BET ON FOOTBALL

Betting The Underdog

The majority of sports bettors usually bet the favorite instead of the underdog in most sports. You might ask yourself why? Basically human nature dictates that we as humans always want to be on the winning side. Although this might be true in life, betting football is a totally different thing. The problem with thinking the best bet is the favorite is that a lot of times the favorite doesn't cover the spread. Believe it or not betting the favorite in football has traditionally been a bad bet. That being said the only contradiction to this is the 2005 NFL season where the favorites were covering the spread by huge margins and the public was winning more often than not.

Now that we have established that betting the favorite isn't the best way to go the question is…should we be betting on the underdog? Betting blindly on the dog isn't the best idea either without having some football handicapping knowledge. Online sportsbook odds makers aren't stupid and know that the public will heavily bet the favorite, so even though Vegas lines might dictate the Steelers at -6 over the Giants, offshore bookmakers will make the betting public pay a little more by setting the line at -7. That being said it doesn't mean that the oddsmakers think the Steelers will win by a touchdown, it means that the sportsbook wants the favorite to have an unfavorable line. History has shown that the majority of public sports bettors will still take the favorite even with an unrealistic line.

Now take the sharp bettors who ultimately over time make football betting profitable. They watch for the unreasonable lines set for the betting public. So remember although you really like the favorite, the line may not justify the risk. Once you get that into your head, betting on football by choosing the underdog when the line dictates it is the best bet you will find that at the end of the season you have probably made a profit.