How To Bet on Football

Football is a great sport for betting. Its scoring system is very conducive to gambling and millions of dollars are wagered on football every year. There are also a myriad of ways to bet on football, from the most basic to the somewhat complex.

If you play hold’em poker, or any other poker variation for that matter, chances are that you can bet on football right there in your virtual casino. Sites with high online poker ratings usually accommodate both sports bettors and poker players.

The Basics-Point Spreads

The most basic type of football bet is the point spread. A point spread is simply how much the sports book believes a certain team will win by. For example, if the Miami Dolphins are a -7 favorite over the Seattle Seahawks, it means that to win a bet on Miami, they must win the game by more than seven points.

If you take Seattle, you get +7, meaning you win as long as Miami does not win by eight points or more. In some cases, the line may have an extra half a point, to avoid ties. For example if the line were -7.5, a bet on Seattle would win as long as Miami lost or won by a touchdown or less.

Betting on Football-Parlays

A parlay is more like a standard odds bet. In a parlay, you pick multiple teams to win and you get odds on your bet. If any of your teams lose, you win nothing. Bettors like parlays because they can win much more than if they bet each game individually, but of course, it is hard to win all the games selected.

Betting on Football-Teasers

A teaser is like a parlay, but instead of odds, you get extra points to use. For example, you may have a two-team teaser that is worth six points. This means you can use six additional points for each game.

For example, you want to bet on the Giants, who are -5 over the Packers, and the Falcons, who are a +4 underdog to the Panthers. If you took the teams together in a two-team teaser, you could add six points to the Giants, making them a one-point underdog, and six points to the Falcons, making them a 10-point underdog.

Now you win your bet if the Giants win or tie the game and the Falcons win, or lose by less than ten points. If either of these things fail to happen, you lose your teaser.