Football Betting Strategy Guide

Does making regular and consistent profits from betting on football sound appealing? Are you prepared to put in the necessary time and effort to make this possible? If so, you’re in the right place.

Before we get started, we should make one thing very clear. There’s no single “correct” method for making your football betting selections. Consistently picking winners is just not that simple. There are many different approaches you can choose to take, and many things you need to consider when making your picks. There are several different strategies you can employ, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Pretty much any football betting strategy has the potential to be successful. The key is using them effectively. For a strategy to work, you have to use it in the right way and in the right situations. This takes both knowledge and skill.

Getting overwhelmed? Don’t! We’re here for you! This section of our website contains the most extensive, and valuable, part of our football betting guide. What we don’t do is tell you what to do. There are plenty of other websites and books that do this, but we don’t believe that simply being told what to do helps you much in the long run.

Instead, we want you to learn how to make informed decisions for yourself. We want to help you determine which approaches are likely to work the best for you, and enable you to implement your preferred strategies effectively. Your ultimate goal should be to develop your own unique winning strategies too.

That’s why we’ve provided an enormous amount of information and advice related to football betting strategy. We’ll teach you the basics and everything you need to know to help you develop the fundamental skills required to be successful. We’ve also provided details on a range of specific strategies and their various pros and cons.

Please note that we’re not claiming to know everything there is to know about betting on football. We do have guys on our team who are long term winners though. They have numerous years of experience, and they’re sharing the benefit of that experience with you. We can’t promise that we’ll turn you into a long term winner too, but we’ll certainly give you a better chance of making some money.

This page explains exactly what you’ll find in this strategy guide, which is divided into the following sections.

This is the best place to start if you’re new to learning about football betting strategy. You might be a complete beginner when it comes to betting, or you might have been betting for a while but just recently have decided to take things more seriously. Or maybe you already take things seriously but have not been getting the results you want.

Whatever your situation, this section will help put you on the road to success. We’ll teach you what football betting strategy is, how it helps and how to use it effectively. That’s not all either.

You might want to take a look at this section even if you’ve already studied football strategy extensively. Unless you’re a genuine expert yourself that is, in which case we probably can’t teach you much at all. Assuming you’re not, you’ll find some useful information here. At the very least you’ll be reminded of some important basics that you might have forgotten.

You should already have at least SOME sports betting knowledge to get the most out of this section. Preferably, you should also know a little something about betting on football specifically. If you think your knowledge is lacking in either of these areas, please take a look at the following sections of our website before proceeding.

OK, so you’re ready to start learning about football betting strategy. But what does this term actually mean? What exactly IS a football betting strategy?

Let’s focus on the word strategy first. Here are three different dictionary definitions that we’ve found.

It couldn’t get much simpler than that! A strategy is basically a plan to achieve your goals. So how does this apply in the context of football betting? Well, before we can answer that, you must answer one simple question!

Making regular and consistent profits requires analyzing a wide variety of factors before placing a single wager. Being knowledgeable about football is not enough by itself. You have to learn HOW to utilize that knowledge. There are some important concepts you need to understand, and some vital skills you need to master.

Above all else, there are three things you need to be able to do well.

Football just isn’t that predictable unfortunately. Things don’t always go as expected. There are a plethora of factors which directly affect the outcome of football games. Most of them can be broadly classified as falling into one of the following two categories:

Overall team strength is arguably the single biggest factor in determining the outcome of a football game. In theory at least. After all, it’s entirely logical that a game of football will be won by the strongest team. It’s pretty easy to predict what’s going to happen when one of the best teams in the NFL is up against one of the worst. But it’s a lot harder when two evenly matched teams are playing.

There are several factors to consider when assessing the overall quality of a team. There’s no single “correct” to way to analyze how good teams are, but we recommend taking each of the following into consideration.

The result of a football game isn’t determined solely by how good the respective teams are. If that was the case, then the best team would always win, and we’ve already established that’s not what happens.

The best approach is to determine which of these factors are the most important, and then focus on them. This is essentially a matter of opinion, but we recommend taking the following factors into consideration.

Mistakes are common in football betting, even for experienced bettors, so it’s important to accept and learn from them. While aiming to avoid mistakes, beginners often overcomplicate things. It’s best to keep things simple and focus on getting the basics right before delving into complex strategies. This section provides valuable and simple football betting tips specifically designed for beginners, which can greatly impact betting results.

Try to have a clear budget for how much you’re going to spend on football betting over a specific period of time. You should have a proper bankroll which can be used solely for betting purposes. If you lose it all before the season ends, then it’s time to stop. You can always go again the following season if you can afford to allocate another bankroll.

In theory, you should never lose an entire bankroll. Not if you look after it properly. The whole point of having a dedicated bankroll is to then manage it in a way that you’ll never go bust. For starters, you should try to follow these three rules.

We already mentioned how it takes knowledge and experience to be successful, both of which take time to master. Patience is a virtue, and that same principal can be applied to your football betting. It’s natural to want to start winning money as soon as possible. We understand this. It’s also why we suggest thinking long term. It will be hard at times, especially if you feel like you’re not really progressing, but you’ve just got to deal with that. You’ll just end up making lots of mistakes if you try to rush things.

Remember to stay focused on your ultimate goals. That’s the only way you’ll ever actually achieve them.

This tip is perhaps a little unnecessary since most people do their betting online these days, but we included it anyway. It’s still a solid piece of advice. Online betting offers several advantages over the other alternatives, so it’s quite simply the best option.

Here are just a few of those advantages.

The fact that online betting is fast, safe and convenient won’t have any direct impact on your betting results of course. But it’s worth mentioning because it means that everything is already taken care of for you. There’s enough to worry about when betting on football without having to worry about how you’re going to place your wagers. Using betting sites is hassle free, and that alone is a good enough reason to bet online.

Getting the best odds and lines in football betting is crucial for maximizing your profits and increasing your chances of winning. Betting online typically provides better odds, and having accounts at multiple betting sites allows you to compare and choose the best deals for each wager, even small differences can significantly impact your long-term earnings.

This is perhaps the most obvious one of all. Paying close attention to what’s going on in the world of football is clearly going to help when betting on the sport. The better you know the teams and players, the more likely you’ll be to make good betting decisions.

