NFL Legal Online Betting Guide For USA Players In 2024

How To Read NFL Odds

If you’re experienced with betting, then you’re probably familiar with all the different types of NFL bets you can make, but if you’re a beginner, it’s important to know what you’re betting on before placing real money on betting lines.

Here are three examples of the most common football betting lines you’ll see at an online sportsbook and the ones we recommend wagering on to consistently increase your bankroll.

NFL Point Spread Betting

New England Patriots -8
New York Jets +8

The bottom team in a betting line is always the home team. Negative numbers are assigned to the favorite, and positive numbers are given to the underdog in spread betting. In this example, to win the NFL point spread bet on the Patriots, they must win by 9 or more points. To win a bet on the Jets, they can either win the game by any margin or lose by no more than 7 points.

NFL Moneyline Odds

New England Patriots -400
New York Jets +300

The money line is a bet solely on which team will win the game. Only the odds are displayed, and the team with the negative number is the favorite, while the team with the positive number is the underdog. $4 of risk is required to net a $1 gain with a successful Patriots bet on their -400 moneyline because they are favored to win. The Jets are the underdog, and positive moneylines deliver more reward than the amount wagered - a $1 bet on the Jets at +300 will net $3 if they win the game.

NFL Over/Under Betting

New England Patriots @ New York Jets - Over/Under: 47.0

For an over/under bet, a set number of points is given by the sportsbook, and a bet must be placed on whether the total points scored by both teams at the end of a game will go over or under the set number. In this example, to win a bet on the Over, the total points scored by both teams must be 48 points or more. To win a bet on the Under, the total points scored by both teams must be 46 points or fewer.

NFL Live Odds For Betting During The Game

Traditionally, when you bet on a football game, your wagers must be submitted before the start of the contest in question. Live in-game betting on NFL games lets gamblers immerse themselves in the action by betting on moneylines, spreads, the over/under, and props throughout the game as they shift in real-time.

The live pro football odds will differ from book to book, but each one will feature in-play betting on game lines as soon as the kickoff occurs. From the first quarter through the fourth, the live Vegas odds NFL games produce exciting action for most of the contest - just don't wait too long because they're usually removed late in the game.

Benefits Of Live Betting On NFL Games

• Get HUNDREDS of extra bets per game – Live betting adds hundreds of wagers to each game’s docket. Because lines refresh every few minutes to reflect the action on the field, you’ll never run out of opportunities to maximize your bankroll.
• Hedge your bets – If you place a pre-game bet and your favored team comes out looking flatter than you’d like, you can hedge that bet by picking the other side on a live line. Sure, your original pick might still win, but a guaranteed wash is sometimes the right play.
• Recoup early losses – For countless reasons, sometimes it becomes clear early in a matchup that your pre-game pick isn’t going to win. Live betting lets you put money on the other team so you can recoup some or all of your expected losses.
• Recover from injuries – A “sure thing” might turn into a major fiasco if a key player is injured in a game. Live betting lets you make new bets on lines and odds that reflect that injury. It’s like a trip to the sideline medical tent for your bankroll!
• Get bigger payouts on favorites – If a pre-game favorite is -135 straight up and finds itself in an early 14-0 hole, their line might move to +165 or so. If you think they’re still likely to win, you can make a lot more money betting on that outcome in-game at much longer odds.
• Double down on locks – Live betting allows you to double down on good pre-game picks. If your team is favored at -3.5 and scores three unanswered TDs in the first quarter, you might decide that you should have risked more than you did at the outset. With live betting, you can!
• Play the middle – Playing the middle is an advanced tactic that in-game football betting facilitates. Before a given game, let’s say you bet on Team A at -7 to win, and they start racking up the points. Team B’s odds might shift from +7 to +12.5. You can now bet on Team B to cover, and if Team A wins by 10 points, you’ll win both sides of the bet!

Other NFL Bet Types

NFL Prop Bets:

Team and player stats, NFL MVP odds, and the color of the drink poured on the winning coach's head are just a few examples of prop bets that are offered for the regular season and playoffs. Anything that is trackable on the field or off is fair game for proposition odds to be created.

NFL Preseason Betting:

Betting lines for each preseason game will be offered at online USA sportsbook sites. There will also be preseason futures odds on the boards all year long that take action on Division, Conference, and Super Bowl winners.

Betting On The NFL Playoffs:

When the 17-game regular season is over, NFL Playoff betting begins with game lines and props that take action through the AFC and NFC Championship Games. Futures betting allows for betting on each franchise's playoff potential at any time of year.

Super Bowl Betting:

Betting on the Super Bowl can occur at any time of year because futures are created for the following season's champion as soon as this year's Lombardi Trophy is hoisted (if not before). During the final two weeks leading up to the big game, Super Bowl betting lines and prop bets will flood online sportsbooks with literally thousands of pro football odds.

Betting On NFL Draft Odds:

Prop bets for the draft allows for wagering on who the first pick will be, how many players will be selected from a given college or university, or anything else that oddsmakers can think up. Odds for betting on the NFL Draft tend to show up toward the end of college football season.

Betting On The Pro Bowl:

While intrigue for the pro football's All-Star game is tough to generate, Pro Bowl odds and betting lines do show up within a day or two of kickoff time but typically only consist of the line for the AFC vs. NFC.

NFL Parlays, Teasers, And Pleasers:

A parlay is when two or more wagers are combined into one. All bets involved must win in order for the parlay to payout. Each online sportsbook will differ in what they allow for parlay bets. Teaser and pleaser bets are also combination wagers like parlays, but the bettor or the book gets to adjust the odds to their liking for lower payouts.