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have to learn the basics of NFL betting, though. Here are the fundamental things you need to learn about NFL betting.
Betting the Spread
Betting the spread sounds complicated, but we assure you that it’s not. It’s easy to get into if you try to learn it in a minute. However, learning the point spread is essential since not only is it the most popular type of bet in NFL betting. It is also the type of bet that can win you a lot of money. So how does it work?
The people who set up point spreads are the oddsmakers. They give both the underdogs and the favorites an equal chance so that the bets will not be one-sided. Because if they don’t, all people will most likely bet on the favorite, and the oddsmakers will not gain anything from it. There are several factors for a point spread to be made like statistics, trends, etc. Besides the point spread, the value for the totals will also be shown like this:
New England Patriots -7.5 / Totals
Miami Dolphins +7.5 / 47
In the above example, the New England Patriots are signified as the favorites because of the negative sign. This means you win the bet with them; they have to win with over a 7.5-point difference. If you bet on the underdog, the Dolphins, they will have to lose within 7.5 points or outright win the game.
Moneyline Betting
Like any other sports that offer sports betting, NFL betting also features money line betting. Although it’s not as popular as betting the spread, they are one of the easiest types of bets to understand. All you have to do is pick a team that you think will win the game, and you’re good to go. Of course, there’s depth to this bet, which we will explain to you. Take a look at this example:
New England Patriots -122
Miami Dolphins +100
If you bet on the Patriots in the above example, you have to wager $200 to win $100. On the other hand, if you bet on the Miami Dolphins, you will only have to wager $100 to win $150. If you think that’s unfair, you should remember that the Patriots are more likely to win based on the oddsmaker, making them the favorite.
Totals O/U
As mentioned earlier, the totals are shown on the right side of the point spread. But what do they mean? It’s simple. The oddsmakers will publish their prediction of the total points of both the teams combined. Besides the over and under tags is the amount of money you have to wager to participate. If the totals are not shown beside the point spread, it will look like this:
Over 51 – 110
Under 51- 110
Fifty-one points are the prediction the oddsmakers have by the end of the game. If you think the total points will not be over 51 points, then you should bet on under and vice versa. 110 means that you have to wager $110 to participate in the bet. Mostly, people find it enjoyable to bet on the over since it usually turns up that way.
You can take advantage of this consensus by taking the under since if the over is bet on by an overwhelming amount of people, they will raise the stakes of the under to lure more people into betting on it, which means that if you go against the public, you will win more money.
Takeaway
NFL betting is not rocket science. It’s pretty easy to understand if you give it a chance. If you’re hesitating, you shouldn’t since the Super Bowl is coming, and then the fun will begin. If you’re looking to make money during the Super Bowl, now is the best time to learn more about NFL betting.