How to bet on Football Spread in 2021
Betting on the spread is massively popular across the world, but particularly in the United States. It allows you to get more flexibility in terms of the odds you are getting for a given game. For a football point spread bet, it evens up a potential large mismatch, making it a much more viable option for you to bet on the favorite in a given fixture.
It is not just match winner markets where there is football spread betting available either. You have plenty of different football betting options, adding to the whole viewing experience of both college and professional football games. This guide looks at the different aspects of football spread betting and how you can use points markets to your advantage.
Football spread betting: The basics
College football is still one of the most pure forms of the sport. It brings superb athletes and highly skilled players together on a team, with the goal of leaving a mark on the school, with some eyeing up a spot in the NFL.
There are a lot of games during the college football season where big schools play minnows that have little to no hope of victory. This can lead to large blowouts. Usually, the odds for the favorite team would not make sense for a bettor. However, when the spread is added, these games are now a viable option for betting on college football.
Professional football tends to have less of these large mismatches, but they still exist. However, football spread betting is also useful for closely matched games as it can help give you a bit more juice in the odds for a given sports bet on a team. This is particularly favored among those bettors who love placing parlay bets.
Usually, the odds at a given sportsbook for the standard spread will always be the same. However, you sometimes have the option to set your own spread for a given game and be given resulting odds, offering you greater flexibility with handicap betting.
All football spread betting is doing is adding a handicap onto the favorite in a game. This will then present further opportunities that bettors otherwise would not have. It is a simple concept, but an effective one. Here are some other popular football betting markets to consider:
Examples of football spread betting
If you are betting on a game between the New York Jets and the New York Giants, the spread may be the New York Giants -2.5 points to win the game. This means that in order to cover the spread, the Giants will need to win the game by at least 3 points. The odds for this bet are +110.
Winning example of football spread betting
If you bet $10 on the Giants covering the spread and then win the game by 5 points, your bet will win. This will see you win a total return of $21, with $11 being profit and the $10 being your stake returned to you.
Losing example of football spread betting
If you are betting on the Giants covering the spread and they only win the game by 2 points, this means that your bet is a loser and you will not win any return from this wager.
Biggest football events for betting on the spread
There are always massive clashes of the titans of football every season, no matter if you are talking about the pros or the college teams. Iconic rivalries see the two sets of fans going crazy in the stands while the two teams go to war on the field.
There are also those staple games where there is more than pride at stake. When a world championship is on the line, the stakes don’t get higher on the football field. Here are some of the best football spread betting events for you to get involved in:
Super Bowl
By far the biggest football game each year is the Super Bowl. This game takes in more bets in the USA than any other single sporting game every year. All eyes are on the game to see what team will be crowned as the world champion for the season. Legends are born on Super Bowl Sunday and anything can happen on the day. Strong favorites can collapse or big leads can be decimated. This means that it is always an exciting Super Bowl football spread betting opportunity, adding even more excitement to the game.
NFC and AFC Championship games
The victor of both of these championship games will gain a position in the Super Bowl. There is no other way to get into the ultimate game than coming through one of these tough divisions. Over the years, bitter rivalries have meant that most of these championship games are massively competitive, with nothing conceded from either of the teams.
College national championship game
The college football season is largely broken down in terms of geography, with different divisions pitting nearby teams against one another. However, the national championship games see the best of these teams come together and fight it out for the ultimate honor. Oftentimes, this is the highlight game of many people’s football careers and they put everything they have on the line. This presents great football spread betting opportunities, particularly if you feel one team has been given an overly fair spread.
Placing a bet on football: Step-by-Step
It is a simple process when you want to begin with football spread betting. Within minutes you can be placing bets on NFL or college football games. Here is a simple outline of those key steps:
- Step 1: Choose a sportsbook: You can see a list of what sportsbooks are licensed in your state by using the Betting Billy state checker tool. Then figure out what your priorities are in a given sportsbook and use this to narrow down the options before you are left with one option.
