How to Gamble on Football

Football has become the most gambled on sport in the United States, and many people find themselves in Las Vegas on a fall weekend ready to make a few bets. Knowing how to bet and what you can bet on can enhance your experience in the sportsbook.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Legal access to a sportsbook

How to Gamble on Football

1. There are many bets you can make on a football game, including point spreads, totals, and money lines. Football is also a popular sport to parlay, meaning to bet on multiple games on one ticket. Point spreads are bets on how much a team will win or lose by. You take the point spread and add or subtract that many points from the team you are betting on. Totals are betting on the combined points scored by both teams. Money line bets are bets that are only on who will win or lose the game outright. There are no point spreads but there are odds to make the betting more even.

2. Place your bet at the window in a sportsbook. Sportsbooks refer to games by number, not team name, so find the number of the team you would like to bet on. This is how you will place your bet. If you would like to bet a parlay, there are often parlay cards that you simply fill out and bring to the ticket writer. These offer worse odds than betting off the board by number, but offer more convenience.

3. Tell the ticket writer what you want to bet on. When betting just one game, tell the writer that you want a straight bet, then give them the team number, and how much you want to bet. If you are betting a total or money line, you say the team number, followed by "over" or "under", or "money line" and then the amount you wish to bet. If you are betting a parlay, tell the writer that you'd like a parlay, then list all of the team or game numbers you'd like, followed by the amount you wish to bet.

4. When you have given the writer all of your bets, give him the amount due and check your tickets for accuracy.

5. If you are gambling online, the process is pretty much the same, minus the writer. Instead, you just follow the links to the bet you want to make, and then make the bet. Again, check your bets for accuracy.

Tips & Warnings

• If you bet parlays, check the parlay tickets' lines against those on the board. You may get a more favorable point spread on one of them.

• Know all of the bets you want to make before you go to the window.

• Gambling on sports is only legal in certain areas. Check your local laws before gambling on sports.