Pro football enjoys popularity unlike any other sport in the United States. Things are turned up a few notches when the postseason arrives. The National Football League dominates the time of the year in terms of viewership and sports wagering. As the schedule draws to a close and the calendar flips to a New Year, plenty of attention turns to the postseason and NFL playoffs betting online at all the best U.S. sportsbooks.
If you’re looking for the most convenient way to get into the game, online betting on NFL playoffs is extremely easy to do and has become the preferred method for sports fans in any place where it’s legal. Who wants to carve out time in their weekly schedule to wait in line at a sportsbook ticket window?
There are a growing number of online sportsbooks to bet on NFL playoffs that allow bettors to place wagers from the location of their choice, whether it’s home on the couch, at the bar with friends, or anywhere else. Not only can you make NFL playoffs betting online picks from any location in states that allow it, but hundreds of additional prop markets once January hits and the schedule is a bit lighter.
Yes, you can bet on the NFL playoffs legally online in an ever-growing number of places. Anywhere you can wager on regular-season games, you can also wager on the postseason. Sports gambling isn’t federally regulated and its inclusion is decided by each state individually, so the legality of betting on football changes from state to state depending on where you are located.
The Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on wagering outside the state of Nevada in May 2018, which has resulted in the industry rapidly spreading to many new territories in the years since. In total, nearly half the country allows betting in some form and that number is expected to continue growing in 2021, with multiple states waiting to launch operations and several others taking steps in the legislature to legalize.
If you aren’t in a state with legal online sports betting, you can place legal sports picks at FendOff Sports. Read our FendOff Sports review for more information and get our exclusive welcome bonus below:
You can make a strong case to join each of these sportsbooks and we recommend doing just that to take advantage of their welcome bonuses and promotions.
Online sportsbooks are certainly busy when the playoffs come around. Even though there are less games to choose from than the weekly regular-season schedule, there are still tons of wagering options to choose from and sites even see an uptick in action as more casual bettors join the space during this time.
Whether you’re a die-hard football fan or someone who joins the party in the postseason looking for a rooting interest, one thing remains the same: everyone loves free money. And signing up for a sportsbook at this time can get you an NFL playoff betting bonus, which is essentially currency to help put you on the road to profits before you even start wagering.
Anyone even remotely familiar with sports betting knows that DraftKings is one of the industry’s most trusted brands, and it’s easy to see why. Not only does this site have plenty of choices for every single NFL game (including the postseason), but its promotions are among the most advantageous for the player.
But the best thing about DraftKings is its huge welcome bonus, which offers more to new players than nearly any other site in the space. This is extremely valuable at any time of year but especially during the playoffs when there could be more betting markets than normal.
Currently, there are two parts to the DraftKings signup bonus, and both are pretty great. The first is a no deposit bonus of $25 in DK Dollars (cash-equivalent site credit), which is awarded just for creating a new account. The second part is a huge first deposit bonus, where the site matches 20 percent of your total deposit up to $1,000 in site credit.
In total, new players have the chance to claim up to $1,025 in total site credit following the signup process and their first deposit. This is one of the most lucrative NFL playoff betting bonuses out there, and it’s one of the many reasons that bettors continue flocking to DK.
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Another brand that has been revered for a long time is FanDuel, which remains extremely popular in every state where it operates. This is another site that offers bettors an enormous amount of betting options, perhaps more than any other brand, along with many ongoing promotions.
FanDuel also offers an excellent welcome bonus and one that differentiates itself from its competitors. Those who sign up with FanDuel are offered a bonus bet. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s exactly what it sounds like.
This bonus offers a refund up to $1,000 if your initial bet on FanDuel results in a loss.
There are other sites that offer a bonus bet instead of a first deposit bonus, but it’s pretty uncommon to see one of this size. It allows bettors to immediately take a chance with a massive wager right off the bat, knowing the worst thing that can happen is that they receive a refund for the wager in site credit (assuming the bet is for $1,000 or less).
BetMGM didn’t have its name previously entrenched in sports, as DraftKings and FanDuel did thanks to the Daily Fantasy Sports market. Because of that, the rapid growth of BetMGM’s profile might be even more impressive, and it’s quickly earning its reputation for being a brand that people love using to place their bets.
Anyone looking for an awesome NFL playoff bonus will be happy with BetMGM’s $500 first deposit offer. What makes this bonus so great is that BetMGM will match the player’s initial investment 100 percent of the way, which isn’t always the case with this type of bonus.
So if the bettor deposits $100, they will receive an extra $100 to wager with and have $200 total. With a $500 deposit, bettors can claim another $500 in site credit for a grand total of $1,000 to bet with!
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In addition to making sure to get the best signup bonus possible, another hugely important feature are the NFL playoffs betting promotions that are offered. These promotions are another way that sportsbooks put players in a position to earn profits during the postseason and can lead to things such as boosted odds, reload bonuses, bonus bets, and much more.
Below are a couple of brands and NFL playoffs betting promos you can rely on when the regular season turns into the postseason.
For both the Wild Card and Divisional Rounds, DraftKings is allowing you to choose your boost and get 100 to 1 odds on the NFL playoffs! This deal is for new customers only, and it’s a great way for players to earn some profits righto ff the bat with their new sportsbook account.
