Are you a football fan? Do you want to know how to win big at the game?
If so, then you’re probably interested in how to bet on games. We know it can be confusing when trying to understand the odds and betting lines for each game. That’s why we created this guide with 10 quick tips that will help make things easier for you!
You don’t have to worry about whether or not your bets are going to pay off because these tips will give you an edge over everyone else who is betting on the same game as you. It doesn’t matter if it’s college or pro football either – Our advice works for both!
So what are you waiting for? Read through these 10 quick football odds tips now and start winning more money today!
1) Always Think of the Underdog Team as “Playing With House Money”
Straight-up win/loss is all that matters when betting football games. The rest of this article is not going to deal with point spreads so if all you want to do is “pick winners and losers”, stick around for some good information. One thing we’ve noticed over the years: many times when the team is the underdog, they play with house money.
What do we mean by that? Well, think about it! If you were given $100 bucks to go to Las Vegas and gamble at your favorite casino game, would you walk in there thinking “Man I hope I lose this $100” or something like that? No – You’d probably be really aggressive because you know that if you win good, if you lose bad, at least YOU WON $100. That’s what favorites are banking on. Now think of how an underdog approaches a football game…
Now don’t get us wrong:
On paper, it seems like favorites should be the ones playing with house money because they’re supposed to win right? Well, many times it works like this: what if you made $100 bucks and went to Vegas to gamble with your friends, lost everything, and then one of your friends said “man I’m down $100 here” and handed you another hundred dollars.
Wouldn’t that be nice? So while house money has not changed for the underdog (he’s got nothing regardless), he actually is playing with house money because someone else is paying his way! This often creates an interesting dynamic when it comes to what expectations are in the minds of each team, so simply keeping this fact in mind can shine some light on how certain games might play out.
2) Favorites Are Expected to Do Much More Than Just Win Football Games Straight Up
What does that mean?
Well, if you are betting on a 3-0 team to win their game, that’s all you have to do right? But what about scoring more points than the other team on top of just winning. What if they are expected to outscore their opponent by say 14 or 21 points? How does this affect your football odds? Here’s an example of a safe bet formula:
Team A is favored over Team B in Vegas by 7 points.
If Team A wins straight up, then they beat the spread!
If Team A wins but only beats the point spread by 1 point (7-6), then they “cover” the spread.
If Team A loses straight up, then that’s it – They fail to cover the spread. But if team A loses but only by 1 point (7-6), then they “almost covered the spread”
So you can see there is an added layer of complexity when you start thinking about how many points a team needs to score in order to cover the spread. Now keep in mind that sometimes, teams might not care whether or not they beat the spread if they really need to win the game.
So let’s say for instance Team B is actually on upset alert because their coach wants his/her players to work on some new plays that will be used next week, while Team A’s coach does NOT want them to work on anything extra and just wants a W against a weaker opponent. In this case, it’d be very surprising if Team A plays it safe, scores 7 points, and doesn’t worry about covering the spread.
3) Do Not Neglect the “Over/Under” Line When Betting on Football Games
The over/under line is very important because if a game has a high “o/u” number of say 55 or more, then you automatically know that there will be lots of scoring involved, and depending on which team you bet on, you’re going to want to win by either playing tough defense (which means under) or your offense must perform very well (which means over).
If nothing else just keep this one thought in mind: higher o/uv equals more points scored.
4) When It Comes to Beating the Point Spread… A Great Offense Beats a Great Defense
This is a very common theme in football odds and one that will definitely ring true during the season. And it’s not hard to understand because if Team A has a really tough defense but Team B scores more points… Well, then wouldn’t you rather be on Team B?
And since the point rates spread reflects this very concept (that Team A must win or else they do not beat the spread) – It’s usually no surprise if an underdog beats the spread against a favorite with a great defense. Click here to find out more.
Want More Help Understanding Football Odds?
Congratulations on getting to the end of this blog post! You now have 10 quick tips for understanding football odds, which you can use to improve your chances of winning big. This is just a snapshot of what we offer in our blog. Check it out if you don’t want to miss any more valuable information and insights about sports betting.