College and professional football is more fun and easier than ever for the average bettor, as wagering options now go far beyond the traditional binary ("win" or "over/under") from years past. Bookmakers now offer betting options for virtually everything, including: betting on spread in the 1st qtr., betting on quarterback passing yards, and betting on who scores first in the game. First-time football bettors can use the following tips to help with their wagering:
- Timing: Most ticket writers and employees at sportsbooks will love talking to first-time bettors... But not on Saturday or Sunday at 12:00 noon. Make sure your trip is planned accordingly.
- Applications: If you are visiting a sportsbook with an application, familiarize yourself with it prior to your trip, so that you will have an idea of what types of wagers are offered.
- Cash: Most sportsbooks are cash only. Don’t wait in line to make a wager and then get to the counter only to find out you do not have sufficient cash - it happens more frequently than you would think.
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Terminology You Need to Know
Juice - (aka vig or vigorish) is how sportsbooks make their profits, a fee for accepting a sports bet. The standard vig or juice on single bets for football is usually -110.
Push - If a wager ends in a tie this is considered a push and you will get your original wager back. For example, if you placed a bet on a team to win by 7 points and they did, then you get your initial bet back. Similarly if you bet on an over/under of 40 points and the total score at the end of the game was 23-17 then you would also just receive your initial wager back.
Future Wager - A future wager is a bet on an event that takes place far into the future. A future wager can be related to a team (i.e. winning a division, conference or overall championship) or to an individual player (i.e. winning the MVP, leading the league in passing, etc.)
Parlay - A parlay combines multiple bets on a single ticket. All legs of the parlay must win in order for you to receive any payout. The more teams/leg bets you put on your parlay the larger the potential payout.
Teaser - Teasers are a unique type of parlay, wherein a bettor receives help on a point spread in exchange for a lower payout. A common football teaser is a 6-point, 2-team teaser (for betting on 2 different teams). Bettors select 2 teams and earn a 6-point addition/subtraction to each of their respective spreads. So with the example of a 3-point underdog, the 6-point teaser would now put the team at 9 points in the game. With the example of an 8-point favorite, the 6-point teaser would require them to win by greater than 2 points instead of 8 points. All legs of the teaser must be successful for tickets to cashed out.
Hook - The following are instances where you would have won/lost your bet by a hook. Football games most often finish with margins that are divisible by either 3 or 7. So if you placed a bet on an underdog at +3.5 and they lost by 3 points, you would have won the bet by the hook. Alternatively if you placed a bet on a favorite at least -7.5 points and they won by exactly 7 points, you would have lost the bet by the hook.
How to Read Football Betting Odds
There are four main things to pay attention to when searching to place a bet on an NFL football game: The rotation number, point spread, total, and moneyline.
First is the rotation number. This is a 3 digit number that is displayed near the team name. This is what ticket writers use instead of team names to avoid confusion between them and the bettor. You need to know the rotation number of the game that you are going to bet on.
Second is the point spread. When you look at the odd's board, the team that is favored will have a minus in front of their spread. That indicates how many points that team must win the game by in order to win against the spread. The underdog does not have any number near their name because the implication is that they will receive the same amount of points as the favorite team. In this case, the underdog must lose by less than the amount of points that is given to them in order to win the game.
Total Points: You have the opportunity to choose to bet on either the total amount of points that will be scored during play of both teams (i.e., the "over/under"), rather than on who will win or lose outright.
Money Lines: A money line wager is displayed as either + (underdog) or - (favorite). As with other types of wagers, a money line bet can be determined merely by who wins.
Spread Betting and Football
The "point spread" allows for parity among teams with large differences; for example, it would not be as much fun for someone to bet on an NFL team as it would be if they could place their bet on an NFL team that had an advantage before the start of the game due to a point spread.
For example, if a team is 20 points better than their opponent before the start of the game, that adds much more excitement to placing the wager than when they would have to win by 20 points or more.
The point spread represents how a bettor can win a wager by an underdog that loses within the point spread; whereas if they are betting on a favorite, the bettor must win the game by a specific margin greater than or equal to the point spread.
Conclusion
Football betting today is highly diverse, available everywhere, and includes many more possibilities than just the outcome of a game - point spreads, money lines, parlays and various betting terms need to be understood before you can make good choices about your bets.
To maximize your betting experience, prepare yourself by learning how sportsbooks operate; be able to manage your bankroll; and be able to time your wagers correctly. A successful bettor will not only rely on luck but will also rely on knowledge of the game and good decision making.
