LowPlays NFL Betting Guide

If you would like to place online bets on NFL football, instead of taking a chance with an offshore sportsbook, there are many excellent state-licensed sportsbooks where eligible players from the US now place these bets legally. But before you start, you need a working knowledge of the basics, so why not let the football betting experts at LowPlays guide you?

This comprehensive but easy-to-follow LowPlays NFL Betting Guide covers all of the important topics. It is highly recommended reading for anyone who can place sports bets legally in the US and is interested in winning money betting on pro football.

Recommended NFL Betting Sites

While the NFL is only one sport of many that you can bet on legally at state-licensed online sportsbooks, it is by far the most popular with American sports bettors. Therefore, unlike some foreign leagues and less widely bet sports like snooker and volleyball that some sportsbooks might not offer, the NFL is a sport that is available with extensive betting options on any legitimate betting site.

That said, your best bet is a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate site with highly rated iOS and Android mobile apps that is available in many states and includes a guide for beginners on how to bet. We especially recommend any of the following:

Whether you are an experienced sports bettor simply looking for another place to play or a beginner betting football for the first time, you won’t go wrong with any of these betting sites. They are the best online sportsbooks and mobile apps for NFL bettors in the US.

Betting in the NFL Regular Season

The 18-week NFL regular season starts in September and ends in early January. However, each of the 32 teams gets one bye week, making the total number of games each team plays 17 rather than 18. The majority of these games are played on Sunday afternoons. However, during most weeks of the regular season, the schedule also includes one or more Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night games. There are a few Saturday games as well.

Betting in the NFL Post-Season

The 32 teams are divided into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC), and each conference in turn is broken down into four divisions (East, North, South, and West).

Fourteen of the 32 teams (the four division leaders from each conference and the three more teams from each conference with the next best records) qualify for the playoffs.

Only the top-seeded team in each conference gets a bye during the first week of the playoffs (Round 1, also called the Wild Card round). The other six teams from each conference are matched up as follows:

• No. 7 seed at No. 2 seed
• No. 6 seed at No. 3 seed
• No. 5 seed at No. 4 seed

The winners and the No. 1 seed advance to the Divisional round, while the losers are eliminated. Then the Divisional round winners advance to the Conference Championship round, and finally, the two conference champions face each other in the Super Bowl in February.

Unlike regular season NFL games, which can end in a tie even after overtime, post-season games cannot end in a tie.

Types of Bets

Most US online sportsbooks offer a very wide choice in the types of bets you can make in the NFL. The following are the most popular.

Spread Betting

It is a known fact that there is considerable talent disparity in the NFL. So to compensate for these differences and help create balanced betting action on both sides, sportsbooks offer the option of point spread betting. Many bettors also prefer this alternative to simply picking the outright winner against the moneyline. Those who like the favorite but might be reluctant to lay steep odds on the moneyline can still have the betting action they want at a lower cost. Those who think the game will be competitive can bet on the underdog, not necessarily to win the game but just to cover the point spread. Point spread betting or spread betting is one of the most popular ways to wager on pro football games.

Here is an example that will show you how spread betting in the NFL works.

• New Orleans Saints +6 -110
• Dallas Cowboys -6 -110

Regardless of which side you bet, the cost is $110 for every $100 you hope to win. The extra $10 (10% of your bet) is the vig, which all sportsbooks charge as a cost of doing business. In this instance, to win a bet on the Cowboys (which are a 6-point favorite) they not only have to win the game outright but by more than 6 points. However, to win a bet on the Saints (which are a 6-point underdog) even if they don’t win outright, as long as they don’t lose by more than 5 points, you are a winner. If the Cowboys win by exactly 6 points, the bet is a push, and you get your money back

NFL Betting Lines

Rather than betting on either the favorite or the underdog to cover the point spread, you can make a straight moneyline bet, which is simply a wager on which team you think will win the game outright. This is the simplest form of betting since the margin of victory does not enter the equation at all. However, keep in mind that when you place a moneyline bet on the favorite, because you are backing the team with the higher probability of winning, the amount you receive if your bet wins is always less than the amount you have to risk to make the bet. Conversely, when you bet on the underdog the profit you make if you win is more than the cost of the bet, but the downside is a lower probability of winning.

