There's no denying that American football is the most popular sport in America, and the NFL has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. With more action and games rolled out weekly, the NFL continues to pique the interest of bettors across the shores of America.
The value of NFL's betting markets is compelling, and the wealth of stats and trends available in various NFL markets makes betting on NFL games easier than many other sports.
NFL Betting Lines And Odds
There are three main types of betting: Moneyline, Point Spread, and Total. We will go over them in this session and help you get a clear idea of the odds.
Moneyline
Moneyline is a straightforward type of NFL betting, so it makes sense to talk about it first. NFL Moneyline is a direct bet on the winner of a game.
The odds of the favorite team winning are usually high because they have less risk of losing to the weaker team. To simplify further, if the Buccaneers were to play the Bengals, the odds would look like this:
• Buccaneers – 180
• Bengals + 200
The negative number above (-180) indicates how much you must bet to win a $100 profit. Winning a stake of $180 at Buccaneers will always give you an extra $100 in profit, for a total gain of $280.
The positive number (+200) means a $100 bet will earn a $200 profit. So, a winning stake of $100 will give you an extra $200 for $300.
Please note that this example is only a hypothetical overview of Moneyline betting.
Point Spread (handicap)
In NFL betting, Point Spread or handicap is where the money is. The favorite team is at a disadvantage because they have to win by a certain margin, while the underdogs are at an advantage not to lose beyond a certain number of points or to win outright.
Here's what the point spread for an NFL game would look like:
• Panthers -10
• Cowboys +10
This indicates that the Panthers favor beating the Cowboys by 10 points or more. Each team gets the same odds, so a winning stake on either side will give you the same amount of profit. If you bet on Panther to win by 10 points or more and they eventually play 45 - 41 respectively, you lose your bet since the score margin isn't up to 10.
Total
Total in NFL betting describes the projected final score of both teams combined. Oddsmakers set the total score based on their predictions on the scoreline, while bettors have to choose whether the score will be under or over the prediction.
Here's what it looks like:
● Buccaneers (Road) vs. Panthers (Home) – Total at 40.5
You're to choose whether the total game score will be UNDER or OVER 40.5 points.
Other Types of NFL Betting
As aforementioned, the common NFL betting types are three, but there are more. They include:
● NFL Futures
● Game And Player Props
● Parlays
● Teasers
● Live Betting
