Below are some good general betting rules for the NFL Season. Not focusing here on specific handicapping techniques, just some good high level rules to follow while betting on the NFL. Learn about NFL sports betting in this article.

Vegas Nfl Betting Rules

Football Betting Rules Includes NFL, NCAA College Football, CFL, and Arena Football. In the event of a game not playing on the scheduled date or original.

Set a Season Long Budget

This is your best very first step. Before you start getting excited about the season, decide how much you can afford to budget for the season. This money should be set aside up front. I don’t encourage continually adding to your budget (see the next point). It’s very easy after a losing day to just add on more than you wanted, and more, and more. Know what you can afford and stick to it.

Stick To Your Season Long Budget – No Reloads

If you lose your entire budget before the season is over, maybe you’re not good at NFL betting. If you properly pick a budget, spread it over the season, even if you aren’t the best bettor on earth, you should be able to make the budget last all season.

Set A Weekly Bet Limit Based On The Season Budget

You will have losing weeks and winning weeks. It is very easy to go on tilt, and bet the entire next weeks budget on a Monday night game in revenge for a losing weekend. Do not do it. You will regret it when you lose, and if you do happen to win, you did it in a way that will eventually burn you.

Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread.Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to understand once it is explained to you. Over Under Betting is the second most popular type of NFL betting, just behind spread betting. Over Under Betting is also known as “Game Total Betting” and you will often see it be referred to as either term. Beginner NFL bettors may be confused by Over Under Betting, but it is very easy to learn and understand once explained.

Do Not Adjust Your Weekly Budget Until Mid Season

I’m all for adjusting your bet size, but don’t chase it week after week. Go half a season, and if you are up, then up your bet size. Congrats, you are good at betting on the NFL. You’ve learned how to bet on sports. If you are down, then well, possibly consider retooling your bet size smaller. Make your budget last all season.

Nfl Betting Rules

Only Spread, MoneyLine and Totals Bets – No Parlays, Teasers

Parlays are sucker bets, plain and simple. Sure, we all have heard of the guy who hit an 11 game parlay. It is very, very rare. You’re throwing away good money. Think about it, how many weekends have you gone 11-0? I’m going to guess none, be honest. Well, if you bet big parlays, you are banking on a very low probability outcome. No professional sports bettor bets parlays. Not even 2 game parlays. Take the bets individually.

Do Not Bet Every Game – Pick Your Spots

I both laugh and cry inside when I hear someone tell me about how they have bets on every single game. They are an action bettor, not a professional. There are just not edges on every single game every single week. You should be looking for the 3-5 actual real edges in any given week.

No Chasing or Revenge Betting

We all lose, individual games or days overall. A common trait of bad NFL sports bettors is to have a losing Sunday, and go for a hail mary on Monday Night Football. It’s a rookie bet, do not do it.

Line Shop

I advocate having multiple sports betting accounts. The odds will vary by each sports book. Not a lot, but enough. The difference between betting -105 vs -110 week after week will add up, and the larger your bet size, the more impact it will have in terms of dollars. See my list of recommended sports books to read about the pros of each and what they have to offer. We use each and every one of them.

When In Doubt, Don’t Bet

There are plenty of opportunities to bet. If you are on the fence, just do not bet. I can guarantee more often than not you’ll save money.

Don’t Judge Others Bets, Don’t Take Others Advice

Look, it’s fun to talk sports betting. Especially if you are winning, either on a day, a week, or an individual game. The last thing I like is someone telling me that a bet I made is wrong, sucks, will lose for sure, etc. So, do people the same favor of not telling them what you think about their bets. Say “good luck”, and move on.

Learn More About Sports Betting

Some of you long time Oracle followers probably remember my YouTube channel which got taken down for “gambling content” early this year. I’ve reuploaded a lot of my old videos, several of which are about learning sports betting:

• Video: The Oracle Pro Sports Handicapper 2.0 – full channel
• Video: Top 10 Tips For New Sports Bettors
• Video: Sports Betting 101 – Totals or Over/Unders

Additional Resources

• Need a place to bet online in the USA? USA Online Sports Books
• Learn how to bet on sports, check out my Educational Articles
• NFL Key Numbers – what they are and why they are important
• NFL Betting: Buying the Hook – when, why, what it is

Although a little more advanced than a normal moneyline or spread bet, NFL Teaser Betting is fairly popular at sportsbooks during the NFL season. Teaser bets account for over 15% of sportsbooks handles for NFL betting, and is continuously becoming more popular.

NFL teaser betting is more common with intermediate or advanced bettors, but it isn’t a hard concept to understand – I will explain how NFL teasers work below.

What is a NFL Teaser Bet?

A teaser bet is a group of straight bets (two or more) combined into one bet, where each individual line has been shifted to your favour by the number of points of the teaser.

There are three main NFL teasers – 6, 6.5 and 7 point teasers.

In a 6 point NFL teaser the line would be shifted by 6 points in the favour of the bettors play. For example if you wanted to take the Ravens -8, it would be converted into Ravens -2 within a teaser bet. The spread was shifted 6 points (from 8 points down to 2 points). Another example would be if you wanted to play the Chiefs -2.5. In a 6 point teaser the -2.5 line would be changed to Chiefs +3.5.

The same rule is applied for 6.5 and 7 point NFL teasers, except, of course, the line is shifted by either 6.5 or 7 points instead of the 6 points shown in the example above. NFL teaser bets must include two or more bets “parlayed” (cannot do single teaser bets).

NFL Teaser Example

Here is what a two team 6.5 point NFL teaser bet would look like:

Your selections: Pittsburgh Steelers +3 and Dallas Cowboys -4.5

Nfl Totals Betting Rules

In a 6.5 point teaser these would then be changed to: Steelers +9.5 and Cowboys -2

In order for you to win the teaser bet both incomes would have to be correct. If one selection was a push the bet is often refunded, but some sportsbooks will count it as a loss if the other selection lost (check your sportsbooks‘ rules).

Below is another example of a teaser bet that I recently placed and won. I teased the Vikings and Eagles from +2.5 up to +8.5 in a 2 team 6 point teaser.

NFL Teaser Bet Payouts

Every sportsbook will have their own payouts and rules for teaser bets. Our favorite sportsbook for getting the best NFL odds is 5Dimes.eu. Of course the more points you use on the teaser the lower the payout will be, and the more teams you include in the teaser bet the higher the payout will be.

Here are the NFL Teaser Payouts at 5Dimes (subject to change):

6 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (+100)
3 Teams – (+180)
4 Teams – (+300)

6.5 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (-110)
3 Teams – (+165)
4 Teams – (+265)

7 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (-120)
3 Teams – (+150)
4 Teams – (+240)

Of course you can choose more than 4 teams in your NFL teaser bet, I just used these as example payouts so you could get a feel for what the payouts are like on teaser bets. Full payout charts can usually be found at the sportsbooks website.

Now that you know what teasers are check out this advanced Teaser Betting Strategy article written by our professional sports bettor, Jim. In the article you will learn when teasers are +EV and how you can make a profit during the season picking spots to bet teasers.