Football betting is a great way to place wagers on your favorite team. It is also a fun and exciting activity to do with friends or family.
There are many types of bets in football, but the main ones include parlay bets, moneyline bets and over/under bets. These can be placed on either a single game or a series of games.
Parlay bets
Parlays are a great way to increase your betting options and maximize your payouts. They allow you to place multiple odds on a single game and if all the bets win, you will receive a much larger payout than a simple bet.
Parlay bets can include moneyline bets, spreads, totals and prop bets. However, sportsbooks generally prevent you from mixing-and-matching these bets on the same game.
A parlay allows you to combine odds on three or more games into one wager, and all legs must win for the parlay to be a winner. The only exception to this is if any of the bets lose, which is called a push and is automatically removed from the ticket.
Correlated parlays are a common type of parlay that pay out if two related events occur. For example, let’s say you place a parlay on Clemson and the over.
Moneyline bets
Moneyline bets are the most basic form of wagering on football games. Unlike point spreads, a moneyline bet does not require a team to win the game by a certain amount.
A sportsbook will list a positive number next to a team that is favored to win and a negative number next to a team that is expected to lose the game. The difference is how much a winning wager will pay out on each team.
Negative odds, like -150, indicate favorites, while positive odds, such as +130, indicate underdogs. The odds will shift as action comes in or newsworthy events occur.
The most lucrative moneyline bets involve underdog teams that actually have a chance to win the game. These bets should be made only after weighing the risk and reward of betting on them.
Over/Under bets
Over/Under betting is the most popular type of football bet and involves wagering on a game’s total score. This number is set by oddsmakers and reflects several factors including the quality of the two teams.
Oddsmakers also take into account weather conditions, stadium layouts, team play-calling and defensive tactics. They also use custom algorithms, power ratings and mathematical formulas when setting the Over/Under.
While this type of bet can seem complex, it’s actually quite simple once you understand it.
One example of an Over/Under bet would be betting on Philadelphia’s running back total rushing yards. If the Philadelphia running back reaches 83 or more yards during the course of the game, that will mean that the ‘over’ wins.
Over/Under bets can be very profitable. However, they are not without their drawbacks. In particular, they can be influenced by overtime.
Future bets
Futures bets are popular in many sports, including football. These bets can be placed on teams and players to win a season-long tournament.
A common futures wager in the NFL is picking a team to win the Super Bowl, but it can also be placed on division and conference bets. These bets can take several days, weeks, or months to play out and pay out at the end of the season.
These bets can be very lucrative. For example, if you bet on the Chicago Bears to win the Super Bowl this season with +10000 odds and they win, you would receive a huge payout.