When you bet on a point total or the 'over/under,' you are betting on the total number of points scored in a game. The total has been set at 54 for Super Bowl 54, and that means you are betting on. NFL Teaser bets are a way of adjusting point spreads to be more in the bettor’s favor. Like a parlay, you would need all your bets to hit to win your ticket; however, you get to adjust the preset point spread or totals lines from sportsbooks to lower your risk level.
Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread. Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to understand once it is explained to you. We will explain what betting against the spread means below.
What is Betting Against The Spread?
For each NFL game the oddsmakers set a number of points in which the favored team is favored by. Bettors can then either choose for the favored team to win by more than the number of points set, or bet on the underdogs to lose by less than the number of points they are underdogs by or win the game straight up. For example, the spread could be set on the favored team at 6.5 points. This would mean in order for a bet on the favored team on the spread to win they would need to win by more than 6.5 points (7 or more) in order to win the bet. It also means that a bet on the underdog team would win if the underdogs lost by less than 6.5 points (6 or less) or won the game outright.
Example of NFL Spread Bet
Below is an example of what NFL spread betting would look like:
Matchup
- TeamsSpread
- Dallas Cowboys -2.5
- New York Giants +2-5
The negative (-) sign indicates that the Cowboys are the favorites, while the positive (+) sign indicates that the New York Giants are the underdogs. With the spread set at 2.5 points, a bet on the Cowboys would mean that they would have to win by more than 2.5 points (3 or more) in order for you to win that bet. A bet on New York would mean that the Giants would have to either lose by 2.5 or less points (2 or less) or win the game outright in order for your bet to win.
Here is another example with a screenshot taken from 5Dimes.eu during Week 3 of the 2013 NFL season:
Here you can see that the Rams are +3.5, while the Cowboys are -3.5. So for this example the Cowboys are 3.5 point favorites, while the Rams are underdogs of 3.5 points. If you were to bet on St Louis you would need them to lose by 3 or fewer points or just win the game outright. If you were to bet on Dallas you would need the Cowboys to win by 4 or more points.
If the Cowboys were to win by 3 points, lets say 30-27, any bets on the Rams +3.5 would win. Even though the Rams didn’t win the game they covered the spread of 3.5 points.
Now if the Cowboys were to win by 4 points, lets say 31-27, the Cowboys have covered the spread and anyone who wagered on Dallas would win their bets.
Other NFL Spread Betting Information
You may often notice that the spread is sometimes set at an even number such as 3, 6 , 10, etc. In this case if the favored team won by the exact amount set for the spread the bet would be pushed, and all bets would be returned. For example, if the Patriots were 3 point favorites and they won by a FG (3 points) than this would results in a push, meaning no matter which side you bet on you would get your money returned to you.
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The most common NFL spreads are usually set between about 2.5-10.5 points, but you will also almost always have games each week with spreads lower than 2.5 and higher than 10.5. In the event that the oddsmakers feel the game doesn’t need a spread, it would be set at 0 or what some call a pick’em (both teams are given even odds to win for this type of bet).
The odds given on the spread are usually -110 unless otherwise noted. It is not uncommon to see one side of the spread being -105, with the other side being -115. If you don’t see any odds listed for each side of NFL spreads you are supposed to assume the odds are -110 on each. Not sure how to read NFL betting odds? Check out our Sports Betting Odds guide.
Now that you know the basics of NFL spread betting you’ll want to check out our Sports Betting Strategy guide which has some great NFL strategy articles written by a professional bettor.
The majority of people would look for explanation of the NFL point spread in order to learn how to bet the spread. If you don't even know what the point spread is, you should first read how the point spread works and then come back to learn how to bet the spread. Let's assume you know now the basics of the point spread, the next question is - how to bet on the NFL point spread? First, you would need a place to bet, a sportsbook or more importantly, USA sportsbook. Make sure you check your local laws first for the legality of sports betting in your area. We assume that it's legal to bet online at your locality and you have found a sportsbook and want to place a wager on the NFL point spread. Here is an example of a point spread on a football game:
Atlanta Falcons +10 (-110)
North Carolina Panthers -10 (-110)
What these numbers are showing us is that the Falcons are the underdog and they are given 10 points handicap, while the opposite is true for the Panthers, 10 points will be taken away from them. The -110 in the brackets is the payout your bet would generate if successful, it means that you must bet $110 in order to win $100, or if you bet $110 and your spread bet is a winner - you will get back $210. Betting the spread is really simple, you simply select the point spread of your choice and place a wager on it. Let's say you chose the Falcons +10 points on the spread. In order for your spread bet to be a winner, the Atlanta Falcons must win the game or lose the game by less than 10 points. So if the final score is Falcons 10 Panthers 14, the Falcons will cover the spread, since 10 extra points were given to the as handicap by the sportsbook, making the final score 20-14. If the Flacons score 10 points and the Panthers 20 points, the bet is a draw and you will simply get your money back. It's that simple.
How To Bet On Nfl Spreads Against
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