Football is the most exciting game on the sports betting field. The popularity of football has been increasing since the 1970s and for many, NFL football betting has become a way of earning money. However, it is important to note that most bets will fail and will result only in loss of capital. The use of NFL football betting as a tool to earn consistent income is a real challenge. In this article, we will discuss the strategies to help you profit from football betting.
Strategy 1: The Home Underdog
This is the most common bet among Dewavegas bettors. That is to bet the favorite team to win at home. The premise behind this strategy is simple, the team is favored to win by 3 points while the available score indicates the match will end up 14 – 3 in favor of the other team. Most football bettors consider this bet a sure bet win.
NFL Point Spread Considerations
When betting the favorite team to win at home, you must take this into account that they may have a higher probability of losing the game based on the NFL point spread standards. You should also take this into account that the more likely the team will beat the spread the lower the payout will be.
For example, if the Cleveland Browns are bet on the NFL versus the New England Patriots the following betting sportsbook betting lines are available.
NFL Line Cleveland Browns -1.5 (-150) NFL Line New England Patriots +1.5 (+200)
What this means is that if you were to wager $100 on the Browns and they won, you would win $150 and lose $100 for the Patriots. If the margin of victory is 13, you would need to win by more than 13 points for you to win $100 and for the Patriots to cover the spread, you would need to win by more than 21 points.
In addition, if the Browns win by 14 points, you would lose your wager of $100 on the Browns. If the Patriots lose by 3 points, you will win $150 on the Patriots and lose $100 for the Packers. So even if the Browns win, they cover the spread, and the Packers don’t cover the spread, you will still lose money.
NFL Point Spread Considerations
The second thing to consider in NFL betting is the importance of handicapping the especially important road team. Cleveland, despite being the home team, is not an easy football pick. The Patriots are another tough football choice as well, despite being on the road. If the home team wins, the winning team usually gets a break as they have the advantage of facing their opponent again on the following week.
Also, not just the winning team, but the whole game can be important in NFL betting. Looking at the NFL Against the Spread (ATS) record, a winning ATS record is around the .600% mark, with some top teams around the 60% ATS mark. In other words, if you were to bet $100 on the Patriots, and they won by 14 points, you would win $600. If you bet $100 on the Packers, they would have to win by 14 points or more for you to win the same amount. This is one of the reasons why the Most Probable Value bet on the Packers is the winning NFL pick.