- Step 2: Create your account: Sign up for your new account by entering the relevant information, setting a username and password and confirming the terms and conditions. Then you need to verify your identity and provide some proof of address.
- Step 3: Adds money: You can now add funds into your account using one of the available deposit methods. Only add funds that you are comfortable with losing. There may need to be a bonus code entered at this point for a given welcome bonus offer.
- Step 4: Begin sports betting: You can now trawl through the different college football and NFL betting markets, find a football spread betting wager that fits your eye. Add it to your betslip and confirm how much you want to bet on this event.
Football spread betting for beginners: How to bet
Beginners need to go through a learning process when they begin football spread betting. There are many simple and actionable tips that can be used to get started off on the right foot. Here are a few useful pieces of advice:
- Tip 1: FInd mismatches: In the process of doing your research, your goal is to find information that is going to give you an edge over the odds setters. When you find such an instance, you will be able to take advantage.
- Tip 2: Find a niche: Instead of spreading yourself too tight and betting on all different types of football games, you should stick to certain teams or conferences for example. This will narrow your focus and help you more effectively build up your knowledge base.
- Tip 3: Bet what you can afford: With football spread betting, some beginners go overboard with their betting and blow money that they cannot afford to lose. They may then try to chase these losses, usually digging a deeper hole for themselves. Only bet with money that you can afford to lose.
- Tip 4: Rely on recent form: By looking at historic matchups, you can see some potential trends. However, with college football there is such a big turnover of players each season that you cannot base too much on previous season matchups.
- Tip 5: Learn from experts: Seeing what types of bets the experts are placing is a great way to learn about the types of bets you should be placed when starting off. Billy’s List is a free service that you can sign up to and get expert sports picks straight to your inbox for both NFL and college football games.
Football spread betting for professionals: How to bet
A lot of people earn handsome income from their sports betting. Football spread betting is a popular vehicle for these people to consistently profit. Here are some commonalities that you can see:
- Obtaining the best odds: To improve your bottom line over the long term, it is important that you are always getting the best odds for your bets. This means having an account with all of the leading football spread betting sites.
- Avoiding emotion: Experienced sports bettors know that they cannot let emotion dictate what bets they are making. They ensure that all bets are placed with an objective decision-making process.
- Getting an inside edge: Experienced bettors always look for the latest breaking information that may be relevant to a given game. If they can quickly get this information, they can place bets before the odds change.
Football spread betting: Try it now at one of the top 5 betting sites
With football spread betting, you have many different sites to choose from. These will have great welcome offers, as well as a whole host of different betting options. To get in on the football spread betting account, you should sign up to one of these sites today.
This will depend on a lot of different factors. If you are a beginner, it is best to keep your stake slow as you learn the ropes. You should only bet with money that you can afford to lose also, which is why a smart bankroll management plan is essential. Otherwise, you will likely blow your balance in a record amount of time.
Most types of bonus offers are welcomed when you are placing sports bets online. They come in many different shapes and sizes. For example, you may get a free bet that can be used on any market. You may get insurance on a parlay bet in case just one of the selection loses or you get an enhanced price for a certain market.
There is no clear answer. NFL betting is more popular due to the high-profile nature of the players and teams across the world. However, for example, college football betting can often present a lot more opportunities on the smaller games in particular. You should try betting on both of these sets of games and see what generates the best results for you.
Before finishing the registration process at a sports betting site, you will need to provide proof of address and some photo ID. The proof of address usually needs to be dated within the past few months. Simply scan in these documents and send them to the customer support team. The process of approving the documents is usually very quick.
The legal age that allows you to place sports bets will depend on what state you are trying to place these sports bets from. Some of the states will allow people who are 18 years old to place bets, while this will rise to 21 years old in a lot of other states. To see what the situation may be where you are, check out the Betting Billy state checker tool.