There are several ways to keep up to date with football and make sure that you have the information needed to make informed judgments and predictions. The following are the most effective.

You’re probably already familiar with the two most popular types of football wager. In the unlikely event that you’re not, please see the following page for more information. You really shouldn’t be betting on football without understanding how point spreads and totals work.

It’s possible to make money from football betting using just those two wagers. But, ideally, you should also be aware of all the other betting options too. This will give you a much greater chance of finding good opportunities to get some money down.

The wagers listed below are probably the most important ones to learn more about.

This is another fairly obvious tip. Regardless, it’s still something you should do. You’ll never be able to make accurate predictions all of the time, but you can certainly try to improve your predictive skills as much as possible.

How do you do this? Well, the first thing is to make sure that you’re fully aware of all the information that can be used to help make accurate football predictions. This can be broken down as follows.

As a beginner to betting strategy it’s possible that you’re not familiar with the concept of value as it applies in this context. And, even if you are, it’s unlikely that you fully understand the concept and recognize how important it is. We’re not criticizing here, as most bettors fail to properly grasp this concept.

Identifying value is the key to football betting success!

This is NOT an exaggeration. Your chances of making money from football betting, or any kind of betting for that matter, are severely limited if you don’t understand value and identify it in the betting markets. Finding value is essentially the only way to make consistent profits, unless you’re simply insanely lucky.

Trusting your instincts in football betting is important but should not be the sole basis for all your bets. While hunches can occasionally be relied upon, they should be used sparingly. Even the best strategies have their flaws, so when your instinct feels right, don’t hesitate to go for it. Over time, as you study and analyze football betting strategies, your instincts can become a valuable and more reliable tool.

Any systems and strategies you use will have to be constantly tweaked so that they too are evolving and changing as necessary. This applies even after becoming successful, and it most definitely applies before reaching that stage. It’s important to always be looking for ways to fine tune things and improve overall betting results.

This can only really be done effectively by tracking results. Keeping detailed records of your betting allows you to do the following.

Knowing the amounts won or lost is obviously important. It’s the only way to measure just how well things are going. Properly analyzing past records can reveal MUCH more than that though. It’s a vital process for understanding what’s working out well, and what’s not working at all. With this information on hand, it’s then possible to highlight the best ways to improve.

To be a successful bettor, it’s important to be selective and only bet when there’s a good reason to do so. Betting for the sake of it or without genuine confidence or identified value in the market will likely lead to losses. Focus on placing well thought out wagers based on accurate predictions and market value for better long-term results.

The internet is full of football touts. A small minority of them offer a good service at affordable prices. Some even offer a few good quality picks for free. The vast majority of them are a complete waste of money though. We don’t particularly recommend using the tout services at all, but if you really want to then, PLEASE be very careful about which services you choose.

On this section, we’ve explained a few strategies that we recommend for beginners. They’re pretty straightforward, so they’re not too difficult to understand. They all have the potential to be effective, but don’t expect them to lead to easy profits. Like so many betting strategies, they are basically just general guidelines for what you should be betting on and when. You still need to evaluate and analyze individual opportunities for yourself.

Understanding the concept of value is crucial for successful football betting. It’s not enough to make accurate predictions; you must also consider the odds offered by different bookmakers. Even if an outcome seems likely, a bet with low odds may not be worth it, while a bet with higher odds on an unlikely outcome can offer value. Applying the concept of value is important in any betting strategy, and “value betting” involves identifying situations where the probability of an outcome is higher than the implied odds.

Comparing the quality of football teams helps form predictions and identify betting opportunities based on the theory that the better team is more likely to win. However, predicting game outcomes is challenging due to unique circumstances surrounding each game, making situational handicapping a strategy aimed at accurately assessing the influence of different factors.

The fundamental idea here is to first consider which variables are going to affect the outcome of a game. Then you try to figure out what impact those variables will have. This can help you make informed judgments about what’s likely to happen.

Here’s a list of some of the situational factors you should be looking at.

The contrarian strategy is also known as fading the public, or betting against the public. The idea is simply that you bet on the opposite of what the majority of people are betting on. It’s based on the simple theory that the majority of people are going to be wrong, as most people who bet on football are overall losers.

Following steam moves is about trying to emulate what the really smart bettors are doing. It’s based on the theory that big moves in the betting markets are usually caused by betting syndicates and/or successful high stakes bettors getting their money down. They’re betting so much money that the bookmakers and betting sites are forced to make significant adjustments to their odds and lines. These adjustments are known as steam moves, or simply steam.

As a general rule, the public prefers betting on favorites. The bookmakers know this, and set their odds and lines accordingly. We’ve already touched on this concept when talking about the contrarian strategy.

This strategy is a little more precise though. It’s about specifically looking for value in games where underdogs are playing at home against popular teams. Many recreational bettors will put their money on popular road favorites without much thought at all, and that can often make home underdogs an attractive betting proposition.

The concept of this strategy is very straightforward. It’s based on the fact that bookmakers and betting sites will sometimes offer odds and lines that are noticeably different from the rest of the market. This might simply be because they have a different outlook than everyone else. Or it might be because of the wagers they’ve already taken or are expecting to take.

Betting middles is a strategy that provides the potential for profit without taking much risk. The idea here is to take advantage of opportunities where it’s possible to bet on both sides of a game and have a chance of winning both wagers. Such opportunities don’t happen often, but they DO happen.

Why do these opportunities arise?

Because of changes to the odds and lines.

Bookmakers and betting sites regularly adjust their lines based on the wagers they take and new information that they may receive. When these adjustments are big enough, it can be a good spot to bet both sides of a game.

The rebound game strategy is beautifully simple. It doesn’t require much work at all. All you need to do is study the results of games and look for teams that have suffered a blowout, lost a game they were expected to win, or experienced some other kind of setback. Then you apply the bounce back theory.

The bounce back theory states that teams will put in an improved performance if they’ve just been beaten badly: or lost unexpectedly, or lost really late in the game. It’s based on the idea that setbacks like this can really motivate a team to do better the next time they play.

