The Pertinent Rules of Football Betting Season

Sports betting is big business, but success requires following the football betting rules that guide smart wagers—principles covered throughout the MyBookie Sports Betting Guide.

Whether it’s the NFL or college football, fans and bettors love the challenge of breaking down the games each week in hopes of finding winners and cashing out winning tickets.

It’s a whole lot harder than it sounds, though, often because bettors tend not to follow the pertinent rules of football betting What are those rules?

Let’s get into it in this definitive football betting guide.

Football Betting Season: Why Rules Matter

Betting and winning on football require a level of discipline and structure that can be difficult to follow. One big result can sway bettors to make wagers the following week that are simply not that smart.

The sports betting line offers clues to what the public thinks about a specific game, and they can drive the betting odds in a direction that smart bettors can quickly take advantage of.

A structured betting discipline requires an adherence to the following rules.

Rule #1: Learn How Football Odds Work

You need to understand American football odds well enough to decide whether a specific wager should be on your ticket. This means knowing about expected return and implied probability.

For example, let’s say we have the KC Chiefs as a -180 favorite over the Broncos, who are listed at +150. A $100 bet on the Chiefs will get you $180 in return if they win, at an implied probability of 55.56. If you take the Broncos and they win, you will get $250 back and an implied probability of 40.

Now, let’s imagine that Mahomes is injured, and you believe the chances of the Broncos winning are 60%, you would almost certainly take a shot at Denver.

Be aware that in college football, there is often a major talent gap, so the odds are very different.

You might have a top SEC team as a 35 ½ point favorite over a much smaller school.

Rule #2: Understand the Point Spread (Key Football Betting Rule)

Bookies know how to set lines in a way that adds juice or spread shading to ensure that they make money.

Simply adding a half-point to a particular matchup in a spread bet can essentially split the wagers right down the middle, ensuring the bookies make money regardless of the game outcome.

They will change the betting bookie odds when the public is leaning heavily in one direction.

In spread betting, you are deciding how many points a team will win or lose by and wagering on that outcome. The movement of a half-point is often enough flip bettors to the other side and cause market confusion.

Rule #3: Know How Totals Work (NFL & College Differences)

When you bet on sports online, you will see big differences in the lines in the NFL and college football.

NCAAF totals are often much higher than in the NFL, simply because the pace of the game is so much different. NFL games rarely get close to the totals we see in college football, which makes wagering on NFL betting totals a totally different beast to the college game.

Be sure you understand this.

Rule #4: Pay Attention to Line Movement

Sharp bettor tend to wager early before the line moves, which gives them an advantage over the long term. They might jump on a -3 spread before it moves to -4 ½ to take advantage of closing line value.

If, though, the line moved in the other direction, there would be a negative CLV, but sharps are great at understanding NFL line movement and the way it will go.

Rule #5: Always Factor in Key Numbers

If you look at the sports betting line in the NFL, you will often see 3, 7, and 10, which are considered key numbers. Games are very often decided by these margins, so when the line moved by a half-point, it can greatly impact win probabilities.

You can control this somewhat by employing teasers, which allow you to shift the odds in your favor, albeit at lesser odds.

Rule #6: Manage Your Bankroll with Discipline

You often hear about “lock bets” in professional sports, but it is something of a myth given that so many factors go into the outcome of a game.

This is why you should only ever play 1-3% of your bankroll on a single wager, no matter how confident you feel to now appealing the betting bookie odds look.

Bettors looking for structured approaches can also explore proven frameworks outlined in our Football Betting Systems That Work guide.

Rule #7: Rules for Prop Bets and Parlays

Props and parlays can be lucrative, but they are also volatile by nature, with parlays having a particularly high variance. Bettors who want more structure often rely on defined staking frameworks like the 1-3-5 method for football prop betting to manage exposure.

Even when you stick with 3 favorites for a parlay bet, they still seldom win.

Props are tricky, too, as you are often correlating results that are dependent on another thing happening.

The bookie NFL odds make parlays and props seem enticing, but they are often very hard to hit. If you want to avoid high risk plays, they may not be for you.

Rule #8: Rules for College Football vs NFL Betting

If you look at the betting odds for the NFL versus college football, you will see several differences. The spreads in the pro game are much tighter than in college ball, where the talent gap can be huge. It’s the same story with college football odds for the point total, which are generally much higher than the NFL due to the pace of play.

Frequently Asked Questions

FINAL THOUGHTS

Discipline is the key to winning regularly when wagering on football. Understanding how the bookie betting lines work and how they impact value will help keep you in the game longer. Explore football odds and apply these rules to real wagers now at MyBookie.

MyBookie: Bet On Anything. Anywhere. Anytime.

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NFL Betting Guides | Learn Before You Wager

Sharpen your NFL betting strategy with essential MyBookie guides covering spreads, totals, teasers, and line movement.

• Top Online Betting Tips: What are Teasers and How They Work
• A Quick History of NFL Betting to Know and Share
• Winning Tips For NFL Postseason Value Betting
• NFL Betting Tips on How to Handicap Fading Teams
• Recognize and Handicap Key NFL Betting Numbers

Ready to lock in your plays? Don’t wait — early bowl lines move fast.

Bookie Betting Lines
Updated Vegas Odds & Spreads at MyBookie

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About the Author

• Henry Watkins
• Henry Watkins is a Sports Writer at MyBookie. Originally from Scotland and currently residing in Metro Atlanta with his wife Penny, Henry covers a range of topics, including competitive and professional sports as well as sports business. In addition to his sports writing, he is also an author of horror fiction, with works such as Karaoke Night, Crueller, and Off The Grid.

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