How to Bet on Football (NFL, NCAA)

General rules

The majority of wagering menus for American Football includes, but is not limited to, the following wagers. You will find an explanation of each below:

Pointspread and Total for the entire game
Pointspread and Total for each individual half
Pointspread and Total for each individual quarter
Moneyline for each game
Proposition Wagers
Point Buying

Pointspread & Over/Under Wagers

Sportsbooks offer pointspread and over/under betting on American Football . On a pointspread wager, the team wagered must win by the pointspread. On an over/under wager, the total points of the contest by both teams, overtime included, must fall over or under the side selected.

Example

The posted line is San Francisco -5 at St. Louis +5 and the over/under total is 41.

For the player who wagers on San Francisco -5, San Fran must win by more than 5 points for this to be a winning wager. For the player who wagers on St. Louis +5, they must either win the game, or lose by less than 5 points for this to be a winning wager. If the outcome falls on the number, either way, the bet is declared a "Push", and your original stake is refunded.

The payout odds are $1.10 risked to win $1.00 profit and is displayed as (-110) unless otherwise indicated. Example: The odds that are listed as +150 or -210 are 'american' style. This simply means that they are based on $100. When you see the number displayed as a (+) positive number it signifies how much you will win if you RISK $100. For your example you have the odds listed as +150 so if you risk $100 then you will win $150 for a total return of $250. If the number is listed as a (-) negative number it signifies how much you must RISK in order to WIN $100. So if you see -210, then you must RISK $210 in order to win $100 for a total return of $310.

For the player who wagers on the total points of this contest by both teams to be "Over" 41, the combined final score of both teams must exceed 41. For the player who wagers on the total points of this contest by both teams to be "Under" 41, the combined final score of both teams must be less than 41. If the outcome falls on the number, the bet is declared a "Push", and the original stake is refunded.

Pointspread and Over/Under lines are offered on all NFL, AFL and NCAA contests. All wagers on the side & total include all overtime scoring.

Halftime Wagers

Sportsbooks offer halftime wagering on American Football. Halftime wagering is simply a wager only on the score of the first, or second half of a contest. The line offered will be a pointspread, a moneyline, or a combination of the two, but the wager applies only to the score of the halftime period specified.

Overtime periods are included as part of the second half.

Quarter Wagers

Wagering on quarters is simply a wager only on the score of the first, second, third or fourth quarter of a contest. These lines will be offered on marquee events, such as Monday Night Football, Sunday night games, and Bowl games. The line offered will be a pointspread, a moneyline, or a combination of the two, but the wager applies only to the score of the quarter specified.

Quarter lines will be released the day of the game, allowing ample time to get action on these events.
All quarter lines will come down at kickoff.
Wagers may be parlayed to other contests, but a quarter wager may not be parlayed to any other wager from the same game.
Overtime scoring is not included in Fourth Quarter wagers.

Moneyline Wagers

Moneyline Wagering is simply wagering on the contest based on a given price rather than a pointspread. The team wagered on just has to win the game.

Example

A player could choose one of two wagers on the following matchup: San Francisco -200 at St. Louis +180. If San Francisco wins then the player laid $200.00 to win $100.00. If St. Louis wins then the player who bet $100.00 wins $180.00.

Moneylines will be offered on most NFL and NCAA contests, and will normally be available on the morning of the game.
Moneyline wagers may be parlayed to other contests, but a moneyline wager may not be parlayed to any other wager from the same game.

Point Buying

This is a method of allowing the bettor to improve the pointspread of a football contest by actually "buying points" for the team he/she wants to wager, side or total. Bettors can buy points in 1/2 point increments up to 3 points, depending on the contest. Each 1/2 point costs the bettor an additional 10% vigorish.

Example

The Denver Broncos are playing the Kansas City Chiefs, and the line on the game is the Broncos -4 1/2, with a total of 42. If a $100 wager is placed on the Broncos -4 1/2 with a 1/2 point buy, the player has a wager on the Broncos -4 points, and must put up $120 to win $100, instead of the usual $110 to win $100. If the player, for example, requests a full 1 point buy to move the pointspread down to -3 1/2, he/she would have to put up $130 to win $100. Buying the pointspread down 1 1/2 points to 3 would cost $145 to win $100, and the full 3 point buy down to -1 1/2 would cost the bettor $190 to win $100.

Team	Pointspread	Costs
BRONCOS -4.5	-110
	Bought 0.5
BRONCOS -4	-120	Additional 10 %
	Bought 0.5
BRONCOS -3.5	-130	Additional 10 %
	Bought 0.5
BRONCOS -3	-145	Additional 10 % + 5 % (Buying on the 3)
	Bought 0.5
BRONCOS -2.5	-160	Additional 10 % + 5 % (Buying off the 3)
	Bought 0.5
BRONCOS -2	-175	Additional 15 %
	Bought 0.5
BRONCOS -1.5	-190	Additional 15 %

Conversely, the bettor may also buy points on the Chiefs side, and get the line at plus 5, 5 1/2 or 6 points, all the way up to plus 7 1/2 points with the same increase in vigorish.

Bettors may also buy points for football totals. In this particular game, bettors could buy an "over" wager with a maximum line move down to 39, or an "under" wager with a maximum line move up to 45.

Point Buying to a maximum of 3 points will be offered on all NFL and NCAA contests. First 2 points will be charged an additional 10% vigorish and 2 ½ and 3 will be charged an additional 15% vigorish.
Bettors will be charged an additional 5% vigorish to buy on, and/or off of the number 3 in the NFL.
Point Buying will not be offered on halftime, quarter or moneyline wagers.

Proposition Wagers

Sportsbooks offers a wide variety of proposition wagers. Props wagers include offers such as "Completions by Peyton Manning OVER/UNDER 19"

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