Easy Football Odds

Football odds begin with pointspreads. A gambler can take either the favorite, (AKA “chalk”), and lay the points, (such as Notre Dame -7), or take the underdog with the plus points, (such as Michigan State +7). The pointspread is the sportsbooks’ way of evening the matchup between two teams in order to attract an equal amount of action on the football odds.

Another common option in football odds is over/under betting, which is also referred to as “totals.” To bet an over under a gambler would wager on whether or not the combined score in the game between two teams would go over or under a specific number posted by the football odds makers. An example from NFL odds would be New England and Buffalo with a total of 41. Bettors would either take this matchup over or under the posted total of 41 and lay -100 on either option.

Another option in football odds is the money line, which is how baseball and hockey are bet normally. Instead of a football odds pointspread a gambler would simply either take the favorite, (Notre Dame-$200 to win $100), or the underdog, (Michigan State+180 on $100 wagered). The appeal of the money line to gamblers is that there is no pointspread and all the bettor has to do is pick the straight up winner.

“Futures” are also increasingly popular in terms of football odds. A futures bet could range from betting on a team’s odds to win their conference or the national championship itself in college football or in terms of NFL odds it would be the Super Bowl. Another popular futures bet would be over/under propositions on the total amount of straight up wins in college football odds or NFL odds.