If the sportsbook is busy with action, it should be football season. Whether it’s the NFL or NCAA, football betting action is fast and furious through the season. For the newbie sports bettor, it could seem a little confusing, but football bets really drop to two types-straight bets and parlay bets.

Football Betting – Straight Bets

Here’s the workhorse for just about any winning football bettor. A straight bet simply means you’re betting on one football game. If bandar dadumaster bet on several game on a single ticket, it is a parlay, and we’ll talk about that in a minute.

When you make a straight football bet, you could be betting on a side or total. Simply put, when you bet a side, you “pick a side” in the game. For instance, let’s say the New England Patriots are playing the Seattle Seahawks. If you are going to bet a side, you’d bet on either the Patriots or the Seahawks.

Every game has a point total (except NCAA football, that is most games). This can be the level of points scored between both teams. When you bet a total, you’re betting under or higher that total. For instance, suppose the total is 47 and you also take the over. To win, both teams must combine for 48 or more points (47 would be a push, which means you get your bet back).

Football Betting – Parlays

Okay, so you find out about straight bets, which is where you bet on just one thing per ticket. When you want to bet on more than one thing, it’s a parlay. You can bet on 2 – 20 things (depends on the sportsbook).

For instance, let’s say you bet on the Seahawks and on the total on your ticket. That would be a 2-team parlay (even though technically there’s only one team on it).

The more items you placed on the ticket, the more money you’ll win should they all hit. Naturally, the more items on the ticket, the harder it is to win.

With parlay bets it’s an all or nothing thing. If one pick fails, the ticket is dead. Some sportsbooks will run specials so you can get close, but that’s very rare.

If you get into making football bets via parlay tickets, you might have a look at “teasers,” which are parlay tickets with added points for you. For instance, rather than taking the Packers -10, you might get them at -3. Needless to say, the payouts are a less because the risk is minimized.

Football betting is a blast and there’s nothing much better than hitting the sportsbook with a big winning ticket. I hit straight football bets and parlays all season long. I look forward to the NFL and NCAA football seasons.