How to Bet on the NFL

392 March 15, 2021

**NFL Spread Betting Spread betting is the traditional way to wager on a football game. In most cases, the betting line will look something like this:

  • Pittsburgh -6 -110
  • Baltimore +6 -110

What this means is that if you like Pittsburgh you lay 6 points at -110. For every $110 that you invest, your potential profit is $100 should Pittsburgh win by at least 7 points. If you like Baltimore, you take the 6 points. If Pittsburgh wins by only 5, you win your wager if you bet on Baltimore and lose if you bet on Pittsburgh. ** Moneyline Betting Moneyline betting simply means to put money on the team that you think will win the game straight up. For example, if the odds on Pittsburgh are -300 on the moneyline than for every $300 that you wager, the potential profit will be $100. If the moneyline odds on Baltimore in our example are +250, then for every $100 you wager on Baltimore, your potential profit is $250. ** NFL Totals Betting on NFL Totals simply means to wager over or under a specific total points scored number. Let’s say that the total on Pittsburgh versus Baltimore is 42.5. If you bet over the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 43 or higher. If you bet under the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 42 or lower. ** NFL Prop Betting An NFL prop bet is any wager that isn’t tied into who wins the game, like a moneyline wager, the total score, like an NFL Total wager, or a traditional against the spread wager. NFL Prop betting includes wagers like how many yards a team’s running back will accumulate during the game or how many touchdowns one of the quarterbacks will throw. Prop bets can also involve teams. For example, who will score first? Pittsburgh or Baltimore? ** Parlay Betting Parlay betting is simply putting together two or more bets into a single wager so that the outcome of all bets are related to each other. An example is below:

  • Pittsburgh -6
  • Atlanta +8
  • Over Total 43 Atlanta vs. New Orleans

The above is a 3-Team(Wager) NFL Parlay Bet. You have to win all three bets to win the parlay. This is why parlay bets pay out more than individual bets. ** NFL Teaser Betting NFL Teaser bets are wagers where one or more bets are directly related to each other, like a parlay bet, but teaser wagers give you the added benefit of moving the line. Let’s take the Parlay Betting example and illustrate a 6-Point NFL Teaser Bet.

  • Pittsburgh Even
  • Atlanta +14
  • Over Total 37 Atlanta vs. New Orleans

In our 6-Point NFL Teaser bet Pittsburgh “gets” 6 points. Pittsburgh’s line changes to even, 6 -6 = 0. Atlanta gets 6 points. Atlanta’s line changes to +14. The Total in the Atlanta vs. New Orleans game was 43. We liked the over. In our 6-Point NFL Teaser bet, the line changes from 43 to 37, 43 – 6 = 37. Teaser bets will never pay out more than parlay wagers because always change the line.