How To Place Bets On Nfl Football
With the NFL season beginning this week, now would be a good time to give you some information about the basics of betting on football games. There are a couple of basic bets that can be placed: Point Spread, Money Line, and Total and if you are familiar with slot deposit pulsa then learning all about these NFL betting terms will be really easy for you.
Point Spread Betting
The Point Spread is the bet that is most often placed by gamblers. This bet designates one team as a favorite and one team as the underdog. The favorite will have a “-” next to the point spread and the underdog will have a “+” next to that number. I’m going to use the first game of the NFL season as the example here.
The Denver Broncos (-8) host the Baltimore Ravens (+8). If I think that Peyton Manning is going to be upset at last season’s playoff loss to the Ravens, I would probably pick Denver to beat the spread. This means that Denver would have to win the game by 9 points or more. An 8 point margin of victory would be a tie on this bet.
However, 8 points is a lot for an NFL game, no matter which two opponents are playing. If I think that the Super Bowl Champions aren’t going to get blown out on the road, I would probably pick Baltimore to beat the spread. This means that the Ravens could either win the game or lose by 7 points or less and I would win on this wager.
Line Shopping
Different sports betting sites will offer slightly different lines. Most sportsbooks will open with Denver as an 8.5 favorite. Based upon the wagers that each place receives, this line will go up or down by as much as 1.5 points. Most of the time, the difference in the lines aren’t that dramatic. You may find one site offering a 7.5 spread and another offering a 9 point spread.
If you want to bet on Baltimore, you will want to find the sportsbook with the highest spread (+9). If you want to bet on Denver, you will want to find the sportsbook with the lowest spread (-7.5). If you didn’t do this, you could lose at either sportsbook if the final margin of victory is 8 points. To learn more about line shopping, check out nflbettinglines.org.
Money Line Betting
The Money Line may be offered for a particular game, it may not be offered. Many times, this bet will not be available until the night before the game will take place. A money line bet simply states that you think one team will win over the other team. In the example above, this line has yet to be set. If I were to guess, I would think that Denver would be around (-350) and Baltimore would be around (+275).
The -350 means that I would have to wager $350 to win $100. The +275 means that I could win $275 if I wager $100. Most of the time, I would say to stay away from a Money Line bet that has the favorite more than -200. However, I will take the underdog in certain cases like this. If I think that Baltimore is going to keep this game close, I would bet a half unit on Baltimore to beat the spread and a half unit for Baltimore to win outright.
Betting Basics
A unit in betting is the amount that you are allowing yourself to bet on the game. My rule of thumb is that a unit is 5% or 1/20th of the amount you have in your bankroll. If you have $2000 in your bankroll, then a unit is $100. If you have a $1000 bankroll, then a unit is $50.
If you bet more than a unit consistently, odds are that you are going to go broke when you have a losing streak. The unit is set up to prevent you from betting emotionally. This is the death knell of about 50% of the bettors I know. It’s called discipline. The same people who break controllers when they lose a video game are the same people who shouldn’t be betting on sports or gambling in general.
I have a rule in place that I don’t bet more than a unit unless I am winning on the day. I have another rule in place that I must quit for the day if I have lost more than 3 units. While this doesn’t guarantee that I won’t go broke, it does delay the process quite a bit.
The trick to betting is picking games selectively. If there are 8 games being played simultaneously, do some research the day before, rank them in order of confidence, and bet on the 2 games you feel most confident about. Rinse and repeat for the next group of games.
Totals Betting
Totals betting (or Over/Under betting) is a wager that is placed on the combined points scored by both teams during the game. For most NFL games, the total will be between 38 and 54 points. This is based upon weather conditions, the two teams’ offenses, and the two teams’ defenses.
Betting on the totals should be left to those gamblers who are seasoned veterans. Otherwise, you should avoid them. The only time you should bet on totals is when you want to hedge or double on your bet for a particular game. You should not simply place a bet on the Over/Under and leave the rest of the bets alone.