Football is America’s favorite sport these days, so it should come as no surprise that wagering on football is the most common sport freebet gratis activity on the continent. Games in the National Football League, the minor leagues, college, and even some high school games will attract thousands of bettors each week. In this article, we are going to take a look at some fundamentals when it comes to betting on any football game.
The most popular type of sports bet made on football games is the spread bet. Spread bets include an underdog and a favorite, and a certain amount of points a team must win or lose by in order for the bettor to collect. They look like this:
Whether you are betting the money line (which we will get to in a second) or the spread, the team with a negative sign near it is always the favorite. Being the favorite means that the most people are placing bets on this team, which may or may not indicate their chances of winning. So, in the above scenario, the Bears are the favored team (haha!). This spread also indicates the amount of money wagered in order to win. Every bet of $150 on the Bears will collect $100 if the Bears beat the spread. Betting on the Patriots, on the other hand, means that you stand to gain $180 for every $100 that you bet.
The spread is favored in football because it carries an extra element of security. That security is represented by the -10.5 figure. This means that in order for people to collect on wagers placed on the Bears, Chicago must win by at least 11 points. If they only win by 9, those betting on the Patriots will win the bet (which means that underdog bets will still win, even if the underdog team actually loses). That extra .5 of a point is added so that there is no “push”, or tie, on the bets.
The second most popular type of sports betting action when it comes to football betting is wagering on the money line. This is your standard bet, where money is placed on one team to win. Money lines are expressed much the same as spreads, but without the points indicator. Generally, money lines cost more money to bet on the favorite in order to win $100 because a victory is easier to predict than a difference in points.
There are quite a few different types of sports betting wager placed on football games, which can add some spice to your betting life. Over/under bets are placed according to the total amount of points both teams will score in a game. For example, a sports book might place the combined total score of a football game at 55. Bettors would then decide whether they thought the combined score would be over or under that total, and place wagers accordingly.
