Football Betting Types for Newbies

The excitement and difficulty of football betting are equal parts. It's easy to pick up the basics of betting on football. However, you should be aware of a few fundamentals, and one should start with the various bets. You can improve your betting decisions by familiarizing yourself with the various betting types.

You should know that winning a wager on football, like any other sport, only happens occasionally. But if you know what kind of wager to put your money on, you can win a lot of money.

Why Bet on Football?

Football is consistently among the most-bet-on sports on any online sportsbook. This is due primarily to football's international popularity. Furthermore, football likely has an edge in entertainment value over other sports betting events, such as horse racing, for instance. This is because a football game takes far longer than a horse race or any other sporting event we can think of.

You might like watching a minute-long Thursday racing from the comfort of your couch, but a three-hour NFL game with family and friends is probably more enjoyable. The sport's entertainment value has likely attracted many spectators who now wager on it. Thus, for those just getting started in the gambling world, the following are the various types of football wagers you can make:

Moneyline

When it comes to betting on sports, there is nothing more basic or straightforward than a Moneyline bet. In football, there are only two possible outcomes for this wager, win or lose. Bettors picking one of two teams on the Moneyline are essentially picking a winner.

When placing a Moneyline wager, some sports betting apps will allow for a tie result, while others will give what is known as a "Draw no bet" option, which means that just a player or team can be selected as the winner.

A sportsbook will pay the odds owed to a bettor when the bettor accurately predicts the outcome of a wager.

The lack of a point spread makes betting on the Moneyline a no-brainer. Bettors need only select a winning side, team, or even a tie in a football match if the latter is an available choice.

Point Spread

Point spread betting is the most common type of sports wagering in the United States. Point spread betting is a way to wager on a match by comparing the teams or players' relative strengths.

The point spread utilizes the football's scoring units, like goals and touchdowns, to provide potential bettors with a level playing field in the form of a predicted margin of victory.

Regarding the point spread, the team with a minus sign is the one laying points and is considered the favorite of the two teams. On the other hand, the team that is receiving points and has a plus sign is considered the underdog.

Parlay

Parlay bets, once seen as a mere diversion or even a "sucker bet," are now widely regarded as a valid option for wagering on heavy favorites. Picking two or more games on the same football wagering ticket—known as a "parlay"—increases the possible payoff (profit potential).

Because winning a parlay becomes less likely as you add more teams, sportsbooks will reward you with increasingly larger payouts as you add more games.

Point spreads, moneylines, over/unders, player props, and other bets can all be combined in a parlay. In a parlay bet, the goal is to pool together several games to get a large payout, similar to a lottery.

Over/Under

Over/under wagers, also known as totals betting, are placed without regard to the game's outcome and instead on the total number of points scored. Football 'totals' are established by oddsmakers, and gamblers must pick whether they think the game will end with a score OVER or UNDER that number.

To win money betting on football, you must find a way to beat the bookmaker. This could be in the form of a statistical edge, a trend, or any other detail that improves the value or odds of your wager.

Prop Bets

Short for "proposition bet," a prop bet is betting on the outcome of a specific in-game event. For instance, it may be a prop bet on who scores the first touchdown in an NFL game. Prop bets may be an entertaining approach for sports fans who appreciate profiling players and athletes to identify profitable betting angles in football.

Futures

A wager on a future outcome is called a "futures bet," which is exactly what it sounds like. Specifically, futures bets are placed on outcomes that are far off in the future.

Bookmakers may post futures odds before the beginning of a season and continue to accept wagers throughout the year, updating the odds based on factors such as the success or defeat of a team, the number of wagers placed on that team, and the number of players injured or traded.

No matter what occurs throughout the schedule or how sportsbooks adjust the futures odds after the wager is placed, the bettor is locked in at the original odds.

Conclusion

A huge chunk of the global population wagers on football. Players have different strategies, and bettors can choose from a vast selection of leagues. With the rise of online betting, there is a dizzying range of bets open to bettors. However, before venturing into the unfamiliar, it is essential to become familiar with the tried-and-true betting types like the one we've mentioned here.