Five Tips to Improve Your NFL Betting
It’s not easy to make money betting on the NFL. Football is an unpredictable sport, and you can’t always rely on games turning out as expected. This makes it tough to find enough winning wagers to beat the juice charged by sports books.
This isn’t a major issue for everyone. The majority of people who bet on the NFL are classed as “recreational bettors”, and they don’t really expect to win anyway. Betting is just a form of entertainment for them. They WANT to win, of course, but they don’t take things too seriously.
These recreational bettors rarely put much effort into selecting their wagers. They’ll generally just make snap decisions about how each game is likely to play out and place their wagers accordingly. Many of them don’t even make their own decisions at all, preferring to follow betting picks from the experts and relying on the judgement of others.
There’s a lot to be said for following the advice of experts, especially those who are genuinely knowledgeable and put real effort into trying to find the right wagers. It CAN be a profitable approach, but there are no guarantees of success. Even the experts get it wrong a lot of the time, and they can go through long losing streaks like anyone else.
It’s also fair to say that relying on picks detracts somewhat from the overall betting experience. Part of the enjoyment comes from putting your skills to the test and taking on the sports books. It might not be easy to beat them, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
The fact is that it IS possible to make money from betting on the NFL, even without the assistance of others. It takes a lot of hard work for sure, with plenty to learn if you want to be truly successful in the long run. Just getting the basics right can greatly improve your chances, though, and the following simple tips will help you to do just that.
Don’t Bet On Too Many Games
One of the biggest mistakes that football bettors make is betting on all (or most) of the games each week. This is not the right thing to at all. Trying to make accurate assessments of how a dozen or more different games will play out is basically impossible. It’s much better to focus on a smaller number of games.
You could choose to follow a few different teams for the season, for example, and bet only on their games. Or you could look at the schedule each week and think about which games are the easiest to call. It doesn’t really matter what method you use here, just so long as you’re selective. This is almost certain to yield improved results.
Do Your Homework
Whichever games you choose to bet on, it’s absolutely vital that you do some proper research and analysis. Relying on “hunches” and your instinct is little more than guesswork, and that’s not the way to make good betting decisions.
What is it hat you need to research? Well, anything and everything that’s relevant really. You should do some analysis of at least the main stats for the teams and players to try to assess their overall quality. You then need to consider factors such as playing style, form, motivation and injuries, and think carefully about how they will affect the likely outcome of the games you’re betting on.
Look Beyond the Point Spread
Most people who bet on football have a tendency to place point spread wagers and not much else. This is a mistake. Point spread wagers are very straightforward, and should definitely be considered, but there are lots of other wagers that often provide a better chance of winning money.
Betting totals, for example, is one of the easiest ways to find value in the NFL markets. Betting money lines is regularly a good option, too, and the various props available in games are always worth looking at. The more advanced wagers such as teasers and pleasers are not ones you’ll want to use regularly, but there are some occasions when they should also be considered.
The key here is that you don’t want to limit yourself. The sports books are VERY good at getting the lines just right for NFL point spreads, and there’ll regularly be weeks when it’s impossible to find any value in them. By widening your scope to the alternative wagers, you’re much more likely to identify good spots to get your money down.
Avoid Big Parlays
Placing parlay wagers with lots of selections can be very tempting. They offer the potential for huge returns from relatively small stakes, and that’s obviously appealing. However, the returns are huge for a reason. Big parlays are EXTREMELY difficult to get right.
Some betting experts recommend avoiding parlays completely. Although there’s a strong argument for this, placing smaller parlays can actually be profitable in the long run. It’s not something you should do too much, but there’s nothing wrong with placing the occasional three or four selection parlay.
Always Find the Best Odds & Lines
Arguably, the easiest way to improve your betting results is to simply make sure that you always compare the odds and lines available for your wagers. This only takes a few moments to do, and should have a very positive impact over time.
Getting an extra half-point on the spread or total can make all the difference to the result of a wager. Making sure you get the best possible line every single time can turn a few losses into pushes, and a few pushes into wins. Over the course of a season, this can add up to a lot of extra money in your betting bankroll.
A similar principle applies to getting the best possible odds. The difference between -110 and -105 doesn’t seem very big, and it doesn’t make much difference on one single wager. Over dozens and dozens of wagers, however, the difference can be significant.
This tip alone won’t turn you into a winning NFL bettor. Nor will any of the others. But if you put them all together, and spend the necessary time and effort on your betting, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll start seeing better results.