If the sportsbook is busy with action, it must be football season. Whether it’s the NFL or NCAA, football betting action is fast and furious through the season. For the newbie sports bettor, it can seem a little confusing, but football bets really drop to two types-straight bets and parlay bets.
Football Betting – Straight Bets
Here’s the workhorse for any winning football bettor. A straight bet simply means you’re betting using one football game. In the event that you bet on more than one game on the same ticket, it is a parlay, and we’ll discuss that in a minute.
When you make a straight football bet, you will be betting on a side or total. To put it simply, when you bet a side, you “pick a side” in the game. For example, let’s say the New England Patriots are playing the Seattle Seahawks. jnetoto If you’re going to bet a side, you’d bet on either the Patriots or the Seahawks.
Every game has a point total (except NCAA football, that is most games). This is the quantity of points scored between both teams. Once you bet a complete, you’re betting under or over that total. For instance, let’s say the total is 47 and you also take the over. To win, both teams must combine for 48 or even more points (47 will be a push, therefore you get your bet back).
Football Betting – Parlays
Okay, so you know about straight bets, which is where you bet on just one single thing per ticket. When you want to bet on multiple thing, it’s a parlay. It is possible to bet on 2 – 20 things (depends upon the sportsbook).
For instance, let’s say you bet on the Seahawks and on the total on your ticket. That might be a 2-team parlay (even though technically there’s only 1 team on it).
The more items you put on the ticket, the more income you’ll win if they all hit. Naturally, the more items on the ticket, the harder it is to win.
With parlay bets it’s an all or nothing thing. If one pick fails, the ticket is dead. Some sportsbooks will run specials so you can get close, but that’s very rare.
If you enter making football bets via parlay tickets, you might check out “teasers,” which are parlay tickets with added points for you. For instance, instead of taking the Packers -10, you can find them at -3. Needless to say, the payouts certainly are a less since the risk is minimized.
Football betting is really a blast and there’s nothing better than hitting the sportsbook with a big winning ticket. I hit straight football bets and parlays all season long. I anticipate the NFL and NCAA football seasons.