The most important part of any bet on the NFL is the odds on offer. They might look a little confusing at first but they are very simple to understand. First off there are three main types of NFL odds that you will find on sports betting sites in Canada and you can change between them to find the easiest.
Decimal NFL odds
These are the easiest NFL odds to use as they tell you exactly what you are going to win, including your stake back. So odds of 3.0 mean that you will get $3 back for every $1 placed. For a newcomer to NFL betting, these are the odds that we would suggest you turn your Canadian betting site to if they are not already as they are the easiest to understand. Â
American NFL odds
If you have visited a sportsbook in Vegas you will have seen these NFL odds or at a lot of the North American bookmakers that Canada has. These are displayed as a + or – number with a – denoted the favoured team. If a team is -200 for example, the bettor needs to place $2 to win $1. If the odds is +200 then you place $1 to win $2. These NFL odds are not as complicated as they can look at first.
Fractional NFL odds
These NFL odds are a UK thing so you will not see them often at betting sites in Canada. They are two numbers as a fraction made up of the returns reflected by the numerator and the stake as the denominator. You might see odds of 2/1 which means that for every $1 you place, you would win $2 back plus your stake. This is the same as 3.0 on decimal odds or +200 on American odds.
What bet markets will NFL odds be available?
When it comes to NFL odds, understanding the diverse betting markets is key. You’ll encounter popular odds like Moneyline, Line Spreads (handicaps), Points Over/Under, and exciting choices such as Prop Bets or Parlays. Additionally, many sports betting sites in Canada offer unique markets for each NFL game. Explore these options to enhance your bet on NFL and discover new possibilities ahead of every game.
Moneyline odds
This is the easiest NFL odds to start with if you are a novice NFL bettor. All you have to do with a money line bet is to find the winning team. One of the two teams will be the favourite and the other the underdog so they will have smaller and bigger NFL odds respectively. There are only two possible outcomes on a money line bet which makes it simple to understand.Â
Points over/under odds
How many points will the two teams combine for in the game? That is the question that is asked by bookmakers for this bet on NFL. They will set a number for bettors, 44.5 for example, and it is up to the individual to decide if the game is going to have more points than the number set, so 45 or over in this case or fewer, which is 44 or below.Â
Again, this is a simple bet for those without a lot of experience in NFL betting to do as a first step into looking at NFL odds. Take a look at the form of the two teams playing and how many points have been scored in their recent games to see what the strengths and weaknesses of the teams playing are.Â
Line spreads odds
This NFL odds sometimes called handicap betting and is done by the sports betting sites in a bid to make the game more of a level playing field. The favoured team will give a theoretical headstart to the underdog which makes the decimal odds normally around the 1.91 mark on each team.Â
If the Kansas City Chiefs are at home to the Carolina Panthers in the NFL playoffs, then for example, the spread might be 17.5 points or perhaps even more. This means that the Chiefs would need to win by 18 or more points to win the bet. If you back the Panthers and they lose by 17 points, your NFL bet is still a winner!
NFL prop bets
A NFL prop bet is placed on an occurrence happening within a game but you do not need to wait for the game to finish to land a winner. One of the most popular prop bets seen as part of the Super Bowl odds for example is on the opening coin toss to land on heads or tails. That might seem like a crazy bet to some but it is always a very popular market.Â
Another NFL prop bet that is becoming increasingly popular is betting a certain player to score a touchdown in a game. This is often three separate bet markets being able to back a player to score the first or last touchdown as well as much shorter NFL odds for them to score a touchdown at any time. Prop bets can be done on yards thrown by the quarterback, receiving yards, rushing yards and even defensive players to get X number of tackles or a sack in the game. With NFL prop bets, the possibilities are huge.
NFL parlays
One of the more complicated NFL odds is a parlay where you have multiple selections in a bet, requiring them all to be successful to win. The most common NFL parlays are money line selections so you might try to pick the winner in each of the 1 pm games on a Sunday for example. They are much more difficult bets on NFL to win but the odds of reward are also far larger than on other bets which adds to their popularity with bettors.