After signing up for DraftKings, new customers must place a deposit of at least $5. From there, you are offereed a single-use profit boost to use on the game of your choice taking place that weekend. After choosing the matchup, bettors will then get 100 to 1 odds for a moneyline wager on the team of their choosing. Max bet is $1. If your team wins, you win $100!
DraftKings is known for running promotions that are essentially free money, and that’s exactly what this. After opting into this promo, bettors are eligible to get +100 odds on a single touchdown being scored during any Wild Card Weekend game! As soon as someone finds the endzone, you can start counting your money! Max bet is $25.
DraftKings knows that parlays are among the public’s favorite types of bets all season long, and that extends into the playoffs. For that reason, the site offers a 20 percent profit boost during the divisional round!
All bettors need to do is build a four-leg parlay with all the games from the divisional round playoff schedule. If it hits, bettors earn an extra 20 percent on top of their winnings, up to $250 extra (on top of original profit).
There are only two games on the schedule for Championship Sunday but luckily, that’s all you need to build a parlay. And at DraftKings, bettors can earn a serious boost by building a parlay of their own for the AFC and NFC Championship games!
After opting into this promotion, new and existing bettors can get a 25 percent parlay boost on any parlay with two or more legs on Championship Sunday! So place your bets settle in for a full day of action as the final four teams vie for the Super Bowl with enhacned odds!
BetMGM is another site well known for promotions that are extremely advantageous to the bettor, especiually when first signing up. And as the postseason gets under way, BetMGM makes it worth your while to create a new account.
The Bet $1, Win $100 promo from BetMGM is offering new players $100 in site credit as long as at least one touchdown is scored during Wild Card Weekend. The only requirement is that bettors place a $1 moneyline bet on any team playing throughout the weekend. Then wait for someone to find the endzone, which is all but guaranteed.
BetMGM is known for hooking new players up with what is essentially free money, and that extends into the playoffs. The Bet $1, Win $100 promo is a perfect example and virtually a way to give customers some instant profits to work with.
All bettors need to do is create an account, make a deposit, and place a $1 moneyline wager on any team playing during the divisional round of the playoffs. If (and when) ANY touchdown is scored in ANY of the games, you will win $100 in site credit!
Just in case you weren’t able to sign up during the Wild Card or Divisional rounds, BetMGM has new players covered on Championship Sunday!
When new players sign up in time for championship weekend and place a $1 moneyline bet on a touchdown to be scored in either game, they can (and will) win $100 in site credit once any team reaches the endzone!
Of course FanDuel is going to have a great NFL playoffs betting bonus of its own to offer. The sportsbook is giving bettors a reason to sign up in time for the playoffs by offering 25 to 1 odds on any Wild Card team!
All you need to do is create an account and install the FanDuel mobile app before making a moneyline selection on any team in the opening round in exchange for massive 25 to 1 odds! Max bet is $5, which means you can win up to $125 with odds that are enhanced way beyond the actual line.
FanDuel knows when it has a good thing going, and isn’t inclined to fix something that isn’t broken. If new players weren’t able to get an account created in time for the Wild Card round, it’s no problem at all because the site is doubling down on the offer during the Divisional Round!
Once bettors download the FanDuel mobile app and create a new account, they are automatically opted into a 25 to 1 promotion for any of the four games going on during the Divisional Round. From there, all that’s required is a moneyline bet on one of the four teams and if they win, the bettor earns +2500 odds! Max bet is $5, but that’s still a potential payout of $125 in addition to heavily boosted odds.
Before placing any wagers, bettors need to know how to properly read what’s in front of them when looking at the odds. After that, you can move on to the various popular NFL online bets and apply various playoffs betting strategies. Keep the following in mind while scanning football lines ahead of postseason contests:
If you’d like to learn more about making NFL betting picks, please visit our how to bet on the NFL guide!
Moneylines and point spreads are the most popular NFL online bets during playoffs and work the same way in the postseason as they do in the regular season.
In this matchup provided by DraftKings, the Colts are the underdog getting three points against the spread and paying out at +135 on the moneyline. A $100 moneyline bet would win $135 on a Colts win, and taking three points comes at standard -110 odds. This means Indianapolis can lose be one or two points and still ‘cover’ the spread if they don’t win the game, and the bettor would need to risk $110 for every $100 in profit.
On the other side, a wager on the favorite Chargers to win is a pricier venture because to win $100 you’d have to risk $165. Selecting Los Angeles at -3 (-110) means paying an improved price of $110 to win $100, but needing the team to win by four or more points to cover the number. If this game ended by three points, wagers on both sides are marked a ‘push’ and initial investments are refunded.
These lines are under close watch from oddsmakers and lines are tighter than usual for handicapping NFL playoff games. Every half-point against the spread counts and tracking line movement becomes even more important late in the season. Because many matchups appear so close on paper in the week leading up, moneyline bets tend to see more action in the postseason, allowing you to take the sharp line out of play if you are committed to one side.
