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NFL Game Day Odds

With an average stadium attendance rate of 67,000 and over 4.5 million viewers per game, the NFL is the most popular sport in North America.

It would stand to reason that the NFL is also the most popular sport for North American fans to bet on.

With 32 teams, there are plenty of wagering options for every bettor.

Online sportsbooks give you a wide variety of NFL bets to place, as well as bonuses to maximize your winnings.

Choose moneylines, totals, props, futures, point spreads, and more from your favorite sportsbooks.

Whether you are new to sports betting or a seasoned fan, it is important to fully understand betting odds.

With the guide below, you can learn everything there is to know about NFL betting.

Check out various bet types and how they work to improve your betting strategies before the next NFL season kicks off.

Visit our sports betting odds hub to find odds for other professional sports.

NFL Handicapping

Becoming an expert NFL handicapper does not happen overnight. A bettor must be willing to put in some time and effort to find their edge against the house.

The term handicapping is used because very rarely when two football teams play, are they exactly evenly matched.

Oddsmakers will apply a point spread to a game. This point spread is a handicap to the team perceived as the favorite.

As a bettor, if we see a 3-point spread, we know the favorite has been given a 3-point handicap, and to win a spread bet, they must win the game by four points or more.

Most bettors use a betting strategy that involves being bettor handicappers than the sportsbooks who set the lines.

If an operator decides a game is a 4-point spread, but your analysis and research determine that the game is more likely to be closer than four points, you are now handicapping NFL games.

Here are some tips to follow when handicapping the NFL:

Play the Odds, Not The Games

If your goal is to be a profitable bettor, you sometimes have to realize when to bet on a game and when to walk away.

The goal of an experienced bettor is not to wager on every NFL game being played each Sunday.

Instead, the veteran gambler will do their analysis and research for most of the available games and then pick and choose the ones where they feel the odds are in their favor.

This strategy also applies to parlays.

Public bettors form large parlays looking for a massive payout that rarely comes through.

Be selective in the games you choose, and make your picks based on information and research, not because the odds look very appealing to make a lot of money.

Look for the games you have the most confidence in, and bet on the odds you believe give you the best value and chance of cashing.

Cash In On NFL Bonuses!

The sports betting industry has no busier time of year than the NFL season.

With the legalization of sports betting across North America, there has never been a better time to be a sports bettor.

The competition amongst sportsbooks to win your business is fierce. They offer bonuses and promotions that boost odds and add free money to your account.

The two greatest edge’s a bettor has over sportsbooks are the ability to shop around for the Best Odds and take advantage of multiple bonus offerings.

If we aim to make a little profit by wagering on sports, taking advantage of multiple bonus offers will pad our account without having to place a single bet.

Go Line Shopping

Welcome bonuses and boosted odds are a wonderful treat when a sportsbook offers them to us and should be taken advantage of.

However, when it comes to maximizing our profitability daily, there is no better method than to shop around.

Whether you are betting on NFL point spreads or moneylines, there is always a reason to source several different sportsbooks to make sure you get the best spread and the best price.

Experienced NFL gamblers will focus on key numbers.

If one sportsbook has a game as a 7-point spread, bettors who like the favorite will want to shop around and see if they can find a 6.5 spread somewhere else.

A half-point doesn’t sound like a lot, but when it comes to key numbers in the NFL, that half-point can easily be the difference between a push or winning your bet.

Spreads like 3, 6, or 7 points are considered key numbers. Even if two sportsbooks have the same spread, the moneyline for that spread might differ.

Check multiple sites, and look for the better line and payout.

Popular NFL Online Bets

Sportsbooks today offer more options and ways to bet on games than ever before.

Some bettors only like to focus on specific types of bets.

If you believe you are great at predicting final scores, then Over/Under betting is for you.

If you like to focus more on individual players than actual teams, there is always a huge amount of NFL player prop bet options each week of the NFL season.

The North American market hasn’t only just started to see sports gambling become legalized in their state or province. However, Daily Fantasy Sports and Fantasy Sports have been thriving for years.

North American sports fans have a better-than-average understanding of individual player capabilities. A lot of that knowledge can be attributed to fantasy sports.

How Can BestOdds EDGE Help

If you are into player prop betting or considering some NFL player prop strategies, there is no better player prop resource than BestOdds EDGE.

