Betting on the NFL is a Huge Business

When you talk about sports betting in America the one game that instantly comes to mind is football, and the one league is the NFL. For whatever reason NFL Betting has become an American past time. When you think about it though, this does make sense.

One major reason for NFL Betting popularity has to do with the fact that the season is not overly long. Baseball, basketball and hockey all run much longer, and that means that people can lose interest. The NFL season from start to the Super Bowl is less than six months.

Also, the NFL has just 32 teams with each playing 16 single games. This isn’t like college football, which is also heavily bet, but can be daunting to bettors due to the fact that there are over 100 Division I teams. And it’s certainly not like basketball or hockey with 82 games played per team or baseball that plays extended series match ups and 162 games.

There’s a certain amount of control and focus in NFL betting that you don’t find in any other league. That helps to attract and keep bettors engaged in the game each and every week.

Does it matter which country I live in?

When you log on to a betting site that focuses on how to bet on NFL football such as Bovada, one of the first steps is setting up an account. If you are a resident of the United States, you are welcome at the websites. They will verify this from your credit card billing address.

However, if you are from the U.K., you will get a response saying, “We are sorry. Bovada is not available from your location. Click here for more information”.  You simply follow the link and they will provide you with other options for NFL betting. Thankfully, American football wagers are available for punters at websites like Bet365.

How do I pay for my NFL bets?

One of the main things about how to bet on the NFL is how to make your first online betting account. When U.K. and European gamblers make accounts online, they have a wide variety of options such as Visa Credit, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro, Solo, Moneybookers, Laser, and Neteller.

Despite this, US NFL bettors are locked into a few initial deposit types such as bank wires, VISA, and Western Union. The reason for this is due to the lockdown on internet gambling that took place in 2010. During this time, the U.S. government stated that the payment type needs to verify the users’ location. For this reason, debit cards, and services like Money Pak are not allowed for making an initial deposit on a legal U.S. betting site.

How to bet on the NFL and win

When it comes to gambling on the NFL, there are a multitude of funny tips that involve numbers. For example, some online sportsbooks that teach you how to bet on the NFL will tell you to avoid the numbers -2.5, -9.5, etc. While some of those tips are great advice, most will focus on factors that are happening with the history of the games.

In these cases, watching for teams that have coaches in hot water are excellent teams to bet on. After all, the pressure to do well is motivating the coach of that team so that he/she does not lose their job. The same goes for new coaches that are looking to impress.

However, the most common sense tips involve injuries. After all, you cannot place a bet on the NFL when certain players being out brings down the whole team. A good example of this phenomenon is the Indianapolis Colts. They won the 2010 Super Bowl, but their 2010/2011 season flopped due to start player Peyton Manning being out for most of the season.

Why you do not always need NFL picks

When it comes betting on the NFL, one of the things that pops up online is the suggestion that you need a pick from an expert. Of course, these are usually presented as free betting tips. If you like the picks, you can continue consulting this expert by buying their picks. Unfortunately, many gamblers do not need to know how to bet on the NFL. They simply need to watch the weather.

In addition to the common sense factors such as how well a team plays at home versus away games, the other obstacle is the rain and snow. Obviously, if you are accustomed to playing in the sunshine and now you are in the sleet, it will affect the way you play.

For this reason, always be sure to wait until the day of the game to place your NFL bet. This is especially true if you are betting on the winning score. After all, freezing temperatures are likely to bring the total score down.

Will I really get a free $100 Super Bowl bet?

Online sportsbooks offer rebates for depositing, typically along the lines of 20% instant free bets and fast and free payouts. Is this true?  Yes they are real, and the way that they are able to offer these bets is easy to unravel. Traditionally, when you go to a racetrack or casino, you place a bet and when you win, you get a payout.

Regardless, this payout is traditionally a little bit lighter online due to the taxes and costs the casino or racetrack take out to cover their overhead. This is referred to as the “take” or “vig” (short for vigorish). Naturally, an online casino does not need to provide a heavily insured physical building for gamblers to place bets.

