Football Betting Explained for Women

Don't worry if you don't understand football or sports betting. I'm here to help you share in the fun and excitement.

Like any true-blooded, peach-eating Georgia girl, I grew up on football. Fall was all about cheering for the home team, and the end of the season was just the start of preparing for the next year’s championship. Because my granddad was a coach, I could run practically before I could walk, but it wasn’t until college that I learned about playing the odds and betting on (or against) my teams. I started out just making small bets because it was something to share with my boyfriend and his friends. Surprisingly enough, I got more into betting than my boyfriend. Steven’s gone, but the lessons I learned from him are still paying off. A few of my girlfriends have asked me for tips on sports gambling to make a few dollars or just impress a date. Several of them have had good results so I’ve decided to share my wisdom with the world. No thanks necessary, folks. This one’s on the house.

First Things First
Before you even THINK about placing a bet, you better be sure to understand the way point spreads work in case you don't know what betting odds look like here is a list of the current college football lines for this weeks games from a bunch of different online sportsbooks... Basically, point spreads (aka “lines”) are shorthand for the odds that one team will beat another. We know that no two men are exactly the same, right? So why would two football teams of eleven men each (nevermind the real totals for offense, defense and special teams- we’re talking about who’s on the field at any given time) be perfectly matched? There’s a favorite and an underdog for each game, but bets aren’t just about which team is more likely to win. Point spreads are about which team is most likely to win and by how much. It’s like considering two cocktail dresses. I could just go for the cheaper one, but I always take in the quality of fabric, the fit and wearability. $89 may seem like a bargain, but for an extra thirty bucks I could get an even better deal. I’ve lost my male readers here so I should drop the analogy and return to football. Point spreads/lines take a bunch of factors into consideration (quality, cut, etc.) and predict the margin of victory (It’s not a bargain for a hundred and fifty bucks, but it’s a steal for $85. Sorry, couldn’t let it go). Anyhow, sports lines basically say Team A will beat Team B by at least XX points. For example, LSU is pretty much always going to be favored over Holy Cross (forget about conferences for a minute, would ya), and the point spread would like like this: LSU -21 vs Duke.

In plain English, this means “LSU is favored to beat Duke by at least 21 points.” Because of the adjustments made in weighing the teams (Against the Spread or ATS result), about 50% of people will bet for each team. A lot of people will wager on Duke figuring that they’ll win but won’t be able to beat LSU by 21 points. Other folks, ever optimistic, will bet that LSU will pull off the upset.

The line could also be written as: Duke +21 vs. LSU. Translation: Duke is going to get spanked by Duke by at least 21 points. LSU is still favored to win by at least 21 points.

An LSU victory does not mean that folks who bet on LSU will automatically cash in on their wagers. LSU has to beat Duke by at least 21 points for Tigers fans to collect. If the final score is LSU 34, Duke 14 then the spread hasn’t been covered and a bet on LSU will not cash out. In this case, a bet on Duke would win. People who bet on Duke would win if Duke won by any score or if LSU won by less than the spread.

Another scenario is called a “push.” This means that the final score matched the spread exactly and there would be “no action.” If the score was LSU 35, Duke 14 then there would be a “push” and no one would cash in. Refunds would be given to bettors of both teams.

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