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How many times have you bet on a college football game and didn’t buy the .5 points to get the spread from +2.5 to +3 or from -3.5 to -3 and lost that game on a last minute field goal instead of getting the push?

Or how about the other key number in college football games – the lucky number 7 that many games end on?

The question is should you buy points to get onto or off of a key number in the point spreads?

There may be some instances where it makes sense to buy that half point to get to a key number 3 or 7. If the recent game history shows a trend of your teams covering against the spread with a key rival, then you may want to buy the half point.

But when you get to the higher point spreads like -14.5 or -20.5 or even -41.5, it may not make as much sense to buy the .5 points.

When betting on sports like college football, you are supposed to think of the long term value of the bets you make. You are sacrificing a lot of value in the long run if you consistently buy those half points. You are giving up that 3-6% return when you buy a half point to get the cover on the underdog.

So the short answer of to buy points on college football game point spreads is usually no. In the long run it is not a good value bet. In the short run, it depends.

Technorati Tags: buy points, college football betting, cover, point spreads, underdog

The 2011-2012 college football season is almost here. You’ve got Nebraska starting with its new conference in the Big 10. You’ve got TCU and Boise State playing their last conference games together before TCU joins the Big East. And you’ve got Colorado and Utah playing ball out in the new Pac-12. You’re in for some exciting college football action and college football betting.

It’s the beginning of the year and it’s time to bet on who will win the 2011-2012 BCS National Championship. The SEC has been dominant over the past few years but Oklahoma from the Big 12 is hoping to step up this year and win it all.

They are the current favorite to win with odds at 9/2 according to Bodog.

Now before you go off rushing to deposit money onto Bodog for your college football betting there are a few things you should be aware of. They are currently accepting US players BUT will pull out of the US market at the end of 2011. There is too much legal uncertainty in the online betting and poker environment with the US government. Hopefully this will all get resolved soon and we can all be allowed to bet on college football games and play online poker.

In the meantime 5Dimes is still accepting US players.

Check out all the latest odds to win the BCS National Championship from Bodog:

Technorati Tags: college football betting, odds

It’s time for the latest installment of the Texas Tech and Texas A&M matchup. You can never truly know what you are going to get when these two teams get together. Last year the Red Raiders were the favorite at home (21 point favorite) and end up losing 52 to 30. Texas Tech won the previous 4 games against their instate rivals. So now you have the Aggies as the 7 point favorite at their home field which is always a tough place to play with the advantage of the 12th man.

This game could go either way as they both have high powered offenses that can score a lot of points in a hurry.

I’ll go ahead and make a prediction on the over for this game. The latest line at 5Dimes is 59. If each team is on with their offense, they should each be able to score in the 30s.

Technorati Tags: college football betting, college football pick, college football prediction, texas a&m, Texas Tech

The Michigan Wolverines were knocked down a step at home losing to their in state rivals the Spartans from Michigan State. Denard Robinson’s 3 interceptions knocked him off the top of most Heisman voter’s lists but he gave a passionate post game speech a la Tim Tebow and hopes to lead Michigan to a victory against the 15th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes at 3:30 PM EST Saturday in Michigan Stadium.

The line opened at Michigan +4 and is currently at Michigan +3.5 on Bodog and Michigan +3 on 5Dimes.

5Dimes has the over under total at 53.5.

Michigan’s defense has shown they cannot stop anyone so the offense will have to pick up the slack against the best defense they have faced this season which will be a tough task for Denard.

Technorati Tags: college football betting, Denard Robinson, Heisman, Iowa Hawkeyes, Michigan Wolverines, over under totals, point spreads, Tim Tebow

There are plenty of touts and handicapper services out there that will offer you a free pick on a game and hope you shell out $49 for their weekend picks package. They’d have to win pretty consistently for those services to be worth it. But for now let’s stick with sites that offer free NCAA college football picks and predictions on the scores and over under totals.

Predictem offers free college football picks with detailed analysis of each matchup providing a prediction for the point spread or over under total.

BettorsWorld offers free college football betting predictions with analysis.

ESPN Pickcenter offers free college football predictions showing simulations of the games, the final scores, the team most likely to win and which team is most likely to cover. This is part of ESPN’s Insider content so a subscription is required.

You can use these sites to get a sense of where the general betting public is leaning and you may want to bet the opposite lines if you see too much emphasis on the favorites. Do your own research before placing your bets.

Technorati Tags: college football betting, college football picks, college football predictions, free college football picks, free college football predictions

As a sports betting enthusiast, you may be looking for a sportsbook that offers you some good NCAA football betting lines. Ever since the internet became popular, many sports betting sites have sprung up to accept bets from clients all over the world. By using an online sportsbook, you can wager on many different kinds of sports, such as hockey, soccer, football, baseball and more. While betting on NFL football games is quite popular, there are many gamblers who would like to have the chance to bet on college football games instead. Now how do you find a sportsbook that offers you NCAA football betting lines?

All you have to do is check out their home page. All sports betting sites will tell you what kind of lines they offer and on which sports. Despite the fact that it doesn’t attract as much betting action as NFL games, a lot of sportsbooks will let you bet on NCAA football games. Now how do the betting lines work exactly?

One of the most common types of bets placed on internet sports betting sites is called a “money line” bet. The money line is simply the two teams that are playing, as well as the payout for the bet. You will see, sports bets are not exactly “even money” bets like betting on Red or Black at a roulette table. This is because there is usually a difference between the teams that are competing against each other, one being stronger than the other. The stronger team is called the “favorite” while the weaker team is called the “underdog”.