The bye week strategy is based on a loose trend of teams performing better than average following a bye week. It’s an incredibly simple strategy to implement, but it’s also very limited. The idea is simply that you bet on a team in their first game after a bye week. There’s literally nothing more to it than that.

Teasers are a specific type of parlay that allows you to modify the point spread in your favor. In exchange you take reduced odds. A basic strategy for this type of wager is commonly referred to as Wong teasers. It’s a simple strategy for beginners to use once they understand the basics, which is why we’ve mentioned it here.

We’ve hopefully made it abundantly clear that finding value when betting on football isn’t easy. That’s why it’s important that you have realistic expectations about the challenge you’re facing, or else you’re just going to end up disappointed.

Don’t let the challenge put you off though. There’s definitely money to be made from betting on football if you can learn how to identify value betting opportunities and take full advantage of them. It will take time to do this, but it WILL be worth it!

In the meantime, here are some simple tips that can help you find value in the football betting markets more effectively.

The word handicapping often scares people when used in the context of sports betting. There seems to be a widespread misconception about what it means. Many people believe it to be an incredibly complex subject that requires genius levels of intelligence to understand. It really isn’t. There are some advanced aspects of it for sure, but it’s fundamentally not that complicated.

In this section we provide a complete introduction to football handicapping. This starts with an explanation of sports betting handicapping in general terms, before looking at handicapping as it relates to football specifically. We also detail the various factors you need to consider when using handicapping techniques.

Handicapping in football betting has two purposes: to win money and make more accurate predictions. Though winning a high percentage of your bets is desirable, it shouldn’t be the sole objective because of the unpredictable nature of sports betting and varying odds. Betting on heavily favored outcomes with low odds will grant you more win rate but it will be less profitable. The aim of handicapping is to assess the likelihood of different outcomes accurately and enabling informed betting decisions. Understanding what handicappers do and why they do it can help you make better betting choices based on realistic assessments rather than just focusing on winning as many wagers as possible.

Handicapping football involves assessing the likelihood of different outcomes and finding the value of the odds offered. There is no single correct way to handicap but assessments are crucial for making a profit. Understanding implied probability will help you determine the value by comparing estimated chances with odds. Bettors can increase their overall profit by focusing on the positive value instead of the most likely outcome. Assessments are subjective and measuring accuracy is not as important as consistent profitability. Exploring different handicapping techniques is the key for improving your assessments and achieving success.

Handicapping in football is more of an art than an exact science, and a flexible approach tends to be more effective than rigid rules. Techniques that involve proper analysis and judgment are usually the most successful, while systems with fixed criteria are often limited. The process of learning how to handicap football is ongoing, involving trial and error to find the most effective techniques for your style and knowledge. Technical and fundamental handicapping, as well as statistical, trend-based, and situational handicapping, are different categories to explore.

Handicapping football may seem complex, but the basics are straightforward once you grasp its purpose. However, effectively applying techniques and consistently profiting from handicapping is challenging and requires commitment. There are no shortcuts to success, but with dedication and continuous learning, anyone can improve their betting results.

Mentally prepare yourself for the losses you’re likely to incur. We often see bettors give up too quickly because they view early losses as a sign of failure. Instead, they should view them as a necessary evil, as it’s just not possible to learn how to handicap football effectively without making some mistakes along the way.

The fact that losing money is an integral part of betting highlights the importance of learning how to manage your money correctly. This is actually something that all bettors should learn, regardless of whether they’re betting for fun or taking things more seriously. Anyone who fails to employ proper money management risks allowing their losses to create bigger problems than they should.

The most successful handicappers share several common traits. One of these is the ability to think objectively and rationally at all times. This is a big part of why they’re successful.

Although we’re all CAPABLE of objective and rational thinking, doing it consistently is not easy. This is because of the many emotions that can affect us when betting, and the fact that our minds can work in ways that sometimes prevent us from processing information the way that we’d like to.

The constant need for information is the main reason why football handicapping is so time consuming. By dedicating many hours to research and analysis, you’ll be guaranteed to know as much as possible about the teams and players that you’re betting on. There’s simply no point in trying to assess the likelihood of potential outcomes unless you’re fully informed about what might affect those outcomes.

Below is a list of four actions you can take to help get the information you need.

While some bettors prefer a rigid approach to handicapping with strict rules, we encourage a flexible and balanced approach, especially for beginners. Following a wide range of handicapping techniques allows for experimentation, adjustments, and skill development.

There are certain things that we absolutely should do, and some that we absolutely shouldn’t do, but for the most part it’s down to the individual to do whatever they think will produce the best results.

We’ve already provided you with many different tips that we consider to be very valuable. Now we want to address the more straightforward tips that are equally as important to follow.

Anyone who follows both the NFL and college football is probably aware of their differences. One difference that really stands out is the number of teams involved. While there are only 32 teams associated with the NFL, there are 128 teams in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision alone. This means there are more games being played and more betting opportunities to look at.

Many of the other differences between the NFL and college football are fairly insignificant, and don’t really have any impact on the betting and handicapping side of things. However, there are few that ARE significant. Pay close attention to these, as they will affect how you should approach certain aspects of your handicapping.

In addition to the number of betting opportunities available, the following differences are also relevant from a betting perspective.

The first thing you need to understand about fundamental and technical handicapping is that neither type is “better” than the other. A lot of handicappers have a preference for one or the other, but this is a matter of personal opinion. What works best for one bettor doesn’t work best for every bettor, and there’s no single correct way to handicap football. Fundamental handicapping and technical handicapping both have their own merits.

Technical handicapping is all about the numbers. We consider this to be the more scientific form of handicapping, as it doesn’t leave room for individual opinion. It involves using hard data, and solely using that data to make betting decisions. Technical handicapping relies heavily on statistics, trends and patterns.

Here are a couple of very simple techniques that a technical handicapper might use.

The goal when using fundamental handicapping is essentially to form rounded opinions about the quality of teams and players, and consider how they’re likely to perform in any given set of circumstances. Here are a couple examples of what fundamental handicappers do.

Virtually all football bettors use statistics to some extent. Even recreational bettors that don’t take things too seriously tend to look at a few of the main stats when making their betting decisions. And many serious handicappers use stats almost exclusively to form their opinions and make their decisions.

Here are some examples of the stats that can help with handicapping football.