The BestOdds EDGE sports betting platform ingests thousands of data points.

Then it runs its football-specific algorithms over top of that data, sharing the trends and insights with recreational bettors.

BestOdds EDGE provides an edge percentage for each player prop bet available on the market.

This projected edge percentage alerts a bettor to a prop bet where the advantage lies with the bettor, not the sportsbook.

Whether you want to focus on NFL spread betting or you are a player prop guru, all of the significant, licensed sportsbooks offered in your state/province will have a selection of bets that meet your NFL wagering needs.

NFL Point Spread

The NFL and point spreads go together like Tom Brady and Super Bowls.

Point spread betting is the most popular form of betting in the NFL.

The sportsbook determines spreads for each game.

When you have two teams playing who aren’t evenly matched, a spread is used to help give incentive for bettors to take the underdog.

Let’s look at an example of a hypothetical game with a spread.

Example:

Detroit Lions +3 (-110)

Green Bay Packers -3 (-110)

In our example above, the sportsbook has decided this game should be a 3-point spread and that the Green Bay Packers are the favorite.

Underdog teams will be noted by the + sign before their spread. In this case, the Lions are +3.

Favorites are noted by the – sign in front of the spread. In this case, Green Bay is -3.

In our scenario above, to win a point spread bet by selecting the Green Bay Packers, the Pack must ultimately win the game by 4 points or more. They have to cover the -3 point spread.

As an Underdog, to cover the +3 point spread, the Detroit Lions can lose by no more than 2 points, or they could win the game outright.

If the game ended as a 3-point win for the Packers, it would be considered a Push.

NFL Moneylines

When placing a moneyline bet, we are looking to predict the outright winning team.

There is no point spread to worry about when making a moneyline wager, but the odds to bet on either team will be different, depending on who is the favorite and who is the underdog.

Keeping with our NFC North example, here’s how a hypothetical moneyline bet would look:

Example:

Detroit Lions +150

Green Bay Packers -200

Looking at the moneyline for the Underdog Lions, the + sign tells us that if we bet $100 on Detroit to win the game, we would win $150 in profit. (+150)

When we are betting on the favorites, we must risk more than what we earn back. In this case, the Green Bay Packers are -200.

The -200 odds tell us that to win $100; we would have to risk $200 with our bet.

For a $100 bettor, -200 odds would pay out $66.67 in profit.

Even though there is no point spread to worry about, we can see the challenges for moneyline bettors when we analyze the payout difference between the two teams.

The Lions are not expected to win the game, but a $100 wager pays out at $150 in profit.

The Packers are expected to be the better team, but to win $66.67 in profit, we must risk $100.

A savvy bettor isn’t always trying to just bet on the team they think will win. Instead, they will analyze the odds for both teams and decide which odds provide more value to them.

NFL Totals

Totals betting is often referred to as Over/Under betting as well. When we try to bet on the Total, we are trying to predict the combined final score of a game.

A sportsbook will set a total for a game.

That number can typically range from 35-55 points. A bettor has to decide if the combined final score will finish Over or Under the total set for that game.

Let’s have a look at an example.

Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers:

Over 45.5 (-110) / Under 45.5 (-110)

In our example above, if the game’s final score totaled 46 points or more, then the Over would be the winning bet.

The Under would be deemed the winning ticket if the game finished with a combined score of 45 points or less.

There are still moneylines associated with Over/Under betting. The standard line for both sides is -110, but that can change depending on the game and sportsbook.

Always be sure to shop around your Over/Under bets to ensure you are getting the very best Total and the very Best Odds.

NFL Parlays

An NFL parlay bet means you have at least two different bets on a single ticket.

The advantage of a parlay bet is that the more bets you add to your ticket, the greater the payout.

The odds are multiplied each time you add a different selection to your parlay. This allows bettors to chase a big payday without risking a lot of money.

However, the disadvantage of parlay betting is that all bets on your ticket must come through to win.

If a bettor has five different Over/Under bets on one ticket and four of those come through, but one of them doesn’t, then there is no payout.

Parlays are gaining in popularity not because they are considered overly successful but because bettors love to sit down Sunday afternoon with a ticket that has a chance of a big payout.