Since there are few expenses, the wagering websites will do elaborate things like teach you how to bet on the NFL and can easily offer a free Super Bowl bet.

Best NFL Bets

As it is with other sports, NFL betting includes futures wagering on the AFC, NFC and league championships. There are also many prop bets available.

The heart and soul of NFL betting is found in the point spread. This is the most common wager made followed by the over/under. You’ll also be able to bet on parlays and various regular season props.  Because of the parity in the league and the fact that so many point spreads are close, NFL parlays are very hard to get right.

The Super Bowl includes a range of bets, including props on the coin toss, first points scored, total passing yards by a quarterback and more. The best bets to make are the most common—point spread and over/under.

You will also find moneyline bets through the season. The preseason may also be bet. But this is not recommended since so many teams are trying out new players and schemes that the games are very hard to handicap.

10 Winning Tips

Here are 10 tips that will give you an edge as a sports bettor on the NFL.

1. Offensive lines are exceptionally important. Analyze them in terms of opening holes for the ground game and protecting the passer.
2. Teams with strong defenses have a much better chance of winning than those with no or little “D” and a strong offense.
3. QBs who have a quick release and accurate arms are hard to stop.
4. Be wary of aging running backs. Most slow down after about a decade in the league.
5. Always take into consideration a team’s field goal game. Remember that in the NFL the margin of victory means nothing.
6. Coaches, their coaching staffs and schemes are exceptionally important in winning. Handicap these when betting.
7. Take into consideration the weather or lack of it before wagering.
8. Injuries are often masked in this league. Try to find out as much as you can about key players and their health.
9. Immobile QBs are sitting ducks. Analyze them appropriately when is comes to facing a team with sack artists.

10. Wager on about six to eight games a week. Find the best spreads that you can.

Football The Sport

The NFL is made up of two conferences, the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference). Within each conference there are four divisions and each division has four teams with each being designated North, South, East and West.

Each team plays a total of 16 regular season games during the course of 17 weeks. Every team is given one bye week during the season. Most games are played on either Sunday during the day or night and Monday night. However, during certain weeks there are also games scheduled for Thursdays and Saturdays.

The NFL has a hard salary cap, which means unlike baseball, which really does not have a true salary cap, and basketball, which has a soft cap, professional football teams tend to be overall evenly matched. There is more parity in the NFL than any other professional sport in the US. This makes wagering on football very difficult.

Another aspect of the sport that sets it off from others is the status of the NFL Draft. Of the four primary professional sports in the US, only the NFL has a draft that is heavily covered by the media and watched by the fans. That’s because so many of the players who are drafted will actually play and have an impact on a team.

If you are new to wagering or are not familiar with American football, you can spend a lot of time scrambling online to figure out how to bet on NFL football. In addition to the wide variety of games throughout the season, the occasional bettor will often want to place a wager on a special event like the Super Bowl. Soon, you will know how to bet on NFL football with ease whether you are from the U.S., Canada or the U.K.

The NFL Season

The NFL season is divided into three segments—the preseason, regular season and playoffs.  The preseason, which starts in August and ends partway through September, last four weeks. The regular season funs for 17 weeks and the playoffs go for another four or five weeks.

The regular season and playoffs together last for under six months. In each conference a total of six teams make the postseason. There are four division winners and two wild cards teams; teams with the second and third best records of all teams that did not finish first in one of the divisions are designated as the Wild Cards. That means that a total of 12 teams make the playoffs.

The two top teams in each conference earn a bye-week for the first round of playoffs. The first round is known as Wild Card week. The bye teams then play the winners of the Wild Card games for Division titles. The third round sees two teams in each conference playing for either the AFC or NFC titles. Those two winners play for the NFL championship in the Super Bowl.

The NFL is Tops Amongst Bettors

In the US, the NFL is probably the most bet sport and the Super Bowl the most bet event. The ability to pick winners against the spread is a true art due to the fact that on any given Sunday any team can beat another. Do your homework, including taking into consideration how the NFL Draft may affect a team’s chances of winning. Enjoy the season NFL betting; it’s one great ride.