2008 Football Odds Overview

Regardless of whether it is college or NFL football odds, people love to bet. Because of that popularity the football odds makers know that any mistakes that they make on the football odds can cost millions of dollars. That means most of the time the football odds makers get it right.

Football odds are what drive a sportsbook. Football odds revenue for a sportsbook easily exceeds what the other sports bring in and there is no margin for error for the house, who hires the very best football odds makers to prevent such costly mistakes. Part of the difficulty of beating the college and NFL football odds also comes from one's fellow gamblers, who often drive the football odds to be what they are. Contrary to what the talking heads may say on television, the football odds are driven exclusively by what the football oddsmakers anticipate the public’s reaction will be. If public perception weren't relevant, there would not be football odds as teams would simply go as straight up bets. And since public perception drives the college and NFL football odds, the number that a gambler sees on the board may not actually be what is merited, which is where handicapping gets so tricky.

The best in the business at football odds, those who actually make a living at it, realize that they must think like the football oddsmakers rather than the gamblers, as it’s the football odds makers that are making the money, long term, at football betting. If the masses were winning, after all, there would be no sportsbooks offering college or NFL football odds. That does not mean the public can’t win at times though. There have even been full seasons where the public won during a football season. In the long run though, the public doesn’t win.

Football betting offers a lot of variety for gamblers, from pointspread sides, to money lines, to totals, to parlays, to teasers, to props and futures, there is something to entice any type of gambler.