Understanding NFL Betting Basics

Although American Football might be the most popular sport in the US, it’s now becoming a growing enterprise in other parts of the world. Thanks to organisations such as the National Football League (NFL) making transatlantic trips to London, European sports fans are now growing to love gridiron football.

With an increased interest in American Football among European punters, it’s now possible to access a slew of NFL betting opportunities in the online realm. Bookmakers have seen the increased value in offering NFL betting and that’s led to a range of interesting opportunities for canny sports bettors.

Cultural differences

However, before you rush off and start risking your bankroll betting on the NFL, there are a few nuances you need to know. Unlike European sports that have similar betting structures, the NFL was formed in the US and that means the ways in which you can wager money will be different to what you’re accustomed to.

Fortunately, we’re here to help. Although we don’t have the page space to give you a detailed outline of NFL betting, we can give you an insight into the main options you’ll find when you ante-up. Although there are only two main options, it’s important to never bet more than you can afford to risk when you first enter the market.

While you might be an expert horse tipster, it doesn’t mean you’ll have an advantage in the NFL betting market. So, to ensure you don’t go broke testing out the following options, make sure you risk no more than 1% when you first start betting.

Betting the Points Spread:

When it comes to betting on American Football, speculating on the points spread is by far the most popular option. Also known as betting the ‘line’, this method basically involves the sportsbooks setting a betting ‘line’. This line is determined by how many points the bookmakers believe the game will be decided by.

For example, the points spread on two of the NFL teams, such as the Chargers and the Seahawks, could be set at -7 in favour of the Chargers. In plain English, this offer means that the sportsbook believes the Chargers will win at home by seven points.

Push!

If you accepted these odds and decided to bet on the Chargers at -7, then you would need them to win by more than 7 points in order to receive a return on your investment. Additionally, if the Chargers won by exactly 7 points it would be known as a push and your wager would be returned.

If you took the other side of this American Football bet (the Seahawks would be listed as +7), it would mean that you’d need the team to get within 6 points of the Chargers in order to bank a win.

Money Line Betting:

Money Line Betting is also popular with NFL fans for one reason: it’s simple. Instead of needing certain point conditions to be met, money line wagers focus on the winning team. When you visit any online sportsbook, the bookmaker will set odds before the game based on a team’s chances of success. For example, the money line on a particular game may be as follows:

San Diego Chargers -200 | 1.50 | 1/2
New York Jets +170 | 2.50 | 3/2

The odds above are displayed in American, Decimal and European formats, but they all mean the same thing. Therefore, if you were to place $100 on the Chargers in this game and they won, you would collect a total of $150.

Booming industry!

NFL betting is a booming industry in the online gambling world and if you know what you’re doing it can be a veritable goldmine. However, it’s only possible to make money if you understand the bets on offer. Hopefully, this article has given you an overview of the two main options you’ll find in the online world, as well as some idea of how you can use them to your advantage to make a pocketful of cash.