The National Football League is by far the most popular competition in the United States and one of the biggest in the world. You all know that Super Bowls have the power to stop the globe for a moment, and various numbers tell us that.
Many want to bet on the NFL, and even though they follow it closely, they are only into some of the betting stuff, like the NFL odds, lines, tips for more successful betting, etc.
That’s why we are here. To break down everything into small details and explain them to you.
Read: Super Bowl Betting Sites & Super Bowl Odds
Use the links below to jump to the section you are interested in:
For more information on NBA betting, use the links below:
NFL Odds
Key dates for the NFL 2023-24
- August 11-14: Preseason Week 1. …
- August 30: Cutdown day. …
- September 8-12: Week 1. …
- November 1: Trade deadline. …
- January 7-8: Week 18. …
- January 14-16: Wild Card Round. …
- January 21-22: Divisional Round. …
- January 29: Conference Championship games.
- February 12: Super Bowl
How to Read NFL Odds
Popular Terms and Bets
First, the most popular NFL markets are the winner, point spread, and totals.
- As the name says, the winner is betting on who wins the game.
- A point spread is betting on the margin of the win offered by a sportsbook. Simply put, it’s all about whether one team wins or loses by a margin previously set by the operator we visited.
- Betting on totals predicts the number of all the points scored and whether they are below or above the previously determined line, also offered by the sportsbook.
Even though it’s not that frequent to hear it, we need to mention the term “juice” because, in some cases, it can be vital for your betting.
Juice is the cut that the sportsbook takes for its services.
For example:
You should receive double your investment when betting on a two-way (win or lose) outcome with even odds. But that’s not the case, as you all know, and that little difference between your winnings and the doubled stake is called the juice.
How to Read the NFL Odds
We have three ways of presenting the NFL odds:
Fractional NFL Odds
The fractional odds are usually used in the United Kingdom and those parts of the world where the UK had a huge influence in the past. They look pretty confusing for someone who encounters them for the first time, but it’s different from that.
Calculating the payout goes like this. The first number of the fraction is multiplied by your bet, and all that is divided by the second part of the fraction.
As an example, we will take the Bills vs. Chargers game. Bills are favorites 2/5, while the Chargers are the underdogs 2/1. As you can see, the favorite’s first fractional number is smaller than the second one, and with the underdog, it is the opposite way around. Let’s say that your bet on the Bills is $1.
($1 x 2)/5= $2/5= $0.4 This is your clean profit from this bet.
The Chargers are 2/1, and the formula for them is:
($1 x 2)/1= $2/1= $2
Decimal NFL Odds
By far, the most widespread way of displaying odds is the decimal. We will get right away with some examples.
Here’s one example:
- Packers 1.5
- Bears 2.75
The smaller the decimal number, the bigger the favorite, and vice versa.
Now, how do you calculate the winnings here? Things are slightly different than with the fractional odds, but still very easy to understand, maybe even easier.
The stake is $1, and if you bet on Green Bay’s victory, it will look like this:
You multiply the stake with the decimal number, and after you get the result, deduct from it the amount of the original stake, which is $1.
Here is the formula:
$1 x 1.5= $1.5. After that, we deduct the stake $1.5-$1 = $0.5
Check it out for the Bears.
$1 x 2.75= $2.75, and the clean profit is $2.75-$1 = $1.75
How to Read American NFL Odds
The American NFL odds are displayed in moneylines.
Here is an illustration:
- Lions +155
- Ravens -160
In this specific situation, the Lions are the underdogs because their moneyline is a positive number. It shows how much money one would earn $155 if he placed a $100 bet.
The Ravens’ moneyline is negative, showing how much money you need to lay $160 to earn $100. There is no need for a formula here because it is too simple.
Piece a cake, as some would say.
Types of NFL Bets
NFL Point Spread
This is one of the two most popular types of NFL bets. It is a situation in which the odds are leveled because of the point spread, which is an expected margin of victory for the favorite.
Here is an example:
- Chiefs -8.5 (-111)
- Bengals +8.5 (-109)
In short, if the Chiefs are 8.5-point favorites against the Cincinnati Bengals, they have to win by at least nine points to “cover” the spread and make a bet on them successfully. Conversely, if you bet on the Bengals, they have the luxury of losing up to eight points or winning.
In this case, the odds are not the same, even though they are usually -110 for both units. Sometimes, they are slightly different because of the sportsbooks and their assessments, which are made after including multiple factors.
Those can be injuries, bad weather, or play styles.
NFL Moneyline
It is a straight-up bet where you pick the winner of the event. Moneylines are either positive or negative numbers depending on the overall quality of the teams that meet and their underdog/favorite status. The bigger the favorite team is, the bigger his negative number will be.
Here’s an example:
- Eagles -800
- Jets +750
This means you need to stake $800 on the Eagles to win $100. Conversely, with only $100, you’ll earn $750. That’s because betting on the New York franchise carries plenty of risks as they sit as heavy underdogs, and the moneyline tells us that.
The implied probability suggests that the Eagles’ triumph is almost 89% and the Jets’ 11%.
NFL Totals (Over & Under)
This is where we predict whether the total number of points goes under or over the offered line.
If the Cardinals and the Bills meet and the line for totals is 44.5, you can pick over or under, with the odds being always leveled, -110 for both options, because it is a 50-50 situation.
The majority of the bookmakers are offering alternate lines, usually with one point apart between them. If the standard line is 44.5 points, the alternate would be 42.5, 43.5, 45.5, 46.5, etc, and the odds would be different.
For lower lines, like 42.5 points, odds for Over would be lower because the probability of happening is higher. Of course, for Under, it would be the opposite. When the alternate line (47.5 points) is higher than the standard, odds for Under are low, yet for Over – high.
How to Bet on Props
You have all sorts of props—the ones considering the game, the team, and the players.
- Game props: the props here offer to bet on certain outcomes related to the game itself, like how many rushing yards in total both teams will have combined, how many sacks will happen on both sides, etc.
- Team props: They are related to only one team. All the props mentioned above are only for one side. Let’s say how many field goals would Lions record during a game, or how many penalty yards would they generate?
- Player props: This is the easiest one because it only reflects one player. Jared Goff’s number of rushing touchdowns in a game, or Jordan Love’s number of rushing yards. Basically, it can be anything related to personal statistics.
As you can see, the most frequent props are related to yards and touchdowns, whether rushing or passing. However, there are props with sacks, penalties, and field goals.