Online Football Betting Tips

Football is one of the most heavily wagered sports in the world. Big money pours through the football betting industry every year. If you can get just a small piece of that money, you'll be in great shape. Because so many people bet on football games, you have to be a very good handicapper to gain an advantage. Here are several tips to get you started.

Make value based picks

There's more to picking a game than looking at the win-loss records of both teams. It doesn't matter how great a team is if the money line is absolute garbage.

Let's look at it this way:

Team A Record: 8-2

Team B Record: 3-7

Team A: -930

Team B: +910

In this exaggerated example, you'd be crazy to pick based on the win-loss record of both teams. The money line is terrible! You'd have to wager $9.30 for every $1 in potential wins if you picked Team A.

You want to base your football picks on value. You do this by finding teams that are over valued or under valued. In this example, we could say that Team B is under valued with 9-1 odds in your favor. Even though Team A will usually win, a bet on Team B is +EV (expected value) if Team B has even just a 20% chance of winning.

If you pick based on value you can lose more than 50% of your bets and still make a profit.

Do your homework

Football handicapping is a competitive venture so you're going to have to do your homework to get an edge. Read everything you can about online football handicapping to get that edge. Look up team statistics, keep up to date on injury reports, read the weather forecasts and try to get inside the heads of the teams. How does Team A play after losing a game? How does Team B play at Mile High Stadium?

Compare the straight up records to the point spread records

Straight up records can be quite misleading. Sometimes a team can have a great record of 10-4 through a season but do terrible against the point spread and end up 6-8 for the bettors. Straight up records have their uses but don't forget to check the "against the spread" record as well.

Use a combination of approaches in picking your bets

Some people go by gut instinct alone, others blindly follow computer programs and yet others bet based purely on statistics. The best approach is to use a combination of these three betting styles. Computer programs can run complex calculations, statistics can prove just as useful and your gut can give you the final say in any close decisions. It pays to use every resource you can to gain an edge.

Take care of your bankroll

Even the top football handicappers get nearly 40% of their picks wrong. You should never bet more than 2% of your total bankroll on any given game. It doesn't take much to go through a dry spell and lose a few bets in a row. If you always play within your bankroll, these dry spells won't spell disaster for you.

Additional Sports Betting Tips

Make sure to read our general football gambling article for additional football specific information. Check out the article to get a break down of various bets that can be made.