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NFL Wagering: Expert Advice and Tips for Prop Betting Profit

by Chris Vasile - 7/26/2019

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill

In today's world, patience is a virtue that very few people have left in them. We live in a world with lightning-quick Internet, instant message and in a world where fast food reigns supreme. People love getting instant gratification. In the sports betting world, that also holds true. It's one thing to sit through a 3.5-hour football game between two mediocre teams only to suffer a bad beat on a completely meaningless last-minute touchdown that does nothing but affects the point spread and burns your ticket. Instead, many bettors would rather bet several proposition bets on a game and find out the fate of their bets within 10-15 minutes of game time. This instant gratification gives bettors a higher sense of euphoria than watching two teams struggle to score points in a sloppy, turnover infested 10-7 game where the spreads and total weren't ever in question.

Here at Doc's Sports, we have some of the best football handicappers in the country on our team. Our experts offer everything from sides, totals and prop bets throughout the NFL season.

Before we start breaking down the strategy and tips to make money by betting NFL props, we must first understand what a proposition bet is.

What Is a Proposition Bet?

A proposition bet is a formal way of saying "prop" bet and is a bet that is not dependant on the outcome of a specific game. Instead, on the most basic level, a prop bet is a bet on whether or not a particular event is going to happen during a specific game.

Prop bets are commonplace in just about every sport you can bet on since linemakers are willing to set odds on just about anything the betting public has interest in. Prop bets can pertain to both teams or individual players and can sometimes span an entire season, like the number of touchdowns passes thrown or rushing yards a player will get during the regular season.

Different Types of Prop Bets

 

There are so many different prop bets available when talking about the NFL that I am just going to list them and give you an explanation on how they work if necessary. Some of the most popular prop bets for NFL betting include:

• Will the team that scores first win the game?

• Will the team that's leading at half time win the game?

• Will the first score of the game be a touchdown?

• Will there be a touchdown in the first half?

• Will {player name} score a touchdown?

• Will there be overtime?

• Will {team name} score three times in a row?

• Will either team score in the first seven and a half minutes of the game

• Will there be a missed extra point kick?

• Will both teams make 33 yard or longer field goals?
 

Props like the above are simple prop bets in the sense that they require a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Most of the times these props offer up longer odds than most because they are heavily weighted one way or another.

There are many other prop bets available that are also 50/50 in terms of outcome but are a little more complex than simple yes or no answers. These include:
 

• Will the total number of points be odd or even?

• Which team will get to 10 points first?

• Which half will be the highest scoring?

• Will the opening toss be heads or tails?

• Which team will use a coaches' challenge first?

• Which team will take a timeout first?

There are also prop bets that can be total-oriented. For example, a bookmaker could set the Longest Field Made prop at 45.5-yards, which means you'd have to guess whether or not the longest field goal made will be over or under that number. Other over/under prop wagers include:
 

• The longest touchdown yardage.

• Team's total passing yards.

• Total turnovers in the game.

• Total sacks in the game

These are all game-specific prop bets that can be made on any given football game. If you want to get player specific, you can wager on anything from quarterback passing yardage totals to the number of passing touchdowns thrown to number of rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, receptions and receiving yards.

You can also get your prop wagering down before the season even begins and wager on things like which player will have the most passing yards throughout the 16-game regular season, or who will be the upcoming MVP or Rookie of the Year.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Prop Bets

 

Let's start out with the positives first and then go from there. As you saw above, there are several prop bets available to wager on. Because of that, and because sportsbook devote most of their time to being as sharp as they can with the point spread and total (the more traditional betting options) prop betting lines can be off, and they can be hit hard for a good profit. No bettor has ever said that they see value in a line but don't bet it because they try to stick to totals and sides only. If you see value in a line , it should be bet.

A disadvantage of betting props would be that they are sometimes impossible to handicap. If you look at the list above, how many can you truly say offer the ability to make an informed and educated wager on? Maybe a handful of them at best. A lot of work goes into processing each and every prop bet to find the best one to hit hard, so if you are time-deprived, prop bets may not be the best wagering option for you.

 

Strategy for Prop Betting

 

As I just mentioned above, prop bets are very tricky to handicap and come up with an accurate strategy for playing them. The advice I do have for you if you are a prop bettor is to only bet the props that can be handicapped properly. The prop bets that come to mind when I say that are which team will score first or any other player props that you have a good read on the team and that specific player's matchup on game day.

Another important key to know when betting props is to know the exact wording of the prop and how it's going to be paid out. You simply should not be betting anything that's open to interpretation as sometimes the rules aren't clear and all that you get out of it is a headache. If you don't fully understand what you are wagering on, I suggest passing onto the next prop and taking your shot elsewhere.

And lastly, don't rely on statistics completely. Yes, statistics are a good place to start your handicapping, but they don't paint the whole picture. A quarterback could look good on paper because he's thrown for X number of touchdowns or yards, but in reality, he's played the two worst teams in back-to-back weeks. You must always look at the previous box scores without bias and you must trust your own eyes to tell you what they've seen transpire on the field. Trusting your gut is an underutilized tool in the sports betting industry and I'm here to tell you to trust yourself more.

 

Doc's Sports is offering $60 worth of member's picks absolutely free - no obligation, no sales people - you don't even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit any way you please for any handicapper and any sport on Doc's Sports list of expert sports handicappers. Get $60 worth of premium members' picks free .

 

 

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