NFL same-game parlays (SGP) are new to the industry but are quickly gaining in popularity.

In years past, sportsbooks would not allow multiple bets from the same game on one parlay ticket. That is because of something called correlated odds.

Correlated odds mean that if one outcome happens, other outcomes from that game are more likely to happen.

Recently FanDuel launched their Same Game Parlay betting products, and other sportsbooks have been trying to catch up.

An example of a Same Game Parlay hypothetical bet is:

  • Aaron Rodgers to throw for Over 275 Yards (-110)
  • New York Jets to go Over their team total of 28 points (-110)
  • New York Jets to cover -3 points (-110)

The theory behind the above ticket is that if Aaron Rodgers has a big game for the Jets, they are likely to score a lot of points.

If the Jets score a lot of points, the chances of them winning the game go up as well.

An SGP allows a bettor who has a good feeling about a particular contest to try and maximize earnings by adding other bets that are also likely to occur if the first one comes through.

Of course, the more bets added to your SGP, the more challenging it becomes to cash a winning ticket.

NFL Teasers

NFL Teaser betting is similar to point spread betting, but with a teaser bet, the sportsbooks will allow you to increase or decrease the point spread in whatever direction you like.

The most common teasers are usually 6 or 7 points, meaning that a bettor could turn a 3-point underdog into a 10-point underdog if they choose a 7-point teaser.

However, anytime you move the point spread in your favor, there will be a penalty to pay. In the case of a teaser bet, that penalty is paid through the odds.

The more points you tease a game, the less that game will payout.

Teasers are also similar to parlays because you must have multiple bets on the same ticket. The minimum amount of games for a teaser ticket is two.

When you have a two-game teaser ticket, you can move the point spread in the direction of your choice for both games you are betting on.

Like parlays, the more teaser games you add to your ticket, the bigger the payout.

NFL Futures

Each year sportsbooks will set odds well before the regular season starts on things like:

  • Super Bowl winner
  • NFC / AFC winner
  • League MVP, Rookie of the Year (individual player awards).

Futures betting can be difficult because we often try to predict the outcome of an event several months away.

However, the benefit of futures betting is that the Odds of Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl in August are much more attractive than the week before he is about to win yet another championship.

Some stay away from futures betting because it ties up your funds for multiple months before a bet cashes.

Some like to place several futures bets before a season starts and enjoy cheering for those bets all 17 weeks of an NFL season.

NFL Props

Prop bets continue to gain in popularity with NFL bettors of all skill levels.

For years, bettors were left with only a few options if they wanted to bet on the NFL.

Moneyline, point-spread betting, and totals have been around for a long time. However, new prop bets continue to appear year after year.

Whether you enjoy game props or player props, all regulated online sportsbooks will have a menu of options to satisfy your NFL betting needs.

Some of the more popular NFL game props are:

  • Team to score first
  • First half Over/Under
  • Team Totals (Over/Unders for individual teams)

As popular as game props are becoming, individual player props are growing even faster.

Adding player props has brought in a crowd traditionally focused on fantasy sports and less on sports betting.

Those who love to play fantasy football can now use all of their player knowledge to place winning player prop bets.

Numerous types of player prop bets are available, and each year the menu for them continues to grow.

Some of the more common NFL player prop bets include:

  • Player to score the first TD
  • Player to score anytime TD
  • Player total yards rushing/receiving/passing

When it comes to prop betting and the Super Bowl, the bets can truly become outlandish.

The length of the national anthem – that’s a bet. Want to guess the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coach? That’s also a betting option for you.

There is no doubt that the prop betting market has grown significantly recently, both in popularity and with the type of bet options now available.

NFL Live Betting

Like the prop betting market, live betting only becomes more popular as bettors become familiar with the options and bets available.

No longer are we locked into our bets once a game starts. Live betting is exactly what it sounds like.

The ability to watch a game as it is being played and make a bet on that game anytime we want.

The odds shift as the game progresses.

You can find live-updated totals, spreads, and moneylines, and depending on the sportsbook, many other betting options as the game is being played out.

NFL Betting Strategy

There are lots of strategies to follow for NFL betting.

If you are interested in trying to replicate a system that has been successful for other bettors, then we have you covered below.

