Point spread - The beauty of football is that the playing field can be evened in any game, by applying a handicap. For example, if the New England Patriots are playing against the New York Jets in Foxborough, the Patriots are strong favourites. Let’s say the handicap is set by the bookmaker at 10 points.
You can back the Patriots -10, meaning they would need to win by more than 10 points for the bet to win, thus ‘covering the spread’. Or, you could back the Jets +10, which would mean they only need to finish within 10 points of the Patriots in order for you to collect your winnings. Each outcome has an equal chance of winning or thereabouts.
Money line - This represents a straightforward bet on who will win the game. The favourites always have a minus sign in front of their odds number, so using the above example, the Patriots’ odds would be around -450, with the Jets at +325.
A bet of $450 on the Patriots would see a profit of $100 if they come out on top. If you put $100 on the Jets and they win, you scoop a tidy $325 plus your original stake.
Total Points Over/Under - This is a bet on the total number of points that will be scored in the game. The line will be set by the sportsbook, and you have to decide whether you think the total will be more or less than that figure. Rather like the point spread, each outcome will have around a 50/50 chance of happening, according to the bookmakers.
If the game is between two teams with a strong defence but a weak offence, the over/under line is likely to be low, let’s say around 39. Conversely, a game between two high scoring teams might see the over/under line something like 52.