NFL Odds and Sports Betting
The RotoGrinders team developed the NFL Odds tool as a resource for comparing odds among legal US online sportsbooks. The page you are on now shows all legal US online sportsbooks that have made their NFL odds feeds available to us. You can also sort to view New Jersey NFL odds.
With the fall of PASPA in 2018, we’ve experienced an influx of visitors searching for information on legal US sports betting. Anybody looking to use NFL odds for sports betting purposes should also check out some of our NFL betting articles:
NFL Betting Tips — Learn the Basics, Get NFL Odds
NFL Preseason Betting Strategy: Game Plans, Beats and Halves
For sports bettors in New Jersey, we have a page dedicated to determining which NJ sportsbook is right for you.
We also have PA online sports betting covered.
NFL Odds Glossary
Spread – The most popular way to bet football is taking a team against the spread (ATS). This involves making a wager on either the favorite or underdog to cover the point spread. The point spread is how much the better team (favorite) is projected to beat the weaker team (underdog) by for the bet to win. For example
Moneyline (or Line) – Bettors can also wager on the moneyline, which simply states the odds a bettor most lay to bet on a football team to win straight up. For example, a -140 moneyline means a player would have to lay $14 for each $10 they’d like to win. If the underdog is +130 in that game, the bettor would win $13 for every $10 they lay.
Total – The number of points scored by both teams. The bettor can either go Over or Under the given total.
Favorite – The team laying the points (ex: Patriots -3) and the higher moneyline. The favorite will always be minus money (ie -140) and minus points.
Underdog or dog – The team getting points (ex: Rams +3) with the lower moneyline. The dog will always be plus points and plus money (ie +120).
Over – A bet made for a team or game to score more points than the game total. (ie Over 38.5 points).
Under – A bet made for a team or game to score fewer points than the game total. (ie Under 38.5 points).
Vigorish (Vig or Juice) – The fee or commission a player has to pay to the house, ex: Patriots -3 (-110). In this case, a bettor is wagering $11 to win $10. Typically the vig is (-110) on both sides, but sometimes oddsmakers will increase the vig on one side instead of increasing the points spread; ex: Patriots -3 (-120), Rams +3 (-100).
Parlay – A bet that combines a number of teams, all of which must win for the bet to win. The attraction is a larger payout. Two team parlays typically pay out 2.6 to 1, three team parlays pay out 6 to 1, and four team parlays pay out 4 to 1.
Round Robin – A special kind of parlay which makes betting combinations for every team listed in the bet. For example, a three-team round robin would feature a three-team parlay and three two team parlays. Bettors signify how much they wish to risk or win for each leg of the parlay.
Sportsbook (Book or House) – The entity offering the bets.
Shopping – Using several books to look for the best lines.
Live Betting – When action is offered after a game starts, while it’s in progress.
Proposition (or Prop) – These are individual bets within a game, usually centering around a team, player or the game itself. For example, what team scores first? Will the home team score in the first 5.5 minutes of the game? Player props often offer a total on whether a certain player will go over or under a particular statistical category. Examples include: will a certain player throw over/under X number of touchdowns? will a certain player will catch over/under X number of passes? will a certain player rush over/under X number of yards? Among many other propositions.
How DFS Players Use NFL Betting Odds
For years, daily fantasy players have been making use of the lines to shape their lineups. While the spread can be somewhat useful in determining what teams to fade and players to go with. For example, you might want to play a running back from a team that is heavily favored, as that team is likely run the ball more with a larg lead, along with having more scoring opportunities. Conversely, you might want to play cheap receivers from a team that is a big underdog, as that team is likely to be passing the ball more while playing from behind), it’s really the NFL point total that DFS players are most interested in.
Lineup builders love to stack teams playing in games with high point totals. Of course, there’s more strategy to it than that, especially in larger prize pool tournaments, but the point totals will generally inform players as to which teams they’ll want more or less exposure to absent any other research.
Savvy DFS players can also use player props (like catch totals for receivers) to assist in evaluations as well. Or, vice versa, sharp DFS players can use their DFS projections to take advantage of soft player props at online sportsbooks.