Between college and pro football, there are literally over a thousand opportunities a week to win money online during the football season.

To take advantage of these football betting odds, football bettors first need to understand how to read the different types of odd formats online.

Football and basketball games are mostly bet using a point spread. The less popular major sports, baseball and hockey, are mostly bet using a moneyline. In an effort to make baseball and hockey more appealing to point spread bettors, the sportsbook operators offer run and puck lines, respectively. NFL Spread Betting Easily the most popular type of betting for NFL football is “spread” betting or more commonly known as betting against the spread. Bettors who are new to NFL betting or betting in general may be a little confused with NFL spread betting, but it is pretty easy to. American Football spread betting offers unparalleled excitement with every punt, tackle and touchdown. Whether you're betting on Total Match Touchdowns, Touchdown Yardage or Shirt Numbers, you'll always find something to get your blood pumping. Spread bet on this match today with Sporting Index, the world leaders in sports spread betting. How Does Football Spread Betting Work? In spread betting, the favorite has to win by a certain number of points for the bettors who pick them to cash in. On the other hand, the underdog ‘gets’ points, meaning that bettors who back them will see a profit even if they lose, so long as it’s by less than the spread.

Each sportsbook includes several different formats, including American odds or Vegas Odds, Decimal Odds, and Fractional Odds.

But What Are Sport Betting Odds?

For the beginner sport odds can be somewhat confusing, specially because the odds are not the same as “the odds of an event happening”. Sport odds do not refer to the chance of a team winning or losing, they imply the “price” at which a bet can be purchase, and like the stock market odds change of price all the time depending on public demand for them.

Example: For Super Bowl 2016 the favorites to win the Super Bowl are the Seattle Seahawks with odds of +$600 or 6 to 1. This is a Moneyline or Vegas Odd that implies that for a $100 bet you can win $600, or for a bet of any denomination you will win 6 times the wager.

But the Dallas Cowboys show up as Longshots with odds of $900 or 9 to 1. The less likey the chance of a team winning the bet the higher the odds go.

American Odds or Vegas Odds – USA

The most common betting odds in the United States are American odds. American odds present football bets in one hundred dollar terms. While a commonly seen type of money line, these can be tough to decipher at first glance. Here’s an example of American betting odds on the winner of a game:

Green Bay Packers -175
Seattle Seahawks +150

Reading these betting odds, Green Bay Packers is considered a slight favorite to win. A bettor has to risk $175 to win $100 (-175). Those taking Seattle need to only wager $100 to win $150 (+150). Of course, a gambler doesn’t have to actually wager that much money; the ratios are used for any amount, larger or smaller, than the money odds are designed to display.

In American odds the higher a plus money line is (e.g. +300) the higher the payout, while the higher a minus money line is (-300) the lower the payout. Even odds denote even money and they are shown this way: +100 or -100, which means that a $100 dollar bet gets a payout of $100.

*There are two main types of placing bets for American Football, the Money Line which is a straight bet on the winner, and the Point Spread, which gives some extra points to the underdog to win the bet or takes points off the favorite. Learn when and how to use both of them.

Fractional Odds – UK

Fractional odds can be easier to read for first time gamblers, as they resemble familiar ratio odd presentations. In fractional odds, the higher the number on the left (numerator), the riskier the bet is and the higher the payout.

For example, a fractional odd of 10/1 indicates a ten to one payout on a bet. The flipside of this includes any number less than one, as represented by a fraction.

A fractional odd of 1/2 indicates a payout of half the amount risked. The closer or lower the fraction to zero, the lower the payout is, while the higher above one, the higher the payout is.

Even money is equivalent to a 1/1 fractional odd.

Decimal Odds – Europe

Decimal odds are perhaps the most complicated money line format. The easiest starting point for decimal odds is to compare them to fractional odds. Decimal odds are the fractional odd, represented in a whole number, plus one.

For example, a fractional odd of 2/1 (two to one) would be represent fractionally as 3.00. The fractional odd 1/2 is equivalent to 1.5. Even money in fractional odds is 2.00.

Thus, the higher above two a fractional odd is, the higher the payout becomes. Odds with lower payouts than what is risked fall between 2.00 and 1.00, with lower numbers being lower payouts.

Football Spread Betting Explained

*Fractional odds are very popular in the UK were Over Under bets are prefered by European football bettors.

Football Betting Odds Online

American Football Spread Betting Explained The Spread

Every online sportsbook offers money lines for a huge variety of bets. Football betting odds online can be a great way to place safe bets or find games with lucrative odds. American odds tend to be the standard setting for online sportsbooks, but football betting odds can be displayed in any of the three ways. Sportsbooks typically allow users to change the settings, allowing bettors to choose whichever format they find easiest to read. Regardless of the format, online betting odds can be a great way to win money on football.