Types of Football Bets – Football Betting Basics

Football betting is one of the most popular forms of sports betting in the world today. While sports’ betting is legal only in Nevada in the United States, the practice is quite prevalent in the country mainly on account of off-shore gambling organizations and online betting conglomerates. Most bet makers charge a small commission on their bets, known in football parlance as the Vigorish or quite simply the Vig.

Point Spread

Bookmakers currently offer different kinds of football bets. One of the most important aspects of football betting is setting the point spread. Most bookmakers want to distribute the betting odds as evenly as possible. The football point spread is commonly thought to be the winning margin for the favorite side. However, technically the point spread is the line at which the bookmaker believes that the betting odds will be split as evenly as possible. This is often close to the winning margin. Football bets are rarely offered on the moneyline, i.e. without a point spread. Football betting with a point spread is often referred to as handicap betting; the process of fixing the line that will most probably split the betting equally between the competing sides is called handicapping. In order to win a bet with the point spread, punters need not necessarily have bet on the winning side. On the contrary if their side has lost within the point spread, the bet will pay out positively to them.

Straight Bets and Over/Under

As opposed to handicap betting, moneyline bets or straight bets are simple and uncomplicated. Punters bet on the outcome of a game-win or a loss. Bookmakers also put out betting odds for the total score of the match, aggregating the scores of both playing teams. Straight bets can be placed for over or under the total score.

Football over/under bets is another type of football bet when punters predict whether the total aggregate score will be above or below a preset ‘total’. The total score is the aggregate scores of both playing sides. Football over bets mean that the punter believes that the aggregate score will be above the total posted by bookmakers. Football under bets placed when the gambler believes that the aggregated score will be below the bookmaker’s total.

Parlay Bets

Football parlay bets is another football betting basic and one of the most popular forms of football betting prevalent today. A parlay bet is effectively one bet but the bet is linked to the outcome of one or more events. Gamblers can also buy a series of football parlay bets. In order to have a positive outcome each individual event must go the gamblers’ way and conform to his predictions. Football parlay bets are interesting because payouts differ depending on the number of bets in the series. The bet amounts are often quite low and the payouts are quite substantial; gamblers have to be astute enough to pick several winners in one go.

Proposition Bets

A relatively new entrant to the football betting scenario is the concept of football proposition bets, or simply football prop bets. These kinds of bets make an appearance during big money games in tournaments of mass interest like the NFL and Super Bowl. Football prop bets are special bets; they are offered by a bookmaker and pertain to specific events during a game. These events can be the first interception, first home run and total yards made by one team. Because football prop bets are put out by individual bookmakers, the odds are different and punters could do well to analyze them carefully before purchasing a bet.