Football Bettors Handbook

1. BETTING AGAINST THE SPREAD
Joseph Phann bets $100.00 that the Browns -3 will beat the Cowboys, meaning that the Browns will have to win by more than the spread of 3 points.

2. THE EARLY LINE
The early line is the first set of odds that are posted for a game. "The 3 points spread that he bet came off the early line".

3. VIG, OR JUICE
The commission, (Vigorish) charged per bet by the Sports Book.

4. UNDERDOG
The team expected to lose their game, according to the odds set.

5. A PUSH
A push is basically a tie resulting from a game ending with the exact difference in the score being the same amount as the spread. The stake amount is then returned to the bettor. For example, if you bet the Bills -7 to win and they win by exactly 7 points, the result is a push.

6. BETTING THE FUTURES
Bets made a long time in advance of the actual game. The most common of these football bets is making wagers on The Super Bowl winner early in the season or even well in advance of the season beginning.

7. MONEY-LINE BETTING
This is a straight up bet, which only considers the amount of money "risked" and not on the "odds" of the game. The bettor has to put up more funds to wager for the favorite and lesser money on the underdog. For instance, if the Money-line shows the favored Jets as -175, this means that a bettor would have to wager $175 to win $100.

8. PARLAY BETS
One bet that ties together two or more bets. It is an all or nothing proposition that offers bettor odds due to the difficulty compared to single game betting. For example, if you were to bet a four game parlay of The Lions, Bears, Eagles and Seahawks to win, all four of these teams would have cover the spread for you to be a winner.

9. THE HOOK
1/2 a point showing on a point spread. For example, the Steelers are favored to win by 7 ½ points.

10. WISE GUY
The person all bettors would like to be. A Professional and "in the know" gambler who is very successful at his trade. A good example would be the handicappers at NFLPicks.com or another successful handicapping website.