Does the idea of using Las Vegas odds in your fantasy football drafts fill you with dread? Do you cringe at the thought of perusing NFL football betting lines before selecting players for that week’s lineup at DraftKings and FanDuel?

You’re not alone. A lot of fantasy team owners shudder when they think about using the lines set by Vegas oddsmakers. Doing so seems like too much work and they do not know what they are looking for exactly, or even where to look.

DraftKings Sportsbook has a full list of point spreads, point totals, and moneyline odds for Week 2’s 16-game slate, and we took a look at the lines Sunday evening during Sunday Night Football. We’re back with a look at how they’ve changed.

1. Update Tue, Nov. 3, 7:45 AM ET - Consensus Odds Provided by VI - Subject to Change. US Presidential Odds FAQ Can I bet on the US presidential election? At this time, it is illegal to bet on politics in the United States. So, short answer, no. However, DraftKings is running free-to-play pools to guess the outcomes of the 2020 US election.
2. View Against the Spread, Over/Under and Moneyline picks from 150+ experts for all of week 21 NFL games. See which side the 'Expert Consensus' is betting along with live odds, game previews and stat comparisons.
3. A Point Spread bet is when each outcome has a + or a - handicap applied to it. This handicap is often called the 'line'. On a 'line' of 3.5, one team will have 3.5 points added to their score, one team will have 3.5 points subtracted from their score.

• Bovada Sportsbook – Check Odds Here – I’ve linked directly to the odds page for current NFL games.

That opens up a nice opportunity for you. By reviewing the numbers predicted by oddsmakers, you’ll gain a healthy advantage over your competition. That could spell the difference between winning and losing your next contest. The best part? Using Vegas odds in your daily fantasy football drafts takes a lot less work than you might imagine. It’s essentially a matter of knowing what to look for.

Today, we’ll cover some of the numbers you’ll see when you look up lines on the current week’s NFL games. You’ll also learn which numbers to focus on, as well as which ones to ignore, when you draft players.

The Moneyline And Point Spread: What Do They Mean?

A moneyline reflects which team is expected to win. The favored team has a negative number following its name. The underdog has a positive number. For example, here’s the line (at the time of writing) for the Titans and Jaguars game for week 3 of the 2019 season:

• Tennessee Titans -140
• Jacksonville Jaguars +120

The Titans are expected to win. If you wanted to bet on them, you’d have to put up $140 to win $100. If you wanted to bet on the Jaguars, you’d put up $100 to win $120.

A point spread reflects not only which team is expected win, but also the number of points by which it is expected to do so. The spread for the Ravens/Chiefs game is currently listed as follows:

• Baltimore Ravens +6
• Kansas City Chiefs -6

If you’re betting on the Ravens to win, their ending score must exceed the Chiefs’ score by at least 4 points in order for you to get paid. If you’re betting on the Chiefs, the Chiefs’ ending score must be no more than 2 points less than the Ravens’ ending score.

At this point, you might be confused. After all, the moneyline and point spread are based on the collective performances of the opposing teams. How do you use that information when selecting individual players?

Be patient. We’ll get there in a moment. First, we need to talk about over/unders.

Over/Unders In One Week Fantasy Football

An over/under reflects how many total points oddsmakers believe will be scored by the two opposing teams. The over/under for the Ravens/Chiefs game is currently 52.5. That means Vegas oddsmakers are predicting that the teams’ combined scores will equal 52.5 points.

Here again, you may be thinking, “That’s great. But how do I use that number when deciding which quarterback, receivers, running backs, and tight ends to draft?”

Patience. We’re almost there.

NFL Player Prop Bets: What Are They?

A prop bet (or proposition bet) is a type of wager placed on whether a particular event will occur during a game. For example, will Andy Dalton throw 2 touchdowns for the Bengals? Will LeSean McCoy rush 87 1/2 yards for the Chiefs?

Like money lines, points spreads and over/unders, player prop bets can influence your draft selections. But you have to know how to use them in order to make informed and inspired decisions.

Which Odds Should You Use For An NFL Fantasy Line-Up?

The answer depends on how much time you’re willing to invest into a draft. Some fantasy players are content to just look up the over/unders for that week’s games. A high O/U implies that the opposing teams are going to score a lot of points. That being the case, it makes sense to draft one or more offensive players from the two teams.

The problem with that approach is that it only gives you a limited view. It’s like trying to drive your car while looking through a toilet paper roll. You can see, but you’ll miss the bigger picture.

First, you can confidently ignore the moneyline. It won’t tell you anything more than you can learn from the point spread – at least not in terms of your draft decisions.

Second, it’s definitely a good idea to incorporate the point spread into your draft. I’ll explain how in the next section.

How To Use Vegas Odds In Daily Fantasy Football Drafts

Let’s take a closer look at the over/under for the Ravens/Chiefs game. As noted earlier, oddsmakers have set it at 52.5.

By itself, that number doesn’t reveal much about the upcoming game or the individual players that are expected to get time on the field. The over/under indicates a lot of points are going to be scored, but leaves a lot of unanswered questions. For example…

• – how many points will be scored by each team?
• – which quarterback will log the most points?
• – will the points come from the receivers or from an aggressive ground game?

Also, suppose the over/under was set at only 40. Besides suggesting that fewer total points would be scored during the game, what would the lower number imply about individual player performances? You can see how relying solely on the over/under can lead to problems.

Let’s take a look at how to eliminate – or at least minimize – those problems.

Recall that the O/U for Raves/Chiefs game is 52.5. From earlier, we also know the point spread is +/-6, with the Ravens favored by 6 points.

The first step is to figure out how many of the projected points for the night (52.5) are likely to be scored by each team. The math is simple. For each team, divide the over/under in half and subtract half the spread. Here’s the calculation for the Ravens:

(52.5 divided by 2) – (+6 divided by 2) or…
(26.25 – 3) or…
23.25 points

Here’s the calculation for the Chiefs:

(52.5 divided by 2) – (-6 divided by 2) or…
(26.25 – (-3) or…
29.25 points

Based on Vegas oddsmakers’ predictions, we can forecast that the Ravens will score 23.25 points and the Chiefs will score 29.25 points.

The second step is to determine which positions are likely to produce the night’s points. Close games with a high O/U often see the QBs making TD passes. That’s probably going to be the case with the Ravens and Chiefs. Both teams’ quarterbacks are likely to rely heavily on their respective receivers. If you were going to draft players from one or both teams, that’s where you’d want to focus your attention.

But suppose the point spread is larger than +/-6. Let’s say Vegas has set it at +/-9. Here, you might see more action from the running backs, especially if either team is trying to run minutes off the clock. That’s something to consider when creating your lineup.

A Warning To Relying Too Heavily On Las Vegas Odds In Fantasy Football

You may be tempted to cut corners while looking up Vegas odds. We already covered an example of doing so: using only the over/under to anticipate which players are likely to rock in that week’s games.

Resist that temptation. Otherwise, you’ll only be working with one piece of the puzzle. Without knowing the point spread, it’s too easy to make poorly-informed draft decisions.

Visit Bovada to retrieve the latest Vegas lines. Look for the over/under and point spread for each of the current week’s games. Write the numbers down for easy reference. Then, log into your accounts at DraftKings and FanDuel, and use the numbers you collected from Bