NFL Football Betting Tips

by | Last updated Jul 28, 2022 | nfl

Tired of losing to your bookie every weekend? We’ve put together a tip sheet to help you increase your chances of winning each week. It gets old paying the book! It doesn’t have to be that way! Collect for once and make it a habit.

Note: If you came here looking for football picks against the spread, please go here: Weekly NFL Picks.

Read all the articles on this site about capping games, how to bet, etc., even if it seems boring. It’ll educate the heck out of ya and change your “luck”. There’s a huge learning curve when it comes to winning at football betting. We lost our asses for YEARS before we even got a sniff of winning. Then we got to a point where we broke even. Then, after many years, we learned how to win. It’s a process!

This website is dedicated to those who got tired of paying the bookie, changed over to a new leaf and learned how to be disciplined and EDUCATED. Knowledge is power, baby. Read it and increase your winning percentage today! Quit being the reason your bookie drives a Cadillac!

Listed below are some great football gambling tips to consider before placing your bets. Enjoy!

1. Make sure that you’re playing with a good sportsbook. If yours sucks for any reason whatsoever, go get a better one by checking out our sportsbook reviews page which features the cream of the crop on the internet, bar none.

2. Bet on bad teams. Yep, that’s right! Bet on crappy teams. That’s where the money is at. Good teams win. Bad teams cover. The sooner you figure this out, the better off you’ll be. The reason for this is oddsmakers create a point spread based on public perception, not how the game is actually going to play out. They already know what your intentions are before you place your bet! Generally speaking, good teams have inflated spreads, giving the lesser team value. That doesn’t mean that you should go out and blindly bet on all the bad teams (although you’d probably do better than you’re doing). Every single game has it’s own entity and should be approached as such. Just make sure you’re not betting the favorite and over on every nationally televised game… ESPECIALLY SNF and MNF! 

3. Keep records. At midseason, take a real long look at what kind of bets you’re winning and losing. Drop what isn’t working and stick with what is. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we’d bet you’re getting killed on parlays and teasers! Tip: It’s tough enough to beat the spread on one game. Why make it harder on yourself by having to win multiple games to cash your ticket?

4. Exercise proper money management. If you’re risking your whole bankroll every week betting every game on the board, you’re going to get killed long-term and probably short-term too. Bet small amounts so you can stay in the game. Whether you are ahead or behind, the double-up theory just doesn’t work. Winning at football betting is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Bet the same amount on every game (aka: Flat Betting). Even if you think it’s the best game of the century. No one game should be weighted more than another. What’s even worse is your solid plays usually end up losing more than your regular plays. How many times have you bet a ton on a game only to find out that a star playing is sitting or the team you’re wagering on loses a couple offensive lineman, rendering your offense unable to move the ball and useless? Another reason to bet the same amount is that the lines the bookies put out are made to try to dupe your perception. A good rule of thumb is that if it looks too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS!

6. Don’t chase losses or use Monday Night Football as a bailout game. Losses run faster than you do and you aren’t going to catch them. The only way to un-dig yourself, is to thoroughly handicap a game and make good solid selections based on good solid information.

7. Check how the weather, including the wind, is treating the venue where the game will be played. There is nothing worse than betting an over, sitting down in your cozy chair with a frosty, only to turn on the tv and see a blistering hurricane going on at the field in which both teams are going to run the ball every down, which burns up the clock and are perennial “over” killers. It happens, and it’s sickening! Check weather reports and bet accordingly! (Especially games with winds over 15mph).

8. Don’t listen to what the sportscasters on ESPN say. They may work for a sports station, but they’re just pigeons reading off a teleprompter. These guys aren’t handicappers; many are even losing degenerate gamblers. Lee Corso is fun to listen to, but he can’t pick his way out of a wet paper bag!

9. Get yourself multiple sportsbooks and shop for the best lines and odds for each game that you bet. You compare prices when you are shopping for a loaf of bread; why not on a game in which there is more at stake? Take advantage of multiple 100% bonus offers, reduced juice and sportsbooks that offer specials on a particular day of the week. You need every single edge you can get if you want to have a shot of winning!

10. Learn how to bet on NFL totals. Here’s a little secret that most don’t realize: Betting limits on totals are lesser than sides. Know why? Because they’re easier to beat! An astute football handicapper can nail down gaudy numbers such as 65% or better, solely betting on totals. Believe it!

11. Take your systems and flush them down the toilet. We’ve heard them all and none work. Approximately 3% of football bettors win long term. None of them are using systems. Just good handicapping.

12. Join a football handicapping forum and exchange information with other football handicappers. There are some bright minds out there that post their picks for free, many of which are better than the pros. Conversely, there are some amateurs out there that post that are truly horrible. If you fade their picks, you have a good shot of hitting in the high fifty percentile range, which makes you look like a genius and will have your bookie scratching his head.

13. Study! Handicap the games. Don’t just make a blind pick based on who you think is going to win. If you’re tired of losing, there are some decent sports services out there as well. See our handicappers section for a list of Pro Cappers that we endorse.

14. Know what key numbers are in the NFL and how you can benefit from being educated what they are. Surely a must-know for the serious bettor. Educating yourself on this topic can save you a bunch of half-point losses over the course of the season, which may mean the difference between being a winning or losing sports gambler.

15. Pay close attention to injuries. Not just RBs and QBs. We’re talking linemen. The battle is won in the trenches. If a major lineman is out (especially a Center) on the offensive side of the ball, this is the info you want to know about ahead of time and not be on the wrong side of. The Center is essential to a team’s success (timing is huge.)

16. Don’t bet over your head. Create a bankroll and only bet a certain percentage of it each week. Don’t play any one game for more than 5% of your total roll.

17. Track your results. One of the keys to success is figuring out what you’re good at and what you’re bad at.

18. Why you should always first consider betting on NFL underdogs when placing your football wagers.

19. Pointers, tips, strategy and advice on placing NFL halftime bets.

20. Avoid falling into the trap of football betting systems. They sound great, but they’re a unicorn.

Here’s a huge tip for you. Did you know that you can bet on NFL games at -105 instead of -110? Yep! Check it out at BAS Sportsbook. Dumping your book and wagering at discount odds will save you THOUSANDS of dollars!

Related:

Early Season NFL Betting Strategy – Pro Football Handicapper Vernon Croy suggests variables to take into consideration when there isn’t any data available because it’s so early in the season.