Editorial

Most Common NFL Bets for Beginners

Admin - April 28, 2021

If you’re a fan of watching the New York Jets and the NFL, there’s a good chance you also want to bet on games. Sports betting adds extra drama and excitement to NFL games and gives you the chance of winning some money each Sunday. If you’re a beginner to the world of sports betting, it can be hard to understand the complexities of NFL bets.

That’s where we come in. This post tells you all you need to know about starting your sports betting adventure when watching the Jets. If you’re heading to a football casino to make some bets, the following information will be valuable and help you wager with confidence.

Point Spread Bets

The most popular NFL sports bet is the Point Spread wager. In fact, even absolute beginners have usually heard of the term betting against the spread, even if they are unsure what it really means.

It’s very rare in football for two teams to be evenly matched. Sportsbooks know that knowledgeable NFL fans will be able to accurately predict winners and losers from most games. To level the playing field, the sportsbook has the points spread wager. This means you will bet on the team you think will win, and a specified number of points they win by.

Specifically, if you bet on the favorite to win the game, you will also have to predict the points to win. This evens the playing field by shortening the odds for the favorite and making the underdog a more attractive wager.

Moneyline Bets

Another type of NFL wager is the moneyline bet, which means you will select the team you think will win the game. As with other straight wagers, the odds tell you the likelihood of a team winning and the potential payout you get if you win. A moneyline bet is perhaps the easiest of all NFL bets to understand because you are just choosing which team you think will win a game.

That said, don’t let that simplicity fool you. Moneyline bets are not usually worth your time because they offer a low return on your investment, at least if you bet on the favorite. Moneyline bets are only worthwhile if you wager on the underdog, but then that comes with more risk.

Total bets (Over/Under)

When you wager on the total, you are specifically looking at the number of overall points scored. That means you don’t need to make a prediction about which team will win a game. Instead, you bet on the total number of points scored by both teams. The sportsbook will offer different points totals at various odds and you wager which you think are more likely.

Importantly, you don’t need to get an exact prediction but instead must decide whether you think the total will be over or under the sportsbook’s totals.

Multi-Game Bets

Of course, an NFL game round is not all about the New York Jets. Perhaps you want to make bets on a selection of games that week. Sportsbooks allow you to do that with a bet called a Parlay. This is a type of wager that allows you to spread a bet over multiple events, in this case NFL games.

You can combine different bet types, such as moneyline, points totals, or point spread wagers into a parlay. When you build a parlay bet, you will increase your potential payout because each additional wager you add increases the odds you will lose. There’s more of a lottery aspect to parlay bets, but if you manage to win the prizes can be huge.