Football Betting Basics
Football betting remains one of the top forms of sports betting today. Many bettors love to put money down, which will keep them on the edge of their seats all game long. Even small amounts of money will lead to increased drama in the watching eyes of the bettor.
Both with College Football and the National Football League, the Sportsbook or handicapper takes what people call the “juice”. What this is, is a percentage, they charge to allow for a legal gambling service. For Example, if you were to put $100 on the Chicago Bears to win by three points, and they win by 7, the book would pay you roughly $190. What this money is- is the initial $100 that you wager, plus roughly 90% of the original bet, which is the $90 win. Obviously, if you lose the bet, you will not get your $100 back.
There are a few different ways you can bet a football game. First, you can bet “Straight Bet”. Within straight bet, you have a choice whether you want to bet with the point spread, or whether you want to pick a winner straight up (Moneyline). Now this seems easy, such as a 12-0 team hosting a 2-10 team, the choice is easy. While it may be easy, your winnings will be dramatically lower. For example, the “juice” would be somewhere in the neighborhood of -450. When you pick with the spread, most of the time the juice will be anywhere from -105 to -120. The most common for both sides of a line are -110. This moves as people begin and continue putting money on the side. When big money comes in, you will find it moving up, and then moving the line one way or the other.
When looking at point spread bets, you will see a (+) or (-) listed next to team names. For example: Chicago (-3), Detroit (+3). In this example, if you bet on the Chicago Bears, you are also betting that they can win the game by more than 3 points. So a game of 28-27 Chicago, you would lose. If the Bears beat Detroit 28-21, you win. If the game ends up 27-24 Chicago, you “push” which means a tie. During a push, you get your bet money back, with no winnings, or no losses.
When looking at Moneyline, you will see this arrangement: Chicago (-150), Detroit (+200). If you were to bet $100 on the Chicago Bears to win the game, and they did, no matter what the score, you would win $150. You win the $100 that you placed on the bet, plus the $50 for winning the bet. Now on the flip side, if you were to bet the same $100 on Detroit, and they pulled the upset, you would win $300. $100 of it would be your initial bet money, and $200 would be from the winning bet. The +200, means you win 200% of your original bet. One thing bettors like about betting Moneyline betting, is you do not have to worry about how many points a team wins by. All you have to do is pick the winner.
When betting football, you can always bet the over/under. Each game will provide an over/under amount, with the bookmakers providing an estimate on how many total points they feel the game will provide. For example, it may look like this: Chicago/Detroit = 45. If you bet the over, you are betting that the total amount of points scored between Chicago and Detroit will be MORE than 45. If you bet the under, you are betting that the total points scored will be under 45. For every $11 you bet, you win $10 (-110).
As always, in football betting, research all the different sportsbooks to find the best lines. Betting on football can prove to be a lot of fun and typically a very profitable sport to build your bankroll on.