Moneyline betting at US sportsbooks is based on American odds. The odds on the favorite, which are always preceded by a minus (-) sign, indicate the amount of money you have to risk to win $100. The odds on the underdog, which are always preceded by a plus (+) sign, indicate the amount of money you would collect for each winning bet of $100. The bigger the number in either direction, the greater the disparity in the two teams’ respective odds of winning.

Here is an example showing how moneyline betting in the NFL works. Suppose the Kansas City Chiefs are installed as a -150 favorite over the Baltimore Ravens and you bet $150 on the Chiefs, hoping to win $100. If you win, your payout will include the $150 you wagered plus $100 in winnings, for a total of $250. If you lose, you will be paid nothing and will be out the $150 cost of your wager.

Alternatively, let’s say you like the Ravens’ chances as an underdog at +125. If you bet $100 on them and win, you would receive back the $100 you wagered plus $125 in winnings, for a total of $225. If the bet loses, you would be paid nothing and would be out $100.

Totals Betting

Totals or over/under betting entails wagering whether the total number of points scored in the game will be more or less than a designated number. Sportsbooks also post over/under lines for each team separately and for different segments of the game, such as the first quarter, second half, etc. Typically, both the over and under are priced at or close to -110.

As with point spread bets, if your over/under bet falls exactly on the designated number, the bet is a push and your wager will be returned to you. Sportsbooks often add half-points to their over/under betting lines to avert these possibilities.

Props Wagers

These are bets on a specific aspect of the game not related to the final score. Here are a few examples:

• Which team will be the first to score?
• Which player will score the first touchdown?
• Over/under line on passing, rushing, or receiving yards for a given team or player
• Will the first score be a touchdown (-160), a field goal (+140), or a safety (+400)?

Parlays

Parlays are a form of wagering where two or more independent outcomes are combined into a single bet that yields a higher payout at less cost than if you bet on each outcome separately.

Traditional parlays combine two or more games. These bets are very popular in the NFL, especially on Sundays during the regular season when the packed schedule may include a dozen or more games. However, another betting option that has become even more popular lately, and which all major sportsbooks promote heavily, are same game parlays (SGPs). The difference between SGPs and other parlays is that all of the components must apply to the same game. Here, for example, is a hypothetical 5-leg SGP for a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers.

• The first score will be a touchdown
• There will be a score in every quarter
• Patrick Mahomes to have 300+ passing yards
• Justin Herbert to have 240+ passing yards
• Kansas City to score 30+ points

Bettors have a lot of leeway in choosing the various parlay components. You can either choose one of the parlays the sportsbook has preselected or build your own. Either way, the sportsbook will compute and display the odds and payout, so no math skills are required on your part. All you have to do is finalize your selections, submit the bet, and hope you win.

The more components or legs you add to the parlay, the bigger the potential payout. That is why many small bettors love to take a shot with elaborate multileg parlays, hoping for a ginormous payday, only to learn the hard way that these bets hardly ever win. The problem is that every leg of the parlay must win or the entire bet is a loser.

Live (in-play) Bets

These are bets on games that are already in progress. Besides being a much-appreciated betting option by anyone who would like to bet on a game but missed the opportunity to do so before it started, live betting allows you to have additional action as the game unfolds. This makes watching a game much more exciting and keeps you actively invested from start to finish. You can also increase your winnings from a previous bet or hedge your bet to reduce a probable loss. However, you have to act very fast, because the odds are continually changing.

Futures Betting

Many football fans, especially those who are new to sports betting, wait until the day of the game to place their bets, but in some sports, including the NFL, betting lines are posted long before then. For example, you can bet on the team you think will win the AFC championship, NFC championship, or Super Bowl not only at any point during the NFL regular season but also during the off-season. You can also bet on the opening week games before the season starts.

Keep in mind, however, that all betting odds are subject to change. Sometimes you will get better odds by betting early but not always. You are also not privy to important late-breaking information that could affect the results such as injuries and coaching and player changes taking place while the season is underway. The term used to describe bets you can make far in advance is futures betting.

Complete History of the NFL

The NFL originated on August 20, 1920 in Canton, Ohio as the American Professional Football Association. It was founded by a group of men who held a meeting in a Canton, OH car showroom to form a new football league. The league that grew out of that meeting marked the beginning of professional football in America.

