NFL betting fans have loved using systems such as the Monday Night home underdog since MNF was the only ticket in town to watch games. Essentially as the name suggests, the majority of fans betting on the NFL would take the home team underdog during Monday Night games.

The logic behind taking the home underdog was that the home team would play harder during the Monday night game, because it was such a prestigious honour at the time. Basically in the first 15 years of the NFL, Monday Night football was the prime time game and only ticket around. At half time, fans could receive recaps on the weekend and previous Thursday games. Also during the first 15 years, the home underdog consistently was a winner on Monday Nights.

But in 1985 as many handicappers know, the home underdog success came to a crashing halt. As a result since that time, the MNF home underdog system has gone 68 and 62. Now many fans between the ages of 15 to 30, perceive the MNF home underdog system as a myth to make daddy feel good about the old days.

Although the overall combined record of the home underdog system is nothing to write home about, it is startling to know that the majority of the success accredited to the system was in the late 1980s. In fact over the last decade, the Monday Night Football home underdog system has had an abysmal overall record of 21 and 31.

What this myth of a system tells us if anything are two things, first taking the road team favorite over the last two decades is better than taking the home underdog. Secondly, the game has evolved in such a way, that taking a team simply because they have a good home record is illogical, as road teams appear to be better and better.

A lot of sharp nfl football betting handicappers enjoy employing various strategies when it comes to the NFL. One such betting strategy is the yards per point system, used to calculate the point spread on an upcoming game. Here is one system that has come to make handicappers richer.

The Dudley Method of Yards Per Point:

Created in the mid 1980s, the Dudley method was created by Art Glantz and Leigh Cohn in their book “The Winner’s Guide To Pro Football Betting”. In essence the system operates on the last four games played by each of the teams in the game you are about to bet upon. Here is an example of a game between the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Rams as well as the four steps of the system.

Example: Green Bay vs. St. Louis – In their last four games the Packers have accumulated 1345 yards while allowing 1352. However in that same time frame they have scored 91 points and given up 78. Conversely the Rams have gained 1291 yards while giving up 1510. The Rams have scored 86 points and given up 111. Here are the four steps to the system:

1. Create an offensive YPP figure for each team:

Green Bay: 1345 / 91 = 14.78

St. Louis: 1291/ 86 = 15.01

2. Create defensive averages for each team, which is the total amount of yards given up divided by four

Green Bay: 1352/ 4 = 338

St. Louis: 1510/ 4 = 377.5

3. Take Each team’s defensive average and divide it by the oppositions YPP figure

Green Bay: 377.5 / 14.78 = 25.54

St. Louis: 338/ 15.01 = 22.52

4. Subtract 1.5 points from the road team and give the home team an additional 1.5 points for the predicted score

Example as Green Bay as home team = Final Score: Green Bay 27.04 – 21.02 St. Louis

Example as St. Louis as home team = Final Score: St. Louis 24.02 – 24.04 Green Bay

Bettors looking to advance from casually betting nfl on your favorite teams, to picking more games should start looking into various wager systems. In the NFL one such betting system that has consistently worked over the last two decades is called the ultimate betting system.

Essentially when you are looking to form your own system, you should gather information from rather successful systems. As we noted above the ultimate NFL betting system, has been around for 20 years and is rather easy to use. Simply look for a team that has scored at least 30 points a game in two straight games while giving up at least 10 points in two straight games. From there you would bet against that team to cover the spread in their next game.

One should keep in mind though that the reason the system has been so successful is because it is not played often. Since 1989 the system has been played 12 times accumulating a record of 11 wins and one loss in that span. Over the last five years, the system has been used four times with a record of three wins and one loss. Here are three examples of the system in use.

1. 2007 Buffalo Bills vs. Dallas Cowboys – Going into the game, the Dallas Cowboys had won two straight games by 30 or more points in each game and the Bills were a 10 point underdog. Not only did the Bills make the system a winner, they also led for the majority of the game prior to loosing on the last play of the game. Final score 25 – 24 Dallas.

2. 2008 Baltimore Ravens vs. Washington Redskins - This was the exception to the rule for the ultimate NFL betting system, as the Redskins a six point underdog were blown out by the Ravens 24 – 10, making the system a loser as well.

3. 2009 San Francisco 49ers vs. Indianapolis Colts – A year after the system suffered its only loss, it returned to winning form as the 49ers a 13 point underdog, easily covered the spread in a losing effort to the powerhouse Colts 18 – 14.

For every simple NFL betting system there is one that twice as effective but twice as time consuming. Today we look at the NFL point differential system, as it is best used when deciding what teams to choose while online betting.

Essentially the PDS incorporates one team in a given matchups opponents up until the week you are about to wager on. Take a six week time span and calculate the total average points for and allowed to find out how well one team’s offense and defense is going into the matchup you are betting on. This system is based around calculating the road team in a given game’s offense and defense. Here is an example using the Houston Texans.

In our feature matchup, the Houston Texans will be facing the Detroit Lions in Detroit. Through the first six weeks of the season, the Texans have scored 104 points while giving up an abysmal 148 points. By dividing the points for and against each by six we get the average number of points scored and given up by the Texans in their first six games. This translates to 17.33 points for and 24.67 against. The point differential system is a four step process and appears as follows:

1. List the road team’s opponents and their per game averages

Week 1: vs. New England 22.33 – 20.5

Week 2: vs. Jacksonville 18.5 – 20.33

Week 3: vs. Cleveland 23 – 17. 83

Week 4: vs. Atlanta 18.83 – 17

Week 5: vs. New Orleans 26 – 18.16

Week 6: vs. Philadelphia 16.33 - 19.17

2. Add up all the totals for points scored and allowed and divide each by six

Points for: 22.33+18.5+23+18.83+26+16.33 = 125.17 / 6 = 20.86

Points Allowed: 20.5+20.33+17.83+17+18.16+19.17 = 110.83 / 6 = 18.47

3. Divide Houston’s points for by the average points allowed by their opponents

Points for / points allowed = 17.33 /1847 = 0. 94

This number tells us that Houston’s offense runs at a 94 percent clip of the league average for offense.

4. Divide Houston’s points allowed by their opponents average points scored

Points allowed / points for = 24.67 / 20.86 = 1.18

If the league average defense operates at one percent, Houston’s defense operating at a 1.18 is 18 percent worse than the average.

Across the online sports betting board there are several types of methods that are popular among players based on the type of sport, wager, and money that needs to be risked. One such method is the Super Bowl Betting System, which has gained notoriety over the years due to it’s reliability, with some sports books even charging players money to use their system online. The system started off going 32-3-2 against the point spread, but hasn’t done as well in the past couple of years and is now 33-9-2 overall. Former NFL betting coach Hank Stram came up with the system years ago, which includes the following.

Players must give points to teams based on 17 criteria, which include everything from teams that have won the Super bowl in the last three years, to teams in their very first Super Bowl, to team’s with the best completion percentage. Once the numbers have been handed out depending on meeting the criteria, the winner will have been determined. The criteria can be found online by searching for it, with the Indianapolis Colts the most recently predicted team a year ago, losing to the New Orleans Saints in the final game. Another system that has been used, but has only gone 26-17-2 over the years involves three steps. Go against any team that did not cover the spread in their championship game. If both did, bet on the team with the most wins straight up entering the Super Bowl. If both have the same number, bet on the underdog.