There are several ways to bet on football at US sportsbooks, whether online or live. But what is the best bet you can place each week?
The NFL dominates the Fall and Winter with over a dozen games on Sundays plus primetime matches on Thursdays and Mondays. Saturday games start midway through the season. College football kicks off with a packed slate of action on Saturdays, all leading up to College Bowl season and the National Championship playoff.
All told, there are hundreds of football games to bet on every week for several months. There are dozens of ways to bet on each game – before or during the game สมัครแทงบอล – so you won’t be short of options.
What are the best football bets from the big three offered by US online sportsbooks: moneyline, spread, or totals? Are there any other profitable bets? Here are all the essentials.
How to bet on football
You’ve gone through the weekend football schedule and picked out a few games to bet on. What now?
It’s time to break down the games and choose your sides. Maybe get some advice from someone you trust. We’ll discuss some handicapping tips shortly.
The next step is to place your bets with a legal and regulated sportsbook. Several online betting options are available for each game, including prop betting and live betting.
For our purposes, we’ll stick to the three most common football betting types. These are:
- Moneyline bets are simple bets in which you just pick the winner of the game.
- Bets on a side based on a point spread estimated by oddsmakers.
- Bets on the total combined points scored in the game (Over/Under).
At online sportsbooks, these bet types will be available for football games. Here’s what you’ll find.
How to read a football game line
With football as a major attraction at legal US online sportsbooks, you won’t have any trouble finding bets. In the main lobby of the sportsbook or betting app, NFL betting and NCAAF betting are prominently displayed. You can drill down into all of the games on the schedule by clicking the tab labeled “NFL” or “NCAAAF.”
Once you have all the games and bets in front of you, you’ll see a list of the teams and a series of live odds next to each. Teams are generally listed with the road team at the top and the home team at the bottom, but keep in mind that there are occasionally neutral-site games.
Here’s what a standard game listing looks like:
In total, you have six options to choose from. You can place a bet on each of the three types of bets, or just stick with the one you like best. Starting with the simplest option, here’s what you need to know about all three.
For more information on NFL futures betting, visit our dedicated page.
How to read a football moneyline
One of the easiest bets to understand is the moneyline bet. All you have to do is pick the side you think will win. In the eyes of the sportsbook, the odds will reflect the most likely outcome.
In the favorite’s case, the numbers will be negative, while the numbers on the underdog’s side will be positive. A closer matchup is perceived as tighter if the numbers are close together.
Consider an NCAAF game between two similar teams.
- +110 Michigan Wolverines
- -130 Ohio State Buckeyes
In this game, the Buckeyes are the home favorites over the Wolverines. The odds on both sides don’t vary greatly, so we can deduce that oddsmakers don’t expect a blowout. We predict the winner of the contest when we make our pick.
Additionally, live odds let us know how much the sportsbook is willing to pay for winning bets in either direction. You can view the potential return by adding the bet to the slip and plugging in the wager amount. Online handicapping calculators can also be found for free.
In this case, a winning $100 bet on Michigan would return a total of $210 (your wager amount plus a return of $110). In Ohio State’s case, winning $100 bets would return $176.90 (the stake and profit of $76.90).