The league’s name was changed to the NFL in 1922. Initially, the league consisted of only 14 teams: five from Ohio, four from Illinois, two from Indiana, two from New York, and one from Michigan. Only two of these original 14 teams still exist. The Racine Cardinals moved from Chicago to St. Louis in 1959 and to their present location in Arizona in 1988. Another Illinois team, the Decatur Staleys, moved to Chicago in 1921 and in 1922, changed their name to the Chicago Bears.

The fledgling football league struggled early on but survived the Great Depression, and the first NFL Championship Game took place in 1933. The Chicago Bears beat the NY Giants by a score of 23-21.

During subsequent years, the NFL expanded to include more new teams, and the league grew in popularity. National TV broadcasting and heavy advertising further contributed to its growth, and helped make the NFL the biggest and most important sports league in America.

In 1970, the NFL merged with a competing league, the American Football League (AFL), and expanded to 26 teams. The merger also resulted in the formation of two still-existing NFL conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).

Today the NFL is recognized as not only the biggest and most important sports league in America, and an important part of American culture, but also as a major source of international sports entertainment. Countless sports fans in the US and around the world enjoy watching and betting on preseason, regular season, and postseason NFL games. Then, at the culmination of every season, the AFC champion squares off against the NFC champion in the single most watched and most heavily bet game of the year, the Super Bowl.

NFL Teams

The 32 teams that currently comprise the NFL are evenly split between two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference is further broken down into four divisions: North, East, South, and West. Each division includes four teams.

American Football Conference (AFC)

AFC North

• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Cleveland Browns
• Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC East

• Buffalo Bills
• Miami Dolphins
• New England Patriots
• New York Jets

 AFC South

• Houston Texans
• Indianapolis Colts
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Tennessee Titans

 AFC West

• Denver Broncos
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Los Angeles Chargers

National Football Conference (NFC)

NFC North

• Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions
• Green Bay Packers
• Minnesota Vikings

NFC East

• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Giants
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Washington Commanders

NFC South

• Atlanta Falcons
• Carolina Panthers
• New Orleans Saints
•  Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West

• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angeles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Seattle Seahawks

NFL Betting Tips

Based on everything we have covered about the NFL so far in this article, it should be clear that making winning selections in this sport is a complicated and multi-faceted process. Much more often than not, the final result is influenced by a combination of many factors.

One way to increase your chances of winning is by staying well-informed about everything important that is happening around the league, not only during every week of the season but also during the off-season. We highly recommend that you stay up-to-date regarding coaching changes, trades, and injuries and not ignore these variables in your betting, but don’t overemphasize their importance either. The same applies to variables such as adverse weather conditions, difficult travel schedules, and players with legal or personal problems. While, on the one hand, the outcome of a game can be significantly affected by these kinds of factors, on the other hand, the oddsmakers are aware of them, too, so the possible negative effects are built into the line. Therefore, the key is to get your hands on relevant information before the general public.

Keep in mind, too, that NFL players are professionals and are accustomed to tough schedules and playing in bad weather. Also, even if a key player is out, many teams have capable backups who can rise to the occasion.

Lastly, while every game on the schedule is important, some might take on special significance such as revenge games, key games in the playoff race, and games dedicated to the memory of a particular player or coach. Conversely, very late in the season, teams whose playoff seeding is already locked up, as well as those that have already been eliminated from playoff contention, might rest most of their starters; those are good teams to bet against. The better informed you are about the many diverse factors that can affect the results of a game, the better equipped you will be to make a profit from NFL betting.

NFL Betting News

NFL Betting FAQs

When does the NFL betting season start?

The preseason NFL betting season starts in late July or the beginning of August with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, OH. The regular season starts in September.

When is the NFL Draft?

The NFL draft takes place annually toward the end of April.

When are NFL draft odds available?

The leading sportsbooks start posting NFL draft odds way in advance – before the next season even starts.

Can bets be made during the preseason?

Yes, bets can be made on all preseason games. However, caution is advised because teams may want to give players other than regular starters an opportunity to practice to see how well they fit in the lineup.

How many NFL teams are there?

There are currently 32 teams in the NFL.

How many teams make the NFL playoffs?

14 of the 32 teams (7 from the AFC and 7 from the NFC) make the NFL playoffs. Within each conference, the teams are seeded as follows:

• Seeds 1-4: the four division leaders based on their records
• Seeds 5, 6, and 7: the three teams in each conference with the next-best regular season record

What is the single biggest NFL betting event of the year?

The single biggest NFL betting event of the year is the Super Bowl.