Say our Super Team X and our Not So Super Team Y are meeting up for a hard-hitting, rollicking game of NFL football. Along with the posting of the calculated point spread and money line will be a total. A bookmaker sets a total; it is a number that predicts what the combination of the scores of the two teams will be at the end of the game. You bet that the total will be higher or lower than the total. If you are right, you win. Though not big.
The Totals will be posted something like this:
Super Team X vs. Not So Super Team Y
Over 38.5
Under 38.5
If you bet under, and it ends up as Super Team X 24 Not So Super Team Y 12, you are a winner. If you bet over, you are out of luck. It is that simple.
Bookmakers know that the bettor has a good chance of coming out on top in a totals bet, and they offer rewards accordingly. A totals bettor lays down $11 to win $10. The bookmaker likes a scenario where half of his bettors go high and half go low; this is because he comes out ahead whatever the outcome.
You should know that a bookmaker may move the line if the bets are lopsided to one side. In the game of betting on the NFL, that line will probably be moved by .5. He may not. It is a tactic for the shrewd bettor to keep an eye on.
Oh, you’ll most likely be offered odds of -110 on either side of the totals. This means that you wrap up a tidy profit of 10% . Some bookmakers will diverge from the common -110 %, giving you a chance to stretch your gains.
Totals is a popular way to bet on an NFL game; only the point spread is more popular. Your odds are good of pulling off a win, baring the inevitable surprises that run rampant through the NFL.