Bet On The Low (Underdogs & Unders)

For the majority of us who like to bet on NFL football, we are fans of the sport as well as sports gamblers.

As fans, we love the action, entertainment, and spectacular feats of athleticism a typical NFL game provides.

Our passion for the game can also influence how we tend to bet.

Although the splits are relatively close, it has been shown over time that North American football fans prefer to bet Over the final total as opposed to Under it.

The same can be said for how we bet point spreads.

Although the spread is supposed to equalize the two teams, history tells us that we prefer to bet on favorites to cover instead of the underdogs receiving points.

Some believe that lines are shaded slightly towards favorites and overs in most games and that the value or advantage in pricing for the average football game is with the Under and Underdogs.

Always document your betting history, and when periodically reviewing your bets, check to see your betting splits with favorites vs underdogs and overs vs unders.

Don’t fall into the mental trap of only picking one side.

Reverse Line Movement / Fading the public

Reverse line movement is when most of the betting public picks one side of a game, but the sharp money is on the other.

In this situation, you will see stats that can show something like 70% of the total bets are on the favorite, but 65% of the handle (money wagered) is on the underdog to cover.

This kind of betting split tells us the general public likes one side, but the sharps or big-money bettors are clearly on the other.

The theory is that Sportsbooks don’t get rich because the general public is great at sports betting.

If you can spot some games or bets the sharps are playing and see the public leaning the other way, you may have just spotted an opportunity to profit.

Bet On Smaller Markets

There is no doubt betting on NFL moneylines, spreads, and totals is attractive.

But those are the markets where the oddsmakers spend the most time and effort setting their numbers.

With so many different game and player prop bet options, the oddsmakers just aren’t able to focus as much time and energy on those to make sure they are set exactly right.

Betting on these smaller markets can give a bettor a slight advantage if that bettor has done their research.

Sportsbooks are never just guessing at the odds; even for their prop bets, they are still very good at what they do.

However, you can gain a slight advantage by doing your prop bet research and catching what the sportsbooks might have missed.

Just remember, there is no free money in betting, and all winning strategies require time and effort.

Betting On NFL Playoffs Online

The NFL season now consists of 17 games. After those 17 games have been completed, 14 of the 32 teams will advance to the playoffs.

As NFL bettors, we will have fewer games to choose from, with more focus and attention on all the odds being offered.

Playoff betting can be even more difficult than regular season betting because fewer games and more attention means lines will be scrutinized, and savvy bettors will spot any advantage early in the week.

Experienced NFL bettors know that the toughest line to beat is the Closing Line.

If you want to be successful in betting on the NFL playoffs, do your homework early in the week and give yourself the best possible chance to take advantage of favorable lines before the rest of the betting market spots them.

Betting On The Super Bowl

Last year, the American Gaming Association (AGA) announced it expected over $8 billion to be wagered worldwide on the Super Bowl.

Betting on the Super Bowl has become an annual tradition for millions of North American football fans, even for those who wouldn’t typically place a wager.

The Super Bowl is a betting spectacle like no other.

Not only is there the usual array of bets to be made, but you will see sportsbooks get very creative for this football extravaganza.

Want to bet how long the national anthem will be or what color the Gatorade will be that is dumped on the winning coach?

You can bet that come Super Bowl time and a whole bunch more.

The Most Effective Betting Systems To Employ

A betting system is a bettor’s method to gain an edge or advantage in their bets.

Exploit Welcome Bonuses

Whether we are novice gamblers learning the ropes or experienced gamblers playing our own complicated strategy, we are all looking for an edge against the sportsbooks.

There is no better advantage a player can have than free money. The competition between operators to earn our business has never been greater.

The welcome bonuses and promotions offered by most sportsbooks should be looked at as free money. A lot of them come with rules and stipulations before you can withdraw the money.

However, having money added to our account and available to bet only helps us in our goal of becoming profitable bettor.

Always Shop Around

When we shop around for the Best Available odds, we are giving ourselves the best opportunity to be a long term advantage bettor.

On a single bet, sometimes a 5% or 10% advantage on a single bet doesn’t seem like a huge deal.

However, when you look at sports betting over a significant period of time – like 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year – you begin to understand the impact shopping around can have on your overall ROI.

If you aren’t shopping around for your Best Odds each bet, then the reality is you are leaving money on the table.