Betting on American Football with totesport
Betting on the NFL (National Football League) is fast, furious and fun. The season begins in early September and runs through to early February when the ‘greatest show on earth’, the Superbowl, takes place.
There are 32 teams split into two conferences, the NFC and the AFC, with each divided into four divisions (north, south, east and west) of four teams.
The NFL operates with a goal of parity and attempts to make the teams as equal as possible, with the top college draft picks awarded to the season’s worst sides, while a salary cap is imposed to prevent certain franchises hoarding all the best players.
Upsets can and do occur throughout the season. Injuries, coaching and personnel management are three important factors which will sort the successful teams from the failures and spotting those is the key to betting in the NFL, where a plethora of betting opportunities is available at totesport’s NFL Betting section.
To maintain a season-long interest, teams can be backed in the Superbowl, Conference or Division outright winner markets and their fortunes can be followed week by week. Generally the previous years play-off teams will feature towards the top of the market but the status quo changes quickly in the NFL and teams can go from zero to hero quickly, so don’t be afraid to take a look at the bigger priced teams.
On a weekly basis though, there is the opportunity to bet on the match-ups that the schedule has thrown up. Match result markets will offer prices on the two teams just to win the game, while there will also be handicap betting available.
One side is given a certain number of points that effectively tries to equalise the two teams and where the number of points either received or given is added to the match result to provide the handicap result. These handicaps are usually quoted with an extra ½ point to effectively rule out the possibility of a tie.
Match odds and handicaps can be backed as singles or used in multiple bets.
As well as these options, there is a total points line, which has proved hugely popular amongst the punters. In the same way as the match handicap works, a number is set for the number of points that both teams combined will score in the game. Again a ½ point handicap is used and the bet is under or over the total points line.
Remember there are lots of different factors involved in a successful points bet – weather and defences being two of the most important. As in rugby and football pitch conditions, temperature and wind can have a dramatic effect on the result and how teams play. It is worth remembering though that some of our American cousins play their sport indoors!
For live games – we are spoilt in the UK now with up to six games shown live on SKY each week – there are plenty of additional markets available, such as winning margin, 1st touchdown scorer, 1st scoring play, scorecast and highest scoring quarter.
If you want to keep up with the latest news and information the official NFL site is as good a place as any to start and you to can join in with all the opportunities that totesport brings for betting on the NFL.
