LSB Feature: How To Bet On The NFL – Part 1, Straight Bets

• The Kansas City Chiefs are the +500 favorites to win the Super Bowl.
• The Denver Broncos have -140 odds to beat the Minnesota Vikings.
• Jacksonville Jaguars are -3 favorites to beat the Cleveland Browns.

NEW YORK – The NFL season is incoming and there will be plenty of odds and betting lines available at legal sports betting sites for players with many states offering regulated sports betting for the first time during this NFL season.

With a lot of new NFL betting fans placing their first wagers this season, a breakdown of the many wager types and betting lingo that fans will run into this NFL season is crucial.

How To Bet On The Moneyline

The most common wager that betting fans will be dealing with at NFL betting sites is betting on the moneyline. The moneyline is a direct wager of picking a single team to win during the game.

Whether a team is favored or not is expressed by the +/- symbols in front of the given teams. This value also represents how much the payout on the potential win would be.

If bettors take Denver at -140, they would need to wager $140 to win $100. Subsequently, if one would take the Vikings at +120, they would have to wager $100 to win $120.

There are bigger payouts on the underdogs as they are less likely to win according to legal sportsbooks.

The lower the number value, the more favored the team is. So with this matchup, the Broncos are favored at -140 over the Minnesota Vikings +120.

Tips For Moneyline Betting

A good way to capitalize on moneyline wagers would be to look at the exact matchups, team records, and head to head of the given teams.

In this instance, being that this is a preseason game, looking up teams’ offseason moves or who will be playing is a great way to maximize your winning potential.

The Broncos are favored, and this could be due to Denver finishing with a better record than Minnesota during the 2020 NFL season.

Additionally, the Vikings will be coming into this game still plagued with injuries. Rookie DT Christian Darrisaw who was brought in to be a boost on defense has just gotten his second groin surgery and will be out of rotation.

How To Bet On The Spread

Similar to betting on the moneyline, NFL bettors can wager on the spread as well; this is the most popular wager at sportsbooks. The spread is essentially when one bets on a team to not only win/lose but to win/lose by the given margin of victory set by the sportsbook.

Just like with the moneyline, the +/- symbol indicates which team is favored. For this instance, the Jacksonville Jaguars are favored against the spread by -3.0, which means they are 3 point favorites to beat the Cleveland Browns.

In order for this wager to hit, Jacksonville would have to win by at least 3 points in order this to be a winning wager. If the Browns manage to keep the game within 2 points, then the Jaguars would fail to cover the spread and the wager would lose.

Betting fans can also take Cleveland to cover as well and win if the Browns keep the game closer than the sportsbooks project.

Betting on the spread seems like a good way to play is because favored may have more appealing odds but oddsmakers are so exact, they make the bet come down to a coin flip.

However, if a player wants to wager on an underdog, but isn’t that confident in them outright winning, betting on the longshot team to simply keep the game closer than the sportsbooks project could net a return even if they lose the game.

The best way to bet on the spread is to look at how often teams cover the spread. The Jaguars are 3-7 in covering the spread during their last 10 AFC games. Meanwhile, the Browns are 4-1 in their last 5 road games against the spread, showing that they have been more consistent than the favored Jaguars.

While NFL preseason betting trends can’t compare to Super Bowl odds and lines, there are still a few merits to pay attention to.

Betting On The Totals

Betting on NFL team totals, also known as betting on over/unders, is another straight bet that is available for NFL betting fans.

With totals wagering, bookmakers set the total combined points of each team and bettors are able to wager on whether the game will end with a combined score of more or less than what sportsbooks present.

For example, in the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, the over/under is set at 33.5. Bettors would simply wager on either the over or the under.

If the combined score is at least 34 the over will hit. If the combined score is 33 or less, the under will hit. Simple as that.

Should the totals be set at a whole number, such as a combined score of 33 flat instead of 33.5 and the final score were to combine to 33, then the wager would result in a push.

This means the money simply goes back to the bettor and there is no winner.

Tips For Betting On Totals

Looking at both teams’ offensive and defensive rating as well as how often the over/under hits for them is the best way to cash in on this wager type.

For this matchup, the Cincinnati Bengals are 3-0-1 with hitting the under with their last four games. However, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 8-2 in their last 10 games as home favorites hitting the over.

Looking even further, the Buccaneers were a top 6 defense during the 2020 season and are bringing back a bulk of their defense. Additionally, the Bengals sat near the bottom of the league on offense.

A top defense vs. a poor offense would likely see the under hit. Looking at information like this helps betting fans cash in big at legal sports betting sites.

News tags: Dallas Cowboys | Juice | Kansas City Chiefs | Moneyline | NFL | Parlay | Pleasers | Spread | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Teasers