Some of the stats on this list are very simple, while others are a little more advanced. Either way, they can all be useful. Properly analyzing these statistics can provide us with some valuable insight and help us to shape our views on how good a team or player really is. It can also help us identify key strengths and weaknesses.

There are two types of situational handicapping in football. One type involves analyzing past performances in specific situations to predict future outcomes, similar to trend-based handicapping. The other type focuses on considering situational factors that can impact game results, such as team reactions to circumstances.

Trend based handicapping is arguably the simplest form of handicapping. In our opinion, it’s also the weakest. We’re extremely unlikely to ever make a betting decision based solely on a trend. However, it does have its uses.

This form of handicapping is all about identifying trends and patterns that are likely to continue. The goal is to discover any tendencies that teams might have in specific circumstances. Here are some examples of the kind of trends that football bettors look for.

Combination handicapping is the most powerful form of football handicapping because it allows for a broader range of information and analysis. Other techniques can be useful in certain situations however, the individual effectiveness of them are less beneficial than combination handicapping. Assimilating your knowledge, experimenting with different techniques and developing your own handicapping method is key to achieving consistent profit in football betting.

Regardless of which handicapping techniques you end up using, the techniques themselves will only get you so far. Even the most powerful techniques won’t be effective if you fail to get the basics right. Here’s a list of some basic skills that you’ll need to develop in order to be successful.

It’s impossible to be successful without proper money management, while betting for value is nothing short of vital. Being selective with your wagers should prevent you from throwing your money away unnecessarily, and help you to focus on finding the best opportunities. Considering a wide range of factors should ensure that you make betting decisions for the right reasons. Controlling your emotions is hard, but something you definitely need to learn how to do.

Several football strategies relate to specific types of wager. This makes perfect sense, as the various types of football wager work very differently. It stands to reason that a good strategy for predicting the winner of a football game is not likely to be so useful for predicting the total number of points in that game. Although there may be some crossover, the factors you need to consider are ultimately very different.

This section features strategy advice and general tips for each of the main types of football wager. The aim here is to help you learn how to use all of these wagers effectively. Much of the advice is fairly straightforward, so it’s all suitable for relative beginners. In fact, many of the strategies discussed are ideal for people who are just getting started.

We offer a number of tips for betting football point spreads on this page. We’re going to start with the three that we feel are especially important. Check out our list below!

Each one of these tips is pretty basic: maybe even obvious. Regardless, they are all worth following. Please note that if you’re not doing these things, then you’re harming your chances of making money. It’s also important to remember that these tips apply to most forms of sports betting: not just football point spreads.

Following the above simple tips will immediately put you in a good position for betting football point spreads profitably. They are helpful, but there’s still a lot more you need to consider too. Here’s some additional advice that we recommend taking on board.

Knowing the key numbers when betting football point spreads is very important. In this context, the term “key numbers” refers to the most common margins of victory in games.

Knowing these key numbers can be very helpful in deciding which games to bet on, and which games to avoid. It can help you choose which line to take when comparing your options, and it can even provide some insight into which way the bookmakers want you to bet.

Throughout every football season there’s invariably a couple of teams that get continuously hyped up. Try not to get taken in by this. There’s nothing wrong with backing teams who are well-thought of, but don’t make betting decisions based solely on what other people think.

A football team’s schedule has a greater effect on performances than most people think. The quality of the opposition they have to face is obviously important, but so is the order in which they have to face them. The schedule can easily affect a team’s performance on a game to game basis, and even their overall performance throughout a whole season.

The use of statistics can be very helpful when betting on football. Stats come in handy when betting point spreads, as you can use them to get some idea of how a game is likely to play out. This increases your chances of correctly predicting which team is going to cover.

We mentioned earlier how important it is to be selective when betting football points spreads, and how you don’t want to bet on every single game. That doesn’t mean you should have to narrow your focus either. Some people choose to focus only on a few specific teams, and this can be a very limiting approach. Although a narrow focus increases the chances of accurate assessments, it also reduces the number of opportunities for finding value.

We mentioned earlier that the point spread wager is a very simple one. The same can be said of the moneyline wager. It’s actually even more straightforward, because the number of points a team wins by is irrelevant. With a moneyline wager you’re betting only on which team will win. A wager is successful as long you pick the winning team, regardless of whether the team wins by one point or 20.

The first thing you should know about betting moneyline favorites is that it’s very hard to find value. The general betting public typically prefers to bet favorites, so the weight of money is usually in this direction. This frequently leads to the odds on the moneyline being lower for the favorite than they might otherwise be. So although a bet on the favorite always has a good chance of winning, it doesn’t necessarily have ENOUGH of a chance to make taking the low odds worthwhile.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t find value in moneyline favorites though. You absolutely can. It’s a matter of being patient and waiting for good opportunities. You can’t expect to find several games each week where betting the moneyline favorite is the right way to go, but you can expect to find a reasonable number of opportunities throughout a season.

Looking for undervalued favorites is one of our favorite strategies for betting moneylines. It takes a fair amount of hard work, but it enables us to identify wagers that have an excellent chance of winning and also offer reasonable odds. And we very much like wagers that meet those criteria.

Betting the favorite on the moneyline is an ideal option when you like the favorite to win, but are not 100% convinced that they’ll cover the spread. This way it doesn’t matter how many points they win by, as long as they win. The tradeoff is that you’ll be getting lower odds than you would by backing them on the spread.

To conclude this section, we’ve put together our top five tips for betting moneylines. These all apply regardless of the types of moneyline bets you’re placing. If you can take on board all the information offered above, and then follow these tips, you’ll have every chance of betting football moneylines profitably.

Once you’ve grasped the fundamentals of WHEN to bet football parlays, the next thing to consider is HOW to bet them effectively. We’ve established that the aim should be to bet parlays when they offer the right level of value, but it’s finding that value that’s the hard part. This is where our recommended strategies will help.

Please note that these aren’t necessarily the only strategies to consider. There are all kinds of ways to identify good opportunities for placing a parlay. Ideally, the ultimate goal should be to develop your own strategies that work well for you. But, in the meantime, the following strategies are a good place to start. They’ve certainly worked well for us over the years.

The basic idea here is to find two or more favorites that offer good value on the moneyline. Ideally you’re looking for games where the bookmakers have undervalued the favorites for whatever reason, and priced the odds a little higher than they should be. It’s not easy to find such opportunities, but they happen more often than you might think, especially in college football.

The theory with this strategy is that we want to take maximum advantage of off-market odds and lines by parlaying them with other selections. Combining a selection of an off-market spread or total with one or two other selections essentially allows you to increase the overall value on offer. You need to be careful to only include other selections that you’re very confident will win.

A correlated parlay combines two or more selections that are interdependent, such as a team’s playoff and Super Bowl win. Semi-correlated parlays, like combining a point spread and total wager on the same game, can offer value if our judgment is correct. While we don’t suggest spending excessive time searching for correlations, it’s worth considering when it seems logical.

Follow all the advice that we’ve offered so far and you’ll be well ahead of most other bettors who use football parlays. By sticking to a couple of simple rules, and looking specifically for the best opportunities, you can definitely make some money from this type of wager.

We’re not finished yet though. There are a few more tips that we’d like you to consider too. For the most part, these are pretty straightforward and easy to follow. But, as simple as they are, they’ll help you bet football parlays more effectively.

There’s no one correct way to bet on football totals. As we mentioned at the start of this article, we can’t give you an exact system to follow. Your success, or failure, will come down to your ability to properly assess how many points are likely to be scored in games. For those assessments to be accurate, you need to take a wide range of factors into consideration.

We discuss some of the most important factors you need to consider later in this article. Before that, though, we want to explain our golden rules for betting football totals. In everything you do, the following five rules should always be at the forefront of your mind.

Most of our strategy articles feature at least one or two clearly defined strategies that we recommend implementing. We never tell you exactly what to do, but we give you the information and advice that you need to implement them effectively. In our opinion, that’s the best way to help you develop as a bettor and ultimately find success.

As we’ve already explained though, we can’t give you any clearly defined strategies for prop betting in general. It’s simply not possible, as each different type of prop requires its own individual approach. We’re planning to add some articles in the future where we recommend some strategies for specific types of prop, but for now we just have some useful tips for you follow. Although these are all relatively straightforward, they can still significantly improve your chances of making money from football props.

Although we have used Wong teasers over the years, and had some success with them, there is an alternative strategy that we prefer. The basic principle here is very simple, but overall the strategy does require more thought than Wong teasers. Please note that to use this strategy effectively, you should already be using solid strategies for making your point spread and totals selections.

The reason you need to be skilled at betting point spreads and totals is that our preferred teaser strategy is based entirely on using existing selections. You’re not looking to make selections specifically to include in teasers. Instead, you’re looking to take your existing selections and combine them in teasers to try to maximize the potential value. This strategy will obviously only work if you are making good selections in the first place.

We came up with key three rules to follow when using our strategy.

The idea is that you consider this strategy AFTER you’ve already made your point spread and total selections. You can implement it if there are at least two selections that you’re very confident of winning. All you need to do is then place teasers for each possible combination of those selections.

A lot of experienced and knowledgeable football bettors will tell you that the only good pleaser strategy is to never place pleasers. We fully understand this point of view. We would certainly never actively encourage anyone to place pleasers on a regular basis, because they hardly ever offer enough value. However, every now and then an opportunity comes along when placing a pleaser makes sense.

Now, there isn’t really a defined strategy for using pleasers that are proven to work. We haven’t come up with one anyway, and to our knowledge no one else has either. What we can say is that we believe there are three scenarios where it’s possible that giving away six points is not as crazy as it seems.

In this section things start to get a little more advanced. There’s still nothing that we’d consider to be super complicated, but you’ll still need a sturdy foundation of football betting strategy if you’re going to make the most of the information and advice here. So we don’t recommended jumping in to this section as a complete beginner.

The rest of this section includes explanations of some specific strategies. These can all be applied to football betting in general, whether on the professional game or at college level.

When betting on football games, it’s important to consider various factors, including team quality, playing style, and momentum. Momentum can have a significant impact on a team’s performance, as winning breeds confidence and success. However, it’s crucial not to blindly bet on teams to continue their streaks, as all streaks eventually come to an end. This article provides insights into the causes of streaks, how to analyze their effects, and strategies for betting on streaks effectively.

It’s not unreasonable to assume that winning streaks and losing streaks are ultimately caused by a team’s overall quality. Strong teams are obviously more likely to go on a winning run, while weaker teams are more likely to go on a losing run.

It’s not that simple though. Teams on long winning streaks aren’t necessarily the best teams in the league, just as teams on long losing streaks aren’t necessarily the worst teams in the league. Quality is always going to play a part, of course, but streaks can be caused by a variety of other factors too. Here are some examples.

Having established that a variety of reasons can cause teams to go on winning or losing streaks, we now need to think about the effects of these streaks. What impact do they have on a team? What about their opposition? Do they affect the betting markets at all?

Let’s answer these questions one by one.

Momentum, particularly in the form of winning and losing streaks, has a significant impact on a team’s confidence. Winning streaks boost confidence and can lead to improved performances, while losing streaks can erode confidence and hinder a team’s abilities. However, it’s important to note that winning streaks can sometimes lead to complacency and a loss of motivation, while losing streaks can motivate teams to improve and unite. Understanding these nuanced effects is crucial when developing a strategy for betting on streaks in football.

Winning and losing streaks not only impact the teams directly involved but also affect their opponents. The mindset of the opposition is influenced by these streaks, leading to varying levels of confidence and motivation. Teams facing opponents on a winning streak may feel less confident and play with fear, while also finding motivation to end the streak. On the other hand, teams facing opponents on a losing streak may have higher confidence but potentially lower motivation.

Streaks have a significant impact on betting markets due to public opinion. Bookmakers adjust odds and lines based on the expectation that the majority of bettors will follow winning and losing streaks. This creates value in betting against the public and considering the bookmakers’ expectations when betting on streaks.

In the final part of this section we’re going to take everything discussed so far, and look at how you can use this information to develop effective strategies for betting based on win/loss streaks. We’ll also offer some helpful tips along the way.

So, what have we actually learned up to this stage? The following neatly summarizes the key points that you should focus on.

Follow all the advice offered above and you’ll immediately be well ahead of most people who bet on football in-play. These were just some general tips though, provided to help you take the right overall approach to live betting. There wasn’t any specific advice about what to do and when. This is because we don’t ever like to tell you exactly what to do. We prefer to provide the kind of advice that will enable you to get the basics right and then develop your own strategies from there.

We do also share some specific strategies when appropriate though. In this case, we’re going to share with you the four strategies that we really like to use when live betting. These are as follows.

We’ve explained each of our recommended strategies below. We haven’t gone into too much detail, because we’ve already told you the core principle behind them.

Betting against the team with momentum can often provide value, as recreational bettors tend to overvalue its impact. When a perceived underdog shows early momentum, recreational bettors may disregard the initial odds and bet on them, causing the bookmakers to adjust the line further. This presents an opportunity to back the favorite at a reduced spread, considering there is still ample time for the favorite to turn the game around. However, careful assessment of the specific situation is crucial before deciding.

We especially like this strategy when the home team is generally strong. Good football teams don’t typically lose many home games. But the general betting public won’t necessarily consider that. They’ll see that a team is losing and bet against them regardless. This can increase the odds on the losing team to win, to a point where there’s some clear value in backing them.

The theory behind this strategy is that the public will keep on betting the over in a game where lots of points are being scored. This will keep pushing the totals line up, and there will come a point when it’s so high that there’s value in backing the under. The timings are important because if we bet too early, the line might not have moved high enough to create the necessary value. And if we wait too long, the opportunity might pass us by. Others might get it on the value before us, and the line might start to come back down.

Recreational bettors tend to continuously support a popular team once they take a lead, resulting in large point spreads. This creates an opportunity to bet against the public and find value in the opposing team. Bookmakers may also adjust the spread based on a team’s early lead, providing an additional chance to back the underdog. However, it is important to exercise discretion and thoroughly assess each situation before placing a bet.

First half betting isn’t overly complicated. The basic principle is the same as when betting on a whole game. The big difference is simply that you’re betting purely on what happens in the first half. Anything that happens beyond that point is entirely irrelevant.

The only other noteworthy difference is the fact that there are typically fewer wagers available. Most bookmakers and betting sites offer only point spreads and totals for the purposes of first half betting. Some may offer a few other wagers too, for the biggest games at least, but you’ll be limited to point spreads and totals more often than not. This shouldn’t be an issue, as these just happen to be the best wagers to focus on for first half betting anyway.

Before we move on to halftime betting, we wanted to leave you with some basic tips that will help you bet on the first half of football games.

Halftime betting, also known as second half betting, is similar to first half betting but focuses on the second half of the game. The odds and lines are adjusted based on the first half performance, providing an opportunity to find value by combining on-field observations with existing knowledge about the teams.

Halftime betting is attractive because bookmakers have limited time to set their halftime lines, leading to looser and potentially less accurate odds and lines. Unlike pregame betting, where bookmakers have more time for research and adjustments, halftime lines are set quickly after the first half ends, increasing the likelihood of mistakes and creating opportunities for bettors to find value.

Now, we have to think quickly too of course. We’re under the same time constraints, so we don’t have the luxury of time either. This slight disadvantage can be overcome by following these two pieces of advice.

To maximize the benefits of halftime betting, it’s crucial to focus on a single game and watch the first half to gather the necessary information for informed decisions. Trying to follow multiple games simultaneously can lead to a lack of attention and potential missed opportunities. Additionally, prior preparation and studying games for pregame betting can provide valuable insights and help with planning potential outcomes during halftime betting.

The pros and cons of buying points when betting on football are probably already apparent to you. Let’s explore them briefly though, for the sake of clarity.

The biggest advantage of buying points is that it improves your chances of winning a wager. Giving away fewer points when backing the favorite, or gaining extra points when backing the underdog, puts you in a better position. It can prevent you from losing against the spread by a very small margin, which is one of the biggest causes of frustration when betting on football.

The main disadvantage of buying points is, of course, the fact that potential payouts are diminished. By accepting reduced odds, the money you stand to win is automatically less than it could be. This is obviously not a big deal when the extra points help you win wagers that you would otherwise have lost. But there will be times when the extra points weren’t necessary for a wager to win, in which case you’ve given up some of your return for no reason. That’s the downside.

We view buying points as a tool for risk management. It’s essentially a way to balance the risk versus reward ratio of a wager. We can increase our chances of winning a wager (or reduce the risk of losing it) in exchange for taking a lower payout if we do win. The key to buying points effectively is to make sure that we get the balance right. This varies from person to person. We all have different attitudes to risk, so it’s about finding the balance that works for you.

There’s no definitive strategy to use for determining when to purchase points. You have to decide on the optimal balance of risk and reward and then act accordingly. Whenever you feel that you can get better overall value by buying points, then you should go ahead and do so.

This section is all about betting on the National Football League. We explain some specific NFL betting strategies, and offer lots of general advice for betting on the NFL. Some of the content here is quite advanced, while some of it is actually quite straightforward. We do recommend starting with the beginners’ section before tackling this one.

If you had any doubts as to whether you should be wagering on the NFL, the above information has hopefully helped you make a decision. There are clearly some very good reasons for choosing the NFL over alternatives such as college football or other sports.

So what’s next?

Assuming you’re new to all this, it’s now time to think about how to actually approach wagering on the NFL. There’s a lot to consider, but there are few simple things that you definitely want to get right from the outset. The purpose of the tips we’ve provided below is to help you do exactly that.

We know you’re probably starting to feel a little overwhelmed at this point, but we’re not quite done yet. There’s some more advice we have to offer for betting NFL season win totals. They’re all pretty simple, but we definitely recommend following them. These are listed for you below.

Let’s expand on each of these tips with a little more detail.

We firmly believe that season win totals are great wagers that have the potential to be profitable if approached correctly. That’s why we suggest that they should be part of your overall football betting strategy. It’s worth spending some time analyzing each team at the start of a season, and trying to predict how well they are going to do.

This will not only enable you to find good opportunities for betting season win totals, it will help you with other bets you make during the early part of the season too. For example, you’ll find it much easier to predict the outcome of individual games if you’ve already assessed each team extensively.

It’s also worth noting that there are some alternatives to consider. All the analysis you need to do for season win totals can also be used for betting on NFL team futures. Once you have an idea about how each team is likely to perform, you can also look for opportunities in the following markets.

August is an exciting time for football fans as the regular NFL season is just weeks away. The media hype builds up, discussing which teams have improved and which haven’t. Preseason games precede the official season, but they often lack fan interest and intensity since the results are meaningless and teams are less motivated to win. However, some fans still enjoy the preseason as it signals the return of football and presents potential betting opportunities. While betting on preseason games is tough, with the right approach, it’s possible to find value in a few select games.

It’s vital to understand that preseason games are an entirely different proposition to competitive games. They’re essentially part of the teams’ preparation for the upcoming season. As we’ve already mentioned, the end result isn’t necessarily the most important thing. The goal should be to prepare for the upcoming season.

Predicting the outcome of preseason games is extremely difficult for a plethora of reasons. Since there’s not as much at stake, we can’t assume the star players will be trying their hardest on the field. In fact, when it comes to preseason games, it’s hard to assume anything at all. The only thing we can be certain of is that traditional handicapping techniques won’t work.

To show you exactly what we mean, we have outlined the main areas in which preseason games are different.

In a competitive game, teams and players typically have one primary motivation. Their goal, obviously, is to win the game. We’ve already discussed how this isn’t always the case in preseason games. That leaves us wondering what exactly IS their motivation then?

Unfortunately, there’s no clear answer to this question. It depends on any number of factors. Sometimes the motivation WILL be to win, while sometimes it will be to accomplish something else entirely. A coach might be using a game to take a close look at any rookies he’s drafted, or any other new players that have been added to the roster. He may want some of his players to focus on the fitness aspect of the game, while he may want his other players to do a little experimenting.

Determining a team’s exact lineup can be tricky, but making an informed judgment is possible. We can confidently assume that a coach’s main goal is to win, which means all decisions he makes will be made with that goal in mind. The players he chooses will be based on quality, form, fitness and possibly even for tactical reasons.

In a preseason game, though, it’s almost impossible to predict what starting lineup a coach will go with. He could choose to play his best players, so that they get some game time experience. However, he’s even more likely to let them rest. Expect to see second and third string players on the starting lineup

Substitutions are common in all football games, but there seems to be a LOT more of them in preseason games. Coaches aren’t particularly worried about disrupting the flow or momentum during these games, they’re more concerned about getting to see all the players on their roster. They want to see which players work best together, which means switching players around often is almost inevitable. Coaches also want to make sure that none of their players are getting overworked, as they’ll want them fresh for the start of the regular season.

Most football teams have a preferred style of play. Some mix it up depending on the opposition, but even then there’s usually an underlying style that forms the basis for the way they play. That’s why it’s easier to know what to expect from them during competitive games.

In preseason games, teams will often experiment with alternative playing styles. This is almost guaranteed if a new coach has come in, as he’ll probably want to impose his preferred style on the team. Preseason games are the best time for him to do that. Also, expect to see this happen when there have been lots of changes to the roster, as new players may work better under a different style than the players whose places they are taking. Again, the best time to figure that out is during the preseason.

The main challenges of betting on preseason games can be summarized as follows.

The fact that teams aren’t always motivated by winning obviously makes it very difficult to predict results. Assessing team and player quality isn’t as important, and some would say it’s even irrelevant. The overall standard of a team doesn’t really mean much if they’re not focused on winning.

Moving right along to the next point on the list, we don’t even know if a team is going to start with its best players on the field. Those players might even spend that game on the bench. It’s almost impossible to guess how the team will play or what tactics they’re going to use. For all we know, they could use a variety of setups throughout a game, making regular chances to whose on the field and at what times. Can you see just how difficult it is to predict the likely outcome?

The third point on the list is a result of the first two points. With less focus on winning, and lots of experimentation from teams, the whole dynamic of a game changes. This just adds more uncertainty, and further increases the difficulty of making accurate predictions.

Since we don’t want to spend a great deal of time on preseason betting, we don’t really want to be doing a lot of extra research and analysis. So the trick is to identify betting opportunities based on the research and analysis that we should already be doing. This means we have the chance to make some money without putting forth any extra effort.

There are all kinds of things you should be doing during the off-season in order to prepare for the upcoming season. By using this time wisely, you’ll be in a good position to take on the bookmakers. The information you gathered will help you bet on the preseason games. Specially, you’ll know the following details.

Following the advice we’ve offered so far will give you a good chance of making some money on preseason games. We’re not quite done yet though. There are a few additional tips we want to offer too. We’ve listed these below, and then briefly expanded on each one. These tips are all very simple, but they’ll further increase your chances of making money if you stick to them.

There are some clear benefits to betting NFL futures in our opinion. But there are definitely some disadvantages too. You should be aware of both the pros and the cons before you decide whether or not futures betting is for you, so let’s take a look at them all. We’ll start with the pros, which are as follows.

The first advantage is probably the main reason why futures are so popular with recreational bettors. The odds in the futures betting markets can be VERY high when compared to the odds for point spreads and totals, which means correct selections can lead to very attractive payouts.

Futures wagers often do represent value. This is advantage number two. By properly analyzing all the relevant information, it’s possible to regularly find good opportunities to get some money down. We can’t promise that you’ll find many winners at odds as high as +30,000, but +1,000 winners or better are certainly possible.

Advantage number three is one of the biggest reasons why we like betting futures. They give us a wide variety of different options at the start of the season, with a wide range of risk versus reward ratios.

The fourth, and final, advantage to on our list might not be that important to you if you take your betting very seriously. We usually place at least a couple of serious futures wagers before each season, but we usually place some off the wall wagers just for the fun of it. It gives us some different things to root for during the season, along with some bragging rights if we manage to pick out a successful longshot.

Now let’s take a look at the main disadvantages of betting NFL futures. These are as follows.

Futures wagers are notoriously difficult to get right. Even when going with what appear to be safe selections. Football is an unpredictable sport, and anything can happen during the course of an entire season. Of course, we EXPECT it to be hard to predict shocks. That’s the tradeoff when we go for longshots. The potential payouts are great, but we’re not very likely to actually win them. The thing about futures is that can be hard to win even when backing something that’s relatively likely.

The second disadvantage on our list is something that not many bettors are aware of. And, in all fairness, it’s not as big of an issue as it once was. The bookmakers used to add huge juice to their futures betting markets, but they’ve reduced their margins in recent years. It’s still worth noting that you’ll generally pay more juice on futures than you will on other types of wager though. It’s easier for the bookmakers to “hide” their juice when there are lots of possible selections in a market and several of them are at high odds.

The third and final disadvantage is a big one. We all have a finite amount of money to bet with, and we need to use that money wisely. That’s why good bankroll management is such a vital part of sports betting. The problem with futures wagers is that we’re not going to see a return until the end of the season. That’s if we even get a return at all, of course.

We’ve already covered a lot of information here, and hopefully given you some useful insight into the best way to approach NFL futures. Guess what? We’re not quite finished yet! We want to offer you some general tips that are both straightforward and important to follow.

Our final section focuses on college football. There are some aspects of betting on the NCAAF that are very different from betting on the NFL. Although the basics are fundamentally the same, some of the required strategies are not. If you’re planning to spend time betting on college football games, you’ll definitely benefit from the information and advice featured here.

College rivalry games are still football games and a lot of our usual handicapping techniques are still valid. So you don’t necessarily need to use or develop brand new strategies just for betting on these games. You’ll just have to make some minor adjustments, based on the unique characteristics of this game that we have covered in detail. The tips we provided will also be helpful.

Here’s a list of the four strategies we typically use, followed by details of when we use them and why.

This strategy focuses on two key principles: the overvaluing of home field advantage and the tendency of bettors to blindly back favorites. As a result, road teams in evenly matched games are often undervalued, creating betting opportunities by backing the underdog. While it may be tempting to target any big rivalry game with a small road underdog, it’s important to be selective and look for potential spots that offer value. To maximize value, consider taking the underdog on the moneyline rather than the point spread, despite the possibility of more frequent losses, as the better odds and payouts will benefit you in the long run.

This low-risk strategy involves looking for situations where the home team is heavily favored, assessing if they are genuinely deserving of such favoritism, and then betting on them to win on the moneyline. Backing the favorite on the moneyline reduces risk compared to betting on the spread, especially in rivalry games where the underdog tends to put up a fight to keep the score respectable. Plus, the large amount of money wagered on the favorite often inflates the spread.

While it may initially seem contradictory, the key is understanding that we back big home favorites on the moneyline and big road underdogs on the spread. This allows us to cover multiple outcomes and increase our chances of winning at least one wager. We only back the underdog on the spread when we’re confident that the spread is higher than it should be, and it’s important to remember that the circumstances must align for this strategy to be effective.

College rivalry games often present good betting opportunities, particularly when one team has everything to play for while the other has nothing to lose but pride. The favored team with more at stake is likely to be backed by the majority, creating value in backing the underdog. Rivalry games can be unpredictable, but considering the circumstances and pressure can help identify potential spots for successful bets. It’s important to combine the tips provided earlier and approach these games with caution.

Totals are among the most popular of all football wagers. This is partly because they’re so straightforward. It all comes down to making one simple decision; will the total number of points scored be more or less than the posted line?

Making the RIGHT decision isn’t quite so simple of course. If you have the basics down, it’s possible to win your totals wagers on a semi-regular basis. To consistently make money in the long run, though, you’ll need to go beyond the basics.

Follow the tips we’ve offered below and you’ll be on the right path to betting totals successfully.

Betting on every game is NEVER a good idea. The straightforward nature of totals often tempts people to do exactly that though. It’s hard to do this well when betting on the NFL, but it’s practically impossible with college football.

The majority of recreational bettors have a habit of betting on the over. Keep this in mind as you look at the college football totals lines, and consider whether they’re artificially inflated or not.

Don’t forget to be on the lookout for key numbers too. Although these numbers aren’t as valuable as the key numbers used for betting point spreads, they’re still useful to know. They can definitely help when making marginal decisions, and when trying to make initial estimates of likely totals.

Considering both the offense and the defense might seem like an extremely obvious tip, but one of the most common mistakes totals bettors make is focusing entirely on the offense. Don’t simply assume that a good quality offense is always going to score plenty of points, or that a poor quality offense is always going to score very few points.

Our final tip here is to always shop for the best odds and lines. This is another tip that applies regardless of what you’re betting on or what type of wager you’re placing. These are especially unpredictable, and different bookmakers will often have different views on how many points are likely to be scored in a college game.

It is important to start gaining experience rather than trying to learn everything beforehand if you want to make money from betting on college football. Focusing on small the following tips that can make a big difference and using them effectively will set you on the right track.

Let us make this point clear! There’s no magic formula that will guarantee success for betting on college football bowl games. There aren’t even any specific strategies that we recommend using. The fact of the matter is that these tend to be games that are very hard to predict. All you can do is handicap them as best you can, and try to make good decisions. The information and advice we’ve offered so far should help you do just that.

The following tips should help too.

Our first tip here is an important one. There are LOTS of bowl games at the end of the regular college football season, and it’s just not realistic to think that it’s possible to bet on them all. By trying to bet on them all, or even most of them, we can almost guarantee that you’ll lose money. You just won’t be able to dedicate enough time to properly handicapping each one.

It’s much better to be selective, which brings us nicely onto our second tip. The best games to focus on are those involving teams that you’re already familiar with. It makes sense to put your money down on games where you already have a lot of relevant information at your disposal.

Moving right along to our third tip, keep your eyes out for rematches. Rematches provide additional information to work with, as you can look back at how the previous game played out. This won’t indicate exactly what will happen during the rematch, but it will give you insight as to how the two teams match up against each other.

Our fourth tip is to look out for coaching changes, as they can be extremely significant. If a team is going to a bowl game with a brand new coach in charge, they’re likely to be at a disadvantage if their opponents have a more established setup.

Our fifth and final tip is to be cautious of bowl games that involve a major rivalry. Big rivalry games are incredibly tough to predict for a variety of reasons, and you need to employ a very specific approach when betting on them. This is something we discuss at length in the following article.