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 during 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. If you bet on multiple game on the same ticket, it’s a parlay, and we’ll talk about that in a minute.
When you create a straight football bet, you could be betting on a side or total. To put it simply, when you bet a side, you “select a side” in the game. For instance, let’s say the brand new England Patriots are playing the Seattle Seahawks. 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, which is most games). This can be a level of points scored between both teams. Once you bet a complete, you’re betting under or higher that total . For instance, let’s say the total is 47 and you take the over. To win, both teams must combine for 48 or more points (47 would be a push, which means you get your bet back).
Football Betting – Parlays
Okay, so you find out 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 on the sportsbook).
For instance, let’s say you bet on the Seahawks and on the total on your ticket. That would 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 should 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 get into making football bets via parlay tickets, you may check out “teasers,” which are parlay tickets with added points for you personally. For instance, instead of taking the Packers -10, you can find them at -3. Of course, the payouts are a less since the risk is minimized.
Football betting is a blast and there’s nothing much better than hitting the sportsbook with a large winning ticket. I hit straight football bets and parlays all season long. I look forward to the NFL and NCAA football seasons.