Football Betting Guide for 2025

Want to learn how to bet on football? Well, good news — football betting isn’t difficult to learn. You could even win some money once you got the hang of things and learned a few strategies.

We’re going to help you out. Below, we show you how to bet on football online, including where to find the best sportsbooks, how to understand football betting odds, and the types of wagers you can make.

We recommend reading this football betting guide from start to finish, but you can use the jump links below if there is a specific topic you want to learn about.

Contents of This Football Betting Guide

• How to Bet On Football Online
• Top Football Betting Sites
• Which Football Leagues Can You Bet On?
• Types of Football Bets
• Beginner Guide to Football Betting Odds
• How to Bet on Football and Win
• Football Betting Glossary
• Frequently Asked Questions About Football Betting

The easiest way to bet on football online is to use a top-rated football betting site. In this section of our football betting tutorial, we’ll show you how to find a sportsbook, sign up for an account, and make your first bet. Then we’ll show you how you can also make football wagers on your mobile device.

Let’s dive in!

The most critical decision you’ll make when you start betting on football online is which sportsbook you’ll use. You want to set yourself up for success by choosing a safe and trustworthy betting site that has all the features you want.

Here are some of the features that will affect your football betting experience the most.

Now that you know some of the features to look for, you should be able to tell which sites are best for football bettors. You can find a bookmaker on your own, or you can choose to join one of our recommended sportsbooks listed below. You’ll find even more suggestions later in this football betting guide, too.

Top Football Betting Sites

Join Now! Join Now! Join Now! Join Now!

You can also find more football betting site recommendations elsewhere on our website.

Once you’ve figured out which sportsbook you want to use to bet on football for real money, you’ll need to create your account. We’ll walk you through this process step-by-step, using BetUS as an example.

The first step is to click the link above, which will take you to the BetUS website. You’ll want to find and click on the JOIN button, which is located at the top right corner of the screen. You’ll need to enter some demographic information on the following page.

BetUS also allows you to set up your communication preferences and include referral details on this screen. Once you have entered that information, click the create account button.

After your account has been created, you can log in. Most online sportsbooks, including BetUS, will automatically redirect you to the cashier. If you don’t get automatically redirected, you can click the Quick Deposit button.

Before you can make your first deposit, you need to decide which banking method you want to use. Most US betting sites allow deposits with cryptocurrency, credit cards, or bank transfers.

We recommend using cryptocurrency because it’s the fastest option and the most likely to get approved. Many sites also offer additional bonuses for cryptocurrency deposits.

Once you’ve chosen a banking method, you can click on it to continue the deposit process. Your first step will be to enter the amount you want to deposit. Also, if you want to collect a betting bonus, you’ll need to enter the promo code at this stage. After that, you can continue following the on-screen instructions to enter your financial information.

After your deposit has been finalized, your bonus funds should automatically appear in your account. You are ready to start real money football betting.

To wrap our tutorial on football betting online, we want to walk you through how to place your first bet. Luckily, it’s a straightforward process.

Start by clicking the sportsbook button on the top of the home page. The main sportsbook page typically features sporting events in chronological order. So, you can see football betting options right away if there is a game coming up in a few minutes.

If you’re placing your bets ahead of time, you can navigate to the real money football betting options from the menu on the left side of the screen. American football is typically listed at the top because it’s so popular.

When you click on the football button, you’ll see a list of leagues to bet on. NFL is typically listed at the top, followed by NCAAF and special events for these leagues. Click on a specific league to see the upcoming games that you can bet on. They’re listed in chronological order. You can also search for a specific team if that is easier.

There are four wagers that are always listed on the main screen. They are the point spread, moneyline, total, and team total. If you want to bet on any of those wagers, you can click on it to add it to the bet slip with a single click. Once a wager is added to the bet slip, you need to type in the amount of money you want to bet.

You can also click the show props button to view more betting options for that game. Common props include which team will score first, total touchdowns in the game, and winning margins.

Click on any wagers that you want to participate in. Once they have been added to the bet slip, you can create parlays, teasers, and if bets. The sportsbook will notify you if particular wagers can’t be parlayed together.

Finalize your bets by checking the risk/win amount for each bet. Then press the “Place My Bets” button. That’s all there is to it! Now that you know the basics of how to bet on football, you can explore additional features, like live betting and props builders.

The most important football betting advice we can offer is to research the teams and players you want to bet on. Our football picks can help you figure out the safest football bets based on recent stats and other information that will affect players’ performance.

You don’t have to wait until you are in front of a computer to place your football bets. All the top football betting sites have a mobile site or betting app that allows you to bet on the go.

These mobile betting sites have the same functions as desktop sites. So, you can create your account, make deposits, claim bonuses, manage your bet slip, and even enjoy live betting from your phone.

The only difference is that the mobile site is optimized to fit your device’s smaller screen. As a result, they may have additional navigation menus, or the information will just appear smaller.

Check out our recommendations for the best football betting apps for more information on how to bet football on mobile devices.

Most people who bet on American football for real money exclusively bet on the NFL. Of course, the NFL is the largest football league, so it gets the most attention. You might be surprised to know that there are several other football leagues you can bet on.

Here are a few different options you might want to consider.

Betting on other football leagues is a good way to practice handicapping and enjoy betting without the influence of mainstream hype. You can usually find better odds on these leagues as well.

When choosing which betting site you want to use, it’s essential to consider which leagues they offer wagers on. The more leagues they have available, the more betting opportunities you have.

Almost every betting site has options for betting on the NFL and the Superbowl, but you still want to be picky about where you bet online for real money. Fortunately for you, we also have a list of recommended Super Bowl betting sites on our website.

