Take a look at the NFL betting pointspread this season and the “vig” which is the extra 10% that a gambler must put up front to bet football online. NFL betting pointspreads are the most popular way to wager on pro football. Pointspreads are also known as “sides”, “the line”, “the number”, etc. In pointspread NFL you either bet on the favorite at minus points or the underdog at plus the points as you bet football online.
NFL pointspreads are available at online sportsbooks, published in newspapers, and talked about on television. Let’s look at an example. If you look at the NFL betting lines and see the Carolina Panthers playing the Seattle Seahawks you might have the Seahawks -6 with a total of 39. That means the Panthers are a 6-point dog, (plus points) and must either lose by less than six points or win the game in an outright upset for gamblers that bet football online to win.
Seattle is a 6-point NFL favorite which means that the Seahawks would have to win the game by more than six points for gamblers to win that bet football online. If the final score in the game was Seattle 27 and Carolina 24, the Panthers would win, or “cover” the pointspread because they came within the six point NFL number. If, however, Seattle won 27-20 the Seahawks would be the team that covered the NFL betting spread, having won by more than a six point margin.
In addition to laying points on favorites or taking points on underdogs there is yet another factor to take into consideration with pointspread NFL betting and that is the “vig,” which is also known as the “juice.” For example, if a gambler wanted Carolina +6 to win $300, he would have to wager $330 to win $300 in NFL . That extra $30 is the “vig” which is the fee or service charge from the sportsbooks for handling the action. Any amount can be wagered in NFL betting from $1 to $10,000 or whatever the sportsbook limit is.