The reason behind the fact that sports bet don’t usually pay even money is that if a much stronger team would go against a weaker one, there is one team which has an obvious advantage and therefore will have a lot more bets placed on them. If the bets paid even money in that case, bookmakers would lose a lot of money and would quickly go out of business. In NCAA football betting lines, you would see one team which has a number with a “+” in front of it and another one with a “-” in front. The one with the “-” is usually the favorite, while the one with the “+” is the underdog.

A number with a “+” represent the amount of money that you would win by betting $100 on that team, while a number with a “-” indicates the amount of money you need to bet in order to win $100. So let’s say you place a bet on a team that is a favorite and has a “-200” line. This means you would need to bet $200 in order to win $100 with your bet. If you were to bet on the underdog, which had a line of “+175” for example, in that case you would win $175 by betting $100 on that team.

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Technorati Tags: college football betting, money line, moneyline, sports betting, sportsbetting

Taking a look at the latest odds on the Oklahoma State and Texas A&M game tonight demonstrates why you should have accounts at both Bodog and 5dimes.

Bodog has the line at Texas A&M +3.5 and 5Dimes has the line at Aggies +2.5

You could bet on both sides and hedge your bets and hope the game ends at 3. 3 out of the last 4 games have been decided by 5 points or less.

By having an account with both top rated online sportsbooks, you could take advantage of both of these lines and guarantee a winner plus have the chance of winning both bets.

Check out Bodog and 5dimes.

Update: The final score on the game was Oklahoma State Cowboys 38, Texas A&M Aggies 35. It would have been a profitable college football bet to wager on both sides of this game.

Technorati Tags: 5dimes, aggies, Bodog, college football betting, hedge, oklahoma state, texas a&m

TCU and SMU face off tonight in an instate rivalry game at 8 pm EST at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The Horned Frogs will be looking to show they deserve to be in the BCS National Championship game conversation.

Even though it is a road game for TCU they opened as a 17.5 point favorite.

Bodog currently has the line at -18

5Dimes currently has the line at -17.5

You can buy points and get the line down to -14.5 on 5Dimes.

Bodog has the over under total at 55

5Dimes has the over under total at 54

This creates a middle bet if you so choose.

Bodog currently does not have a moneyline for the game

5Dimes has the TCU Horned Frogs at 1.111 and the SMU Mustangs at 7.500

5Dimes offers reduced juice on game days which can significantly increase your profits over the season. You can bet at -105 instead of the standard -110 for most sportsbooks.

There is plenty more college football betting opportunities with another exciting slate of key matchups this weekend.

Technorati Tags: 5dimes, Bodog, college football betting, college football odds, middling, moneyline, over under totals, point spreads, SMU, TCU

Do you want to learn how to play NCAA college football parlay? Perhaps you have heard about parlay bets, but weren’t sure what they were. Or maybe you have been placing “regular” bets (point spreads, moneylines, over under totals) on college football up to now and wanted to know what other types of bets are available to help you increase your winnings.

So what exactly is a parlay bet? In a nutshell, it’s a collection of two or more teams that you bet on. All of them must win in order for you to win the bet. This is a very important point to remember when making parlay bets. All of your selections must win (or come in with a tie) in order for you to win your bet. While this definitely means that parlays are “riskier” than most regular bets, they do pay out a lot more. And this is what makes parlay bets so attractive to sports bettors, the ability to win great amounts of money with a small amount wagered.

Now if you are learning how to play NCAA college football parlay, you are probably wondering whether it is possible to bet on the point spread, or just the money line. Actually, just like with regular bets, it is possible to bet on either one of them. You can also include over under totals in parlays as well.

However, betting on several teams at once in a point spread bet carries a high amount of risk; therefore the odds will usually be quite high for you. While they will vary from sportsbook to sportsbook, the odds on a point spread parlay bet will look similar to this:

2 teams: 13-5
3 teams: 6-1
4 teams: 10-1
5 teams: 25-1

In most cases, it is possible to bet on up to 10 teams at once, which is a bet that has odds of 600 – 1!

At 5Dimes, you can do a 15 team football parlay and risk $1.00 To Win $14,050.00!

On the other hand, odds on money line parlays will vary, as the chances of each team winning will be different according to the team and who their opponent is. Therefore, the odds are not fixed like in point spread parlay bets.

Money line parlay bets will take the amount that you have wagered on your first team and if that team won, a bet would then be placed on the second team at different odds. For example, if you had bet $100 on Duke at +245 and won, and your next team was Mississippi State at -150, the $245 that you had won on the first bet would be wagered entirely on Mississippi with a -150 money line.

Now that you know how to play NCAA college football parlay, it is time to place your wagers. If you are still looking for a sportsbook to play at, why not try Bodog Sportsbook? They have been around since 1994 and offer new players a 10% bonus on a deposit of $20 or more in their Bodog account.

Technorati Tags: 5dimes, betting parlays, Bodog, college football betting, football parlay odds, football parlay payouts, football parlays, parlay

The Houston Cougars suffered a major blow on Saturday night against UCLA after learning that Heisman hopeful Case Keenum is out for the season due to a torn ACL. Backup Cotton Turner broke his collarbone and it also out for the season.

What does this mean for the over under totals in Houston’s remaining games? Houston will have to rely on a freshman quarterback to run the offense and rely more on their running game to win games.

College football bettors may want to look at taking the under as the Cougars may have trouble putting up 60 points a game without Keenum.

Technorati Tags: Case Keenum, college football betting, Heisman, Houston Cougars, over under totals