You might be wondering what you need to know about football betting. Well, one of the first things beginners ought to learn are the types of bets that sportsbooks offer. These are the types of football bets you should learn first.

These four types of wagers cover the basics that are available for any football game. As long as you understand these options, you have a solid understanding of what to know about football betting.

All the wagers we’ve covered so far have been single wagers that you place independently. Another option is to place multiple bets together. There are several different ways to combine bets.

Parlays

Parlays are not a specific type of wager. Instead, they are a way of combining multiple wagers into one bet. For example, you can bet on the point spread for multiple games or bet on the point spread, totals, and props for a single game. Parlays are all or nothing, so you have to win all of the bets included to win.

Teasers and Pleasers

These bets are particularly popular for football betting in the USA. Teasers and pleasers are specific types of parlays where all of the incorporated bets have to be point spread or totals, and the odds get modified. Teasers move the odds in the bettor’s favor, so the payouts are smaller. Pleasers change the odds, so they are against the bettor, but they offer significantly larger payouts if you get it right.

If Bets

An if bet is another type of parlay where you bet on several events in a specific order. For example, you can bet that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will win their game, followed by a win from the Green Bay Packers, and finally, the Oakland Raiders will win. You have to win the first bet for the subsequent bets to be active, and you choose the order.

Reverse Bets

Reverse bets are a different kind of if bet. Essentially, you place the same bets as you would in an if bet, but this option covers every possible order. Using the example above, a reverse bet would include Green Bay-Tampa-Oakland, Green Bay-Oakland-Tampa, Oakland-Green Bay-Tampa, and so on. You place several bets, which requires a higher initial stake, but the potential return is much higher.

Multiples bets are not listed on the betting page. Instead, you add individual wagers to your bet slip and then create parlays or teasers by combining the wagers in your bet slip. It’s very exciting to bet on multiples because the potential payouts are higher than if you placed each bet individually.

However, there is a lot more risk involved.

The next part of our guide to football betting for beginners is all about understanding betting odds. This information can be confusing at first, but it’s crucial to take the time to understand it because the betting odds affect your payout.

Betting odds show how much you’ll win or how much you need to risk depending on which team you bet on. The team that is most likely to win is the favorite, and the team that is less likely to win is the underdog.

If you bet on the favorite, the odds will show you how much you need to bet (the risk amount) to win $100. Favored odds are shown with a minus sign in front of the number. The return will also include the amount you staked. Keep in mind that the vig or juice, the bookmaker’s fee, is built into the odds, too.

Here are a few examples so that you can see how the odds for football betting works.

American odds are always based on $100, but you don’t have to bet that much. You can also change the way the odds are displayed at most online sportsbooks. Once you add the wager to your bet slip, you can change the bet amount or win amount, and it’ll automatically fill in the other number for you.

We recommend adding some football bets and fake wagers to a betting slip and then tweaking those wagers to see how the payouts change. This can help you understand how football betting odds work much faster.

Maybe you already have the basics of football betting down, but you’re here to get some football betting help that will take your betting strategy to the next level. In this portion of our football betting guide, we’re going to give you some tips and strategies to help you bet on football online and win.

If you’re new to football betting, there are a few basic strategies that you need to master first. The most important thing to remember when you are starting out is to keep it simple!

When you bet on football, you need to be familiar with football. Watch the games, read previews and reports, listen to commentary, and pay attention to players that get injured. All those activities will help you get more information about the teams. Then, you can use that information to form your own opinions about which teams you think will perform better in various situations.

Once you have gathered that information, you can start to use it to make predictions. Analyzing different pieces of information will help you look for trends and understand which factors will affect the game’s outcome.

You also need to understand fundamental sports betting strategies, including the importance of sticking to your budget and how to compare odds from different sportsbooks. Here are some resources that will help beginner sports bettors master the basics and explore additional strategies.

Handicapping is the key to winning more football wagers, but there is a lot to understand about it. First of all, you need to understand that the purpose of football handicapping is to make accurate assessments of the likelihood of specific outcomes. That means you need to analyze the likelihood of the event, as well as the value you could win from betting on that event.

For example, if one team is heavily favored over another, it’s easy to predict which team will win. However, the bookmakers’ odds will reflect that. Therefore, it might not be worth it to bet on that team if the odds don’t offer a worthwhile payout.

Handicapping is important, but goes beyond what we can cover in this football betting guide. So, check out these pages for more information on betting for value, what football handicapping is, and some handicapping strategies that will help you bet football successfully.

Another critical aspect of learning to bet on football is learning how to adjust your strategies based on the types of wagers you want to make. For example, betting on which team will win is entirely different than betting on the overall score of the game. Similarly, betting a week before the event is different than placing a bet at halftime.

You need to adjust your thought process to reflect the type of bet you are making. Here are some specific tips and resources for different types of football betting.

Sometimes, the most important football betting help we can offer is about what you shouldn’t do. Here are a few common mistakes that amateur bettors typically make.

The best way to avoid these common mistakes is to think about which teams you want to bet on and why before you start betting. Make sure you think about different factors that will affect the game’s outcome.

Another option is to check out our football betting blog. Our expert handicappers explain why we think one particular bet or another offers good value. They should help you make more profitable bets beyond the advice we offer in this football betting guide.

We have just begun to scratch the surface of strategies for football betting. The strategies we have explained so far are a good place to start, but you shouldn’t stop there.

Once you have mastered those strategies, you will be ready to move on to more advanced betting techniques. Our football strategy guide is full of additional resources that will help you take your bets to the next level.

We have covered a lot of information in this football betting tutorial. However, some of that information won’t make any sense if you don’t know the meaning of certain words or phrases. Here are some common football betting terms you should be familiar with.