The NFL is the most popular league in sports betting, with millions of Americans
wagering at the top USA sportsbooks 🔑 throughout the season. From football futures odds
to NFL same-game parlays and NFL props, sports betting sites have something for 🔑 every
bettor. The Super Bowl has more wagering options than any sporting event of the year,
giving fans something to 🔑 look forward to with their sports betting bankroll.
NFL odds
are constantly moving due to betting action, injuries and other factors, 🔑 but monitoring
the NFL odds board is one way to make the best NFL bets possible. Football odds are
also 🔑 a useful way to gain an edge in NFL survivor pools and NFL office pools. Here are
several football sports 🔑 betting terms to know:
Alternate lines: Every NFL game has
alternate lines, as sportsbooks post different spreads and totals with adjusted 🔑 odds.
For example, if a team is favored by one touchdown, many sportsbooks will offer odds on
the team to 🔑 win by at least 10 points instead.
American odds: American odds are the
most common odds used in the NFL, with 🔑 the moneyline indicating the amount of money
needed to winR$100 (favorite) or the amount that aR$100 wager would pay (underdog).
🔑 This is one of the three main types of betting odds.
Closing Line: The final odds
posted when the game begins 🔑 is the closing line. The live odds will then start to shift
after the game begins and will generally continue 🔑 until the game is over.
Consensus:
The consensus line is a combination of odds from the top sportsbooks. If a team 🔑 is a
7-point consensus favorite, it means that most oddsmakers have the team favored by
seven points.
Decimal odds: Decimal odds, 🔑 also called European odds, are one of the
other formats used to present betting odds. They represent the amount of 🔑 money someone
would win for everyR$1 wagered.
Favorite: The favorite is the team expected to win the
game outright. Favorites have 🔑 a negative sign in front of their spread and money line
odds.
Fractional odds: British (fractional) odds are the final type 🔑 of odds used in
sports betting. They are the ratio of the profit won to the stake, as a 6-1 🔑 underdog
would payR$6 for everyR$1 wagered.
Futures: These can be some of the most interesting
odds to monitor, as they relate 🔑 to things such as championship winner or division
winner. Most sportsbooks update their futures odds on a weekly basis, giving 🔑 fans a
chance to see how their team stacks up in the eyes of the oddsmakers.
Home-field
advantage: One thing that 🔑 is a factor in every NFL game is home-field advantage, which
changes the odds based on which team is playing 🔑 at home. Some teams have a bigger
advantage than others, as their crowd noise or location can adjust the odds 🔑 more
significantly than others.
Hook: If the betting odds have a half-point attached to
them, that is called the hook. The 🔑 hook makes it impossible for the betting result to
end in a tie, as NFL games do not have half 🔑 points.
Juice: Also known as vigorish or
vig, the juice is the amount factored into the odds by oddsmakers. An American 🔑 odds bet
of -110 containsR$10 of juice for everyR$100 wagered.
Line movement: NFL odds generally
do not move as much as 🔑 other sports due to the accuracy of the betting market, but they
still feature line movement due to various reasons. 🔑 Weather, injuries or large bets are
all reasons for line movement on NFL games.
Money line: The money line is the 🔑 odds
related to the winner of the game with no point spread involved. Favorites have
negative odds, while underdogs have 🔑 positive odds in an American odds
format.
Oddsmaker: Someone who sets betting odds and lines is an oddsmaker. Some
oddsmakers create 🔑 their own betting odds (originators), while other oddsmakers copy
odds that are already in the market.
Over/Under: This is one of 🔑 the primary sets of
odds used for the NFL, with the number representing the expected points scored in the
game. 🔑 These are also used for some futures odds, such as how many games a team will win
in a season.
Pick’em: 🔑 If neither team is favored, the game is called a pick’em. The
betting odds have not determined a favorite or 🔑 an underdog, so they are usually good
games to watch.
Spread: The point spread levels the playing field between two teams, 🔑 as
it is the number of points the favorite is expected to win by. The favorite is
designated by a 🔑 negative spread (-7), while the underdog has a positive spread
(+7).
Underdog: Unless a game is a pick’em, every NFL contest 🔑 has an underdog, which is
the team that is expected to lose. They are denoted by a positive number in 🔑 the betting
odds.
The three primary types of betting odds are American (money line), fractional
(British) and decimal (European). They are 🔑 alternate ways of presenting the same odds,
offering the same payout in each scenario. The percentage probability of an event
🔑 occurring can be converted and presented in any of the odds offered.
Favorites are
always priced with a negative sign in 🔑 front of their spread or money line, while
underdogs have a positive sign in front of theirs. If a team 🔑 is -6.5, they are the
favorite and would need to win by at least seven points to cover the spread. 🔑 Their
opponent would be +6.5, needing to lose by six points or fewer (or win outright) to
cover as an 🔑 underdog.
Odds are originally set by oddsmakers, who are also called sports
traders or bookmakers. They usually adjust their odds once 🔑 bettors start wagering
money. The odds can also be moved due to things like injuries or weather
forecasts.
Sportsbooks take games 🔑 off the board when a star player suffers an injury,
the venue changes or another factor occurs. Oddsmakers usually re-post 🔑 the updated line
within a few hours, depending on the severity of the news. The odds are frozen so the
🔑 sportsbook avoids taking large wagers on odds that are likely to change.
This is
another way to reference the over/under, which 🔑 is the number of points expected to be
scored in a game. If a game has an over/under of 45.5 🔑 points, it will go over the total
with 46 or more points and under the total with 45 or fewer 🔑 points. Over/under odds are
also used for prop odds, such as a player’s receiving yards in a game.
