How to Bet on NFL Games: Betting Tips, Advice and Strategies

You're an NFL fan, but calling you a "fan" doesn't exactly capture the level of your passion for the sport. You're the mega-fan that you are, and you'd like to find out how to bet on NFL games and futures lines. Lucky for you, you've come to the right website.

Irrespective of whether you need to learn about the basics of NFL betting or just require guidance navigating all the sportsbooks available within your state, this guide will notify you of everything you need to be a great NFL gambler.

Once you know how to bet on NFL games, search for best sportsbook bonuses available in your state and learn about NFL betting reviews.

What Types of NFL Bets Can You Place?

There are three broad types of bets you can place on NFL game lines:

• Point Spread: An estimated margin of win in a game. If a team is the favorite to win, the spread will be shown with a (-) in front of it; on underdogs, it will have a (+). If you bet on the favorite and they win by more than the spread, you're a winner. Bet on the underdog: if they lose by less than the spread or win, so are you.
• Moneyline: To bet on the team that wins a game, you wager the moneyline. Similar to point spreads, underdogs will be followed by a (-); favorites will be followed by a (+).
• Total: Also referred to as Over/Under, it's a bet on how many points both teams have scored in a game

These are all part of the game's betting line. But they're not all wagers you can make on an NFL game (more on those shortly).

What is an NFL Betting Line?

Since the Chiefs' spread was -6.5, the Chiefs were favored in the bet. If you placed a bet on the Chiefs ATS (against the spread), they had to win by a minimum of 6.5 points for you to win the bet. So if Kansas City won 23-17 or 35-32, you will lose the bet since they did not win by more than 6.5 points.

Conversely, if you wagered the Lions ATS, and Detroit had lost by fewer than 6.5 points (or they won the game), you would win the bet. Why? Because you get to add the spread to the Lions' final score. If the overall score is greater than the Chiefs' score, you win.

If you don't want to bet on a winner, you can bet the Total, or Over/Under. You lose if you bet the Over, and the score is like 23-17 (40 points total). But you win if the score is 35-32 (67 total points).

How To Calculate Payouts For NFL Bets

The numbers in the parenthesis indicate odds for that wager. For odds indicated by a (-), the bettor would wager that number to win $100. Thus, bettors who wagered on the Lions ATS would need to risk $110 in order to win $100. Bettors who wagered on the Chiefs via the moneyline must risk $275 to win $100.

Under bettors would have to bet $110 to win $100, also ($210 pay: your $110 bet, and $100 winnings).

Futures odds displayed with a (+) win a $100 bet for that figure. A Lions outright win, for example, $100 bets on the Detroit moneyline (+225) win $225. Your book would pay your account $325 ($100 for your bet, and $225 winnings).

Other NFL Betting Options

The point spread, total, and moneyline are not the only betting options for NFL games. There are some other nice alternatives.

Prop Bets (player and game)

A prop bet, or proposition bet is a bet on something that is not the final score or result of the game. Some examples include anytime touchdown scorer bets, first TD scorer, last TD scorer, rushing, receiving, passing yards of certain players, the outcome of a team's first drive, how many touchdowns a team will score, etc.

It is not unheard of for sportsbooks to offer over 100 for every game. For the Super Bowl, sportsbooks will also have prop bets on such things as the coin toss, the length of the national anthem, whether the halftime show will perform certain songs, the color of Gatorade spilled on the winning coach, etc.

Parlays

Parlays permit players to stake on multiple individual wagers (referred to as legs) on different games into a single wager. If you succeed at winning each leg, you win your parlay. But should you lose one, then you lose the wager. Parlays have exponentially higher risk than regular wagers, but the payout potential will be exponentially larger.

Same Game Parlays

In a same game parlay, all the legs have a wager related to the same game. The following is an example of a potential same game parlay in an AFC game between Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills:

• Derrick Henry: anytime touchdown scorer, -105
• Josh Allen: Over 279.5 passing yards, +125
• Derrick Henry: rushing yards Over 90+, +100
• Stefon Diggs: receiving yards Over 99.5, +215
• Parlay Odds: +900

A bet of $100 would result in $1,000 (your $100 bet and $900 winnings).

Teasers

Teasers are a parlay wager when you are able to parlay wagers on two or more games into one wager. How are they dissimilar from a parlay? You get to modify the point spread, so you are more likely to win but will receive less money.

For additional information on teasers, the following are links to articles that'll be helpful:

Futures

A futures wager is a wager on some event that is going to happen or be decided in the future (i.e., Super Bowl champion odds, divisional titles, NFL MVP odds, and other player awards, etc.). Odds will be three-digit figures (+250, +450, -110, -200, etc.) typically placed with a (+), but occasionally they will have a (-).  These (-) odds most of the time simply indicate that selection is the betting favorite.

The following are a few examples of the manner in which NFL futures bets can be presented:

• Buffalo Bills to win Super Bowl 58: +1000
• Miami Dolphins to win AFC: +1100
• LA Rams to win NFC West: +1000