How to Read NFL Betting Lines
Their is a Few Things to Learn About Reading NFL Betting Lines
Success in NFL betting comes to those who first understand all the terminology and how to read NFL betting lines. Successful bettors understand how to read lines and odds and how they work.
NFL bettors will need to know terms like moneyline, point spread, and total or Over/Under. Then, they must understand how to read each one in order to make a sound betting decision. Let’s start with a moneyline example.
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Moneyline Betting in the NFL
Betting an NFL game on the moneyline is easy for even a novice bettor to understand. You are placing a wager on a team to win. Here’s an example.
Buffalo Bills -380
NY Jets +255
Favorites are always indicated by a minus sign in front of their odds and the underdog is noted by the plus sign. In the example above, Buffalo is the favorite. The NFL betting odds indicate the payout. In this case, a $10 wager would win $2.63. The same $10 on the underdog Jets would payout $25.50.
Betting the Spread
Betting on the point spread in NFL games is extremely popular. Oddsmakers establish a point spread to even out the teams. Sportsbooks want to take in wagers on both sides of a bet. In order to do so, they establish the spread.
The favorite is again indicated by the minus sign and the underdog by the plus sign. The favorite subtracts points from its final total. The underdog adds them. A favorite must win by a certain number of points.
Buffalo Bills -9.5 (-110)
NY Jets +9.5 (-110)
To win on the Bills, Buffalo must win by at least 10 points. A winning bet on the Jets would need New York to lose by nine or less or win outright. The odds at America’s Bookie of -110 indicate that for every dollar bet, the winner receives $0.91.
You place a $10 bet on Buffalo -9.5. The Bills win 20-10. Your bet is a winner and you receive a total of $19.09, your initial wager plus a payout of $9.09.
NFL Totals Bets
NFL bettors can also wager on whether or not a game’s final score will go Over or Under a set total. A bet on a game total has nothing to do with a winner or a loser. Only the final combined score matters.
Buffalo Bills O 45 (-110)
NY Jets U 45 (-110)
In this example, the posted game total is 45. Football bettors can wager on the final score going Over or Under 45. Standard odds at sportsbooks are -110 where the book takes 10 percent of each bet.
If you bet on the Under and the final score was 20-10, you would have a winning ticket. Likewise, if the final score was 35-20, the Over would be the winner regardless of which team won the game.
Again, a bettor would have to wager $1.10 to win $1.00. Knowing how to read these NFL betting lines is the first step to betting success.
