NFL and College Football
together account for almost half of US betting in football season, so are by far the most popular betting sports in the USA.
The NFL has games every Thursday, Sunday and Monday (along with some Saturdays late in the year) offering a consistency in the schedule that no other sport possesses. College Football is often more followed than certain NFL teams in their respective markets, but both NFL and College are bet with the same parameters. Spread, moneyline and totals are all available for wagers.
Spread
If a team is -4, they are favored by 4 points. So that team would have to win by 5 points or more for you to win your bet on -4. If they win by 4 points, that bet would then push and become void. If they only win by 3 points or less or lose the game outright, the bet is then lost. Spreads in college football can get ridiculously out of hand, teams can often be 40 or 50-point favorites and cover, as opposed to NFL which has more parity than any other American sport.
Total
The combined score of both teams in a football game is the total, or over/under, available to wager. Again, in College football these can become eye-popping numbers. A good example of this is the MAC conference, known for its high-scoring shootouts and lack of defense, their totals resulted in over 100 points in multiple games this past year. They call it MACtion for a reason!
The NFL is again much tamer in this regard due to the level playing field of most teams year after year.
Player Props
Catches, receiving yards, rushing yards, passing yards, touchdowns, and field goals are all among the props available to wager in football. The massive growth of fantasy football has made this kind of betting very popular amongst football fans. A way to exploit value out of these props is to have multiple sportsbooks at your disposal. Lines and odds can vary from sportsbook to sportsbook, so it is important to shop for the best number in order to maximize your ROI.
Teasers:
A teaser involves a parlay of two or more bets on either the spread or total that is adjusted 6 points either way normally at -120 odds. So let’s say the Chiefs are favored and at -8 you don’t feel comfortable they cover that spread. You can tease that -8 down to -2, so now all they have to do is win by 3 to win that leg of the bet.
The only problem with this is you then have to find another game you like that you can tease the Chiefs with, since a teaser has to be with two or more bets. If you teased those Chiefs with an underdog, say the Cowboys are +4, teasing the Cowboys up would then turn that +4 into +10 (the +4 line plus those 6 teased points = 10). The total can also be teased but this is ill-advised due to it only moving that total 6 points (one score) either way.
Teasers should be targeted in situations where you can move the line through the key numbers of 3 and 7. Football games are often won by a field goal, or a touchdown, so getting a favorite under that -3 (so they only have to win by a field goal) or getting an underdog above +7 or +8 (so that if they lose by a touchdown or less you still win) is a good way to be profitable in betting NFL. Mostly due to how accurate NFL lines usually are, teasing through those key numbers of 3, 7 and 8 (more teams are going for 2-point conversions in recent years) can put you in a likelier scenario to win your bet. Another good rule of thumb is to not tease through zero. So, teasing -3 to +3 is unadvisable for a teaser. Just take them at -3 if you like that team and use other teams that can get you through those key numbers to improve your chances of making a profit.