How To Bet On Football

Below we have listed the main type of wagers that can be placed when football betting. It's basically a "How to bet on Football" for people that are new to pacing wagers online..

Point Spread Betting

During college football season the busiest day of the week for bettors is Saturday. With dozens of games to chose from bettors can pocket a huge profit every week if they can separate the winners from the losers. The most popular form of betting when it comes to college football is point spread betting. When someone says to you the Trojans won, but they didn't cover the spread they're talking about betting. Games that are given point spread have a favorite and an underdog. The favorite is given a number, which is the number of points they are expected to win by. On an odds sheet the favorite is the team with a minus number listed next to them. This minus number is the number of points they are favored to win by. A team that is favored by 6-points must win by seven points or more for a bettor to win a wager on them. If that team wins by six points the bet is considered a push. If you place a point spread wager on the underdog that team does not have to win for you to win your wager. They must simply cover the spread, If the team is a 6-point underdog all they have to do is lose by five points or less. If they lose by six points the bet is considered a push. You also win an underdog bet if the underdog wins the game.

Over Under Betting

College football can be a high-scoring game when two lights out offenses face off, but there are also plenty of games where points are a rare commodity when two powerhouse defenses clash. If you find either one of these games on the schedule you could cash in with a well placed over/under wager. An Over/Under bet (AKA Total Bet) is a bet that the combined final score of the game with be over or under a number set by the oddsmakers. If the oddmakers set the total for a game at 47 you would win an Over bet if the combined score totals 48 or higher, while you would win an Under bet if the combined score totals 46 or under. If the combined score of the games ends up being 47 the bet would be a push. Over/Under bets are given money line odds. Sometime the over and the under are both given the same odds, but there can also be a favorite and an underdog. The favorite would be given minus number odds, while the underdog would be given plus number odds. A minus number, such as -120 would win $100 if you wager $120. A plus number, such as +110 would pay $110 if you wager $100.

Moneyline Wagers

If you're consistently picking winners, but keep getting burned by point spread betting you may want to give money line betting a try. With a money line bet all you have to do is pick the winner of the game straight up. There is no point spread. Even though there is no spread there is still a favorite and an underdog on the money line. The favorite on the money line can be picked out by the minus number that appears beside the team on the odds sheet. The underdog would be given a plus number on the odds sheet. Here's an example. A favorite on the money line would be given odds, such as -120, while the favorite would be listed with +135 odds. This means a winning bet on the favorite would pay $100 for a $120 bet, while the underdog would pay $135 on a $100 bet.

Parley Bets

If you're looking for a way to maximize your payouts on your three can't miss bets you should look into Parlay betting. A parlay is a way to group together two or more bets to increase odds and payouts. The payout for three games in a winning parlay is more than the payout would be if you won each three games individually. The risky part of a parlay is that to win, all of your parlay picks must win. If you miss one of your games your parlay is a loser. If one of your parlay games ends up as a push it is dropped from the parlay and your odds are adjusted.

Teaser Wagering

A teasers is just like a parlay, except you get the opportunity to increase your chances of winning your bets. Like a parlay a teaser is a grouping of two or more bets that increases your odds and payouts. Also, like a parlay all of your picks must win for your teaser to be winner. The difference is that a teaser gives you the ability to buy points. For an example we'll use a seven-point three team teaser. In our example our three picks are Team A, favored by 7.5-points, Team B, favored by 11.5-points and Team C, a 4-point underdog. In our seven-point teaser Team A becomes a 1/2-point favorite, Team B becomes a 4.5-point favorite and Team C becomes an 11-point underdog.

Halftime Betting

At halftime most football fans either check out the half time show, or flip the channels in search of more football or some scores. Bettors take advantage of half time by placing some Half Time bets. Minutes or sometimes seconds before the first half ends the oddsmakerst put up the half time odds. This are listed as a point spread and a money line. The bettors aim is to try and pick the team that will win the second half. A team does not have to win the game to be a winning half time pick, they simply have to outscore the other team in the second half. On the half time point spread one team will be the favorite and the other the underdog. If one team is favored by 3-points to be a winning wager they must outscore the other team by four points or more in the second half. An underdog is a winning wager if the either outscore the other team, or if they are outscored by only two points or less. If the favorite outscores the underdog by 3-points this is considered to be a push. On a money line wager the favorite simply has to outscore the underdog to be a winning pick. The favorite is usually given minus number odds, while the underdog is listed with plus number odds. If the favorite is listed at -125 you must wager $125 to win $100. If the underdog is listed at +150 you can win $150 for wagering $100.

Future Bets

One of the most profitable bets available to bettors making small wagers are future bets. They can be highly profitable, but for that to happen you need a little luck and some guts to go against the so-called experts favorites. A future bet is a bet on a future event that may take until the end of the season to either win or lose. An example in college football would be betting on the National Championship, conference championships and the Heisman Trophy winner and in the NFL it would be the Super Bowl, AFC and NFC Champion months before any of them will actually be decided. An example of a highly profitable college football futures bet would be last year's National Champion, Florida. The Gators weren't even considered to be No. 1 contender in the SEC let alone a big national championship before last season.