NFL – All you need to know about one of the most popular leagues worldwide
The National Football League was established in 1920, originally called the American Professional Football Association (APFA). Back then, it started with only four professional teams – but, since then, it has grown exponentially to include 32 teams, and to become an international powerhouse- dominating the sport of American football.
The 32 teams in the NFL are split into two conferences; the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. Both of these conferences are split into divisions: North, West, East and South, with four teams per location.
Each team per division will play each other twice, and then the remaining 8 games are split between two other divisions. For example, each team in the NFC East will play the AFC West, and the NFC North for their other 8 games. After that, each division winner will qualify for their respective playoffs (AFC playoffs and NFC playoffs). The winner of those two games wins the conferences, and becomes the NFC Champion and AFC Champion. Those two will play to determine the Superbowl winner.
A season runs for 18 weeks, and 272 games. Each NFL team is required to schedule three preseason games, and the only real postseason game is the Pro Bowl, an all star game.
A brief guide to NFL betting – Where do I find the best NFL predictions?
Research
If you want to bet on the NFL, it’s important to do your homework. The NFL has a bit of a confusing structure for non-American football fans, and you have to follow it closely to get a true understanding of the game.
Find out which teams are good, which are bad, who are the all star players, who is injured, where are the attraction arenas. This may seem trivial now, but it will help you a lot when you’re trying to make your own NFL predictions.
Betting types
So, what are the best NFL bets? You need to familiarise yourself with sports betting too. Betting on the NFL can get intense, so you should know all the popular forms of betting before you get stuck into your NFL predictions.
- Moneyline – This is just a traditional bet. You bet on which team you think will win
- Point spreads – These are hugely popular in the NFL. This is when you bet on the score of a game, and how much a player, a team etc. will score.
- Parlay – This is when you bet on multiple aspects of one game, or multiple games at once. Parlays go hand in hand with accumulators (multiple odds for multiple games equated together)
A trustworthy sportsbook
To make the most of NFL predictions, you need a great sportsbook to work with. There’s plenty of brilliant bookies that have some great NFL odds out there, and you can pick one that suits your tastes and habits.
Why trust our betting tips? – Quality, not quantity
Simply put, because we won’t waste your time with our betting predictions. CaptainGambling is not one to dance around a point just for the sake of it. We’ll get straight to the point, and provide you great quality content in the process.
The fact of the matter is you’ll always learn something about NFL betting tips on our website. You’re a beginner who wants a basic understanding of NFL predictions? We do that. Maybe you're a veteran bettor who wants to learn some advanced tips? We do that.
We prioritise research over everything when it comes to our American football betting tips. Our experts spend hours scouring over websites, over the betting markets and over odds to try determine what NFL odds and what NFL predictions are valuable.
We take the time to analyse every fraction of our research, study it and learn it so we can get a better understanding of the world of NFL predictions.
Attention to detail is exactly what makes us so thorough. And, once we have a better understanding, you’ll be the first people we’ll tell.
We’ll relay everything right to your earholes as we learn it, and we’re dedicated to teaching you all the tricks about NFL predictions that will keep you a step ahead of the rest.
Learn about the greats (and not so greats!)
The NFL has the best American football teams on the planet. But, in many games, it’s individual players that make a huge difference in NFL predictions.
Tom Brady is the player that goes down as legendary in Superbowl history, more so than the New England Patriots. We study if players like Brady are on a weak team. Or, if a strong team has a weak quarterback, that could affect the odds. These are important factors that really affect NFL predictions for today
Choose wisely
Of course, finding a sports bookmaker that ticks all the boxes for NFL tipsters can be tricky. But, there are bookmakers out there that do make NFL predictions simple, and enjoyable. A great NFL predictions bookie will have some great odds, smooth live streaming and some great bonuses to go along with your NFL predictions betting
Play with your brain, not your heart
We know how difficult it can be to bet against your team. You may love the Minnesota Vikings, but chances are, they won’t beat the Green Bay Packers. Use logic and strategy when you bet; choose who has the best chance of winning, rather than who you really want to win.
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Things you should think about before placing a NFL bet
External factors
There’s all kinds of things that happen outside the field that will affect NFL predictions. You have to consider everything that goes on around and after games, especially when it comes to draft season.
Players can get unexpectedly drafted to another team. Some players can get injured. A team could have a home field advantage for a couple of games in a row. Just remember all these sudden factors will drastically change NFL predictions, and the odds.
Don’t rely on the trends
To put this into context, don’t just find a trend and implement it heavily into your NFL predictions. Remember that ‘trends’ can always be contextualised. Maybe, there was a run of injuries during a team's losing streak.
Maybe, a team had a certain player during a winning streak that got drafted out of the team recently. There’s a lot that can go into a trend that might fall apart when it's game time, so don’t let your NFL predictions lose control due to relying heavily on trends.
Different bet types
Be careful about using fancy bet types when looking at NFL predictions. This really depends on your experience level, because an inexperienced better shouldn’t be eyeing up the likes of parlays.
Focus on winning bets as simply as you can, so you can learn as much as you can about the game. If you’re an expert on a particular team, however, we’d absolutely recommend using your NFL predictions on point spreads.
Our Top 5 tips for finding your favorite bookie for NFL – An all round package
Usually, we’d just recommend one sportsbook for you to visit to see some of the best NFL predictions. But, so many great bookies have added NFL to their repertoire, it’s become almost impossible to choose! We do have five tips you should generally follow when choosing the right bookie for you.
The first thing you see when you visit any bookmaker is what bonuses they have available. Choose a sportsbook that has some great NFL predictions, but also one that can add to those predictions with some great bonuses. Any bookie that would have, say, a deposit bonus for the NFL season is a bookie that’s worth sticking with.
This goes without saying, but odds are what makes any sportsbook great, but especially when you’re betting for NFL. The odds have to be highly competitive and make your NFL predictions worthwhile wagering on. Every bet you place should be on odds that will result in a reasonable profit. We’d recommend odds of 1.3 on Moneyline bets, and point spreads can range anywhere from 0.6-1.0, depending on the spread.
Nothing is more refreshing and enjoyable than watching a great Minnesota Vikings game on a 4K live stream. Having a website that works as smooth as butter, and is easy to navigate is exactly the standard you should search for. It’s great having all these amazing odds, but they won’t be much use for your NFL predictions if the website is frustrating to use.
Any sports bookmaker should make payments a hassle free process. Deposits and withdrawals shouldn’t be a big deal, and should be done quickly and efficiently. When you’re making NFL predictions, you want quick deposits and speedy withdrawals for all the money you’re making, and without any hidden fees too!
Reliable customer service
If you’re in the middle of live betting on the Super Bowl, and a site error pops up, you need to know you can rely on customer service to fix it. Look for a customer service that is consistently efficient, but also provides a great variety of contact methods.
Useful NFL betting tip vocabulary – Familiarise yourself with the verbiage
American odds - Also known as the ‘moneyline’. Odds that are shown in the value of money (usually dollars). $100 is the standard. So a minus (-) odds means the amount of money that must be wagered to win $100. A plus (+) odds is the amount of money earned on a $100 wager.
Chalk – The odds on favourite to win a sporting event e.g Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the Superbowl, as the defending champions.
Closing Line – The final odds on a sporting game before wagers start being calculated
Dog – An abbreviation for the underdog, to win a particular game
Future – Wagering on a long term bet e.g. betting that Green Bay Packers will win the Superbowl
Line – The betting line used to determine the margin between the favourite and the underdog
Lock – A bet that is certain to happen, a ‘sure thing’ e.g Kansas City Chiefs are a ‘lock’ to win the Superbowl this year
Opening Line – The initial odds on a sporting event, always liable to change as the game progresses
Over-Under – The betting line on the total number of points scored on a certain game. You usually bet if it will be over, or under said score.
Push – When a final score falls exactly on the betting line
Conclusion – Plenty of knowledge to study and master
To wrap up, we’ve given you loads of useful information for you to use. The NFL can seem complicated at the start, but you could always practice by making use of our NFL Fantasy League guide. However, once you have a basic knowledge of the game and how betting works with NFL predictions, you’re off to the races.
You know how much effort we put into finding the best NFL predictions, and we’ve attempted to pass that knowledge onto you with the tips we gave you. As long as you learn the vocabulary and use what we taught you, you’ll be sucked into NFL betting in no time!\
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NFL Predictions FAQ
⚽ How does betting on NFL games work?
Looking for NFL predictions tomorrow? Betting on NFL games is simple when you have a good understanding of betting. It’s always important to know all you can know about betting before you start betting frequently. There are many rookie mistakes that many new bettors are prone to making, and avoiding these mistakes could really save you in the long run. For more information about learning to bet, check out one of our articles about betting for beginners.
🏈 What age can I bet on NFL games?
This is really a question that can’t be answered generally. This has to do with state law, as there is no federal law for the legal gambling age. Each state has a different age in which it allows someone to bet on sports, and that age usually depends on how severe the state is on gambling and sports betting on a whole. For more information about sports betting legal ages, check out our sports betting laws page.
❓ Why would you bet on negative odds in NFL?
Negative odds are an aspect of American odds, along with positive odds. American odds are very frequently used within NFL predictions, and commonly across the country. However, they would not be the most popular form of odds on a worldwide basis. There are odds types, like fractional and decimal odds, that would be commonly used in European countries over American odds. In need of an NFL predictions website? For more information, check out our page on sporting odds.