Nothing about selecting totals changes in the playoffs, you’re still wagering on whether the combined total points in the game falls over or under a predetermined total. Using our example and its total of 47.5, an under bet wins at 47 points or below and an over bet hits at 48 points or above. At -110 odds on both sides, the bettor is risking $11 for every $10, $55 for every $50, or $110 for every $100.
Parlays are the most profitable and difficult of all bet types, and it remains that way once the regular season ends. Parlays allow bettors to combine multiple sides (moneylines, spreads, and totals) in exchange for a larger payout. The high-reward nature of parlays is what makes them so popular with the public.
This parlay created at DraftKings selects three sides at the standard -110 odds, earning a generous +597 payout.
Additional sides and underdogs create more beneficial payouts, but it’s important to remember that all selections must win to hit a parlay and any one loss is a loss for the entire wager. Favorites may cost you a few bucks on the payout but are still good to mix into a parlay if the risk is too much to take on in a straight bet.
Another of the exotic NFL bets to place at online betting sites are teasers, which allow players to group multiple sides in a similar fashion to a parlay. Each line is shifted in the player’s favor by a predetermined amount of equal points (6, 6.5 or 7) and all sides must-win for the wager to payout. A 6.5-point teaser using the three teams from our parlay example above would come with +140 odds and look like this:
The major differences between teasers and parlays are that only spreads and totals are eligible for teasers, and odds are much less profitable. Due to the addition of points to each side, however, these bets do have a better likelihood of winning. More about teasers is covered in our section for NFL playoffs betting tips.
A popular feature at many online betting sites is the usage of alternate lines, which is something to keep in mind for people who enjoy both teasers and parlays, since this can be looked at as a combination of both in a way.
This is perfect for those who want to buy or sell points to alter the odds one way or another, but don’t necessarily want to be held to the rigid rules of a parlay. Using alternate lines will allow bettors to choose any spread or total they desire, with the sportsbook modifying the potential risk and payout for each half point.
For example, let’s use one of the spreads from above and say the Patriots are six-point favorites (-6). A teaser with New England forces the bettor to alter the spread by 6, 6.5, or 7 points while a traditional parlay would require using the normal spread or -6, or take an bigger risk with the moneyline.
But thanks to alternate lines, a bettor can choose to buy less points than a teaser would require. An example would be loweing the Patriots to -2.5 or -3 to cover key numbers without surrendering as much value as they would if taking the moneyline. Another option would be to buy points and actually improve the odds. If you felt as though a blowouit was comiung, you’d be able to take the Patriots -9 in exchange for a larger payout than one would get with the normal spread of -6.
Props are wagers on whether or not an event will occur, and they tend to cover very specific categories not usually tied to the outcome of the contest. In recent years, props have exploded in popularity and that postseason normally features additional markets to complement the lighter game schedule. Below are just several of the many props categories featuring football playoff odds:
Many people will tell you that going with props is the best way to handicap NFL playoff games due to the lack of action on them in comparison to traditional lines. As we’ll cover below, they certainly provide extra opportunities in the NFL playoffs betting online market and can be utilized in an ultimately profitable way.
Futures wagering is gambling on before an event that is will not be completed until some point in the future. The end of the regular season allows the market to reset and offer new futures before the run to the Super Bowl. Despite there being just 11 games in the postseason and some futures wagers already decided, several huge categories remain, including:
These markets among many others are available before the season and offer much larger payouts, although the potential for a profitable wager still exists all over the postseason futures market.
The rules for reading odds and the common football bet types remain constant whether it’s the regular season or postseason. Nothing changes in this regard, but how you go about handicapping NFL playoff games can definitely alter a little bit.
Another way to gamble on the postseason is to take part in an NFL playoffs bracket pool, which is similar to what occurs around March Madness in college basketball. Many of the sportsbooks offer various bracket challenges during the NCAA Tournament, each with their unique scoring twist and totally free of charge! Take the following steps when choosing an NFL playoffs bracket:
Print Your Free Bracket Template
With so many recreational and casual fans popping up at this time of year, not everyone you know is going to be into traditional sports gambling online. An alternate option could be a printable NFL bracket betting challenge, which remains a fun way to keep family, friends, and co-workers involved in the postseason action at this time of year.
If you are looking to participate in NFL Playoffs bracket betting we have prepared for you 2021 NFL Playoff bracket. You can find the PDF printable version here.
The football wagering landscape reaches its most popular point with the arrival of the Super Bowl, which is the biggest spectacle in all of American sports. In addition to die-hard gamblers and recreational bettors interested in the postseason, even the most novice fans show interest in the biggest game of the year, which takes place in early February.
Part of the attraction is that betting the Super Bowl 2021 online has never been more exciting thanks to the market’s ability to adapt to the limited schedule. Since there’s only one game left, online sportsbooks add hundreds of props for NFL Super Bowl bets spanning every imaginable segment of the game. Bettors are offered the opportunity to wager on a huge variety of unusual markets and have some in-depth research rewarded on Super Bowl Sunday!
Outside of using online sportsbooks, another way to wager on Super Bowl Sunday is by taking part in a box pool. If this interests you, check out our Super Bowl squares template to learn how to set up a pool for your friends and family!