Introduction
The NFL is such a massive, popular league that it’s no surprise that you can bet on its games. Even if you aren’t a fan of the sport—and there’s nothing wrong with that—you may want to place a bet or two as an outsider looking in. And since the NFL is so big and popular, it’s no secret that there are many different ways you can gamble on football games. The question is: which ones are worth your time? I’m here to help!
Is NFL gambling legal?
NFL gambling is legal in most states. There are some restrictions on where you can bet and how much you can bet, but for the most part, it’s fair game. You can place a wager online or at a sportsbook. And yes, you can even play some friendly wagers with your friends!
The only thing that isn’t legal? Gambling on the Super Bowl. Sorry to break it to all of our football fans out there who have been dreaming about this exact moment for years—but if you want to put down some cash on who will be crowned champion next year, think again!
How does the NFL compare to other sports for gambling?
The NFL is the most popular sport in America, and it’s no secret that American football is also America’s favorite gambling sport. In fact, the NFL is far and away the most bet-on professional sport in the U.S., with over $4 billion wagered on it annually (roughly three times more than Major League Baseball).
The next most popular sports you can gamble on are baseball and basketball, which each see around $1 billion in bets each year—that’s less than one-third of what you’ll bet on football!
What are point spreads, and how do they work?
If you’ve ever watched or heard about an NFL game, then you know that a lot of people bet on football. In fact, more money is wagered on pro football than any other sport. Point spreads are the most common way to bet on NFL games, and they’re also the easiest way to get started with your gambling journey through these glorious days of legalized sports gambling!
Point spreads are determined by oddsmakers (more on those in a minute) and predict how many points a team will win or lose by—for example: the Cowboys are -7 against the Chiefs. That means Dallas has to win by eight more points than Kansas City if you want your money back in full (though winning is never guaranteed). A positive number means that team needs fewer points for you to make a profit; here it would be seven less than what Dallas scored in their last game against Washington, which was 29 points so -22 would be good enough for profit there too but +7 isn’t quite enough since they lost 32-30 so there’s no way we can guarantee a win here either since anything could happen.
The ‘-‘ symbol means that our favorite team has been given credit for being “underdogs” or “wagering faves”; meanwhile “+” implies they’re favored over their opponents instead–that’s why we listed both options above because some people might prefer one type over another depending upon personal preferences etcetera…
What are money lines and totals, and how do they work?
The most common way to bet on sports is with a moneyline. This is when you pick the winner of a game, but instead of gambling on whether they cover the spread, you bet that they will win the game straight up (a “straight” bet).
Ahead of Sunday’s games and Monday’s playoff matchups, we’re breaking down some frequently asked questions about betting odds for money lines—and what those numbers mean for your potential payout.
Let’s start with some basic definitions: A moneyline number represents how much each team needs to win in order for you to win your wager. If Team A has +120 and Team B has -140, then Team A needs to win by 2 points or more for your bet to be successful; otherwise, it won’t pay out anything at all (the same goes for Team B). You can also go against both teams (“piggyback”) if one side seems too high or low compared with its opponent’s line; this generally makes sense when two sides are very close together in terms of likelihoods but have vastly different spreads (for example: -110/-300 vs +250/500).
How to find trustworthy NFL gambling sites
- Check out reviews. The best way to find a trustworthy NFL gambling site is to read up on it and see what people have to say about it. A good site will have plenty of positive reviews, while a bad one will be filled with complaints from users who had issues that could’ve been avoided if the company had done better background checks on their employees, or done more frequent security updates on their software.
- Look at the history and reputation of the site. Many smaller sites are scams—they’re run by people who just want your money, so they’ll do whatever they can to get you hooked on betting before ripping you off later down the line when they close shop without warning (or worse). Bigger companies tend to treat their clients well because they know they’ll get complaints if they don’t; plus there are laws in place now making sure these websites stay honest about things like licensing details and payment methods (more on those in just a bit).
- Check out licensing information from each state where sports betting was legalized recently here.
Even though you can’t bet on the Super Bowl just yet, you can bet on all other games
Even though you can’t bet on the Super Bowl just yet, you can bet on all other games.
- You can bet on any regular season game in 2022.
- You can also make bets on individual playoff games (including the Super Bowl) in 2022.
- And if you want to get really crazy with your wagers, you could even bet on individual teams’ records for next year (including who wins each division).
Conclusion
We hope this guide has given you a better understanding of how NFL gambling works. You can now be confident when placing your bets and know that you’re doing it right!
