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Understanding NFL Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd

If you plan to do any NFL betting this upcoming season, it’s a good idea to know as much as you can about the odds to make your wagering experience a more comfortable one. The problem is that there are a lot of people who are confused or intimidated by some of the wagering terms that are used by NFL sportsbooks. This article will help to explain what the difference is between futures bets, parlays, point spreads, moneylines, and totals. If you are new to betting on football, this should serve as a beginner’s guide to getting started.

Who Sets the Line? - NFL odds are set by a group of guys called odds makers. These guys are experts at what they do, but keep in mind that they are not trying to pick winners on one side of the game or the other, they just want to break even. What I mean is that the goal of the odds maker is to get equal action on both sides of a game, while the sportsbook collects the juice, or the fee they charge for taking your bet. For example, to win $10 on a wager, you’ll need to risk $11. As long as the action is fairly balanced on both sides of the game, the casino is guaranteed to make money, paying winning bets with losing bets and collecting their 10% fee as a profit.

What are Line Movements? - Sportsbooks sometimes need to adjust their lines because the action on one side of the game is much heavier than the other. In the NFL, this could mean a half or full point swing in one direction. This helps entice more bettors to take the side of the game that is receiving less action, which balances out the bets, getting the book closer to that equal action on both sides that we just talked about. Balancing out the wagers is the most common reason for line movement, but not the only reason. Many times injuries play a key factor in a major line adjustment. If it is reported that a starting quarterback is out for an upcoming game, that can result in a major swing in the point spread.

NFL Point Spreads - Using the point spread to bet is the most common form of NFL gambling. The point spread is a number assigned to each team based on the number of points the odds maker says they will win or lose by. You will notice a plus (+) or minus (-) sign next to each team, with the plus representing the underdog and the minus indicating the team that is favored. For example, if you see Patriots -7, this mean that the Patriots are favored to win by 7 points. If you were to bet on this game, the Patriots would have to win by more than 7 for your wager to be a winner. On the other hand, if you saw a line that was Bears +7, this means that the Bears are a 7 point underdog. For a winning bet on the Bears you have a few options. If the Bears win the game, your bet wins as well, however, the Bears can also lose the game by 6 or less points for you to have a winning bet. Once you are ready to try it on your own, check out the $500 FREE BONUS money BetUS offers our readers!

NFL Moneylines - Betting the moneyline simply means you are picking who is going to win the game straight up, in other words, there is no point spread involved. Here is an example of the moneyline on a hypothetical game: Pittsburgh -275 / New York +200. The easiest way to think about these numbers is in terms of $100. To win $100, you would need to bet $275 on Pittsburgh. If they win the game, you get your $275 back, plus $100, however, if they lose, you lose the full $275. For a bet on New York, the underdog, a $100 bet would win you $200 (and you get your original $100 back, of course), and for a losing bet, you would only lose the $100 you put up.

Totals (Over/Unders) – Totals are another one of the most popular wager types for the NFL. This number represents the odds for the total number of points scored by the two teams involved. If the total is 46, then a combined score of 42 (or anything less than 46) would win you an under bet, while a winning over wager would be if the combined score was anything “over” 46.

Parlays - These types of bets give you a bigger return than your standard bet types, but there is also more risk involved. In a parlay, you take more than one wager and combine them into a single bet, but the catch is that all of the wagers have to win for your parlay to be a winner. Since it’s more difficult to pick multiple games, parlays increase in their payouts with the more games you add to them. Parlays aren’t always a sucker bet, but you really need to know what you are doing before you start betting multiple parlays. The house usually has a huge edge on these types of bets, so you need to do some further investigation before you jump in.

NFL Teasers - A teaser is similar to a parlay in that you have to win multiple games for your bet to be a winner and just one losing game causes the entire bet to be a loss. The difference is that teasers give you points to play with, increasing your odds of winning, but, of course reducing the payout odds as well. For example, say you have two games you really like, San Diego -7 and Miami -3, instead of putting these in a parlay, you could use a 6-point teaser, which would make your lines San Diego -1 and Miami +3. You are getting much better lines, but keep in mind that the payout won’t be as good as a standard parlay.

Be sure you check out our NFL picks from the top handicappers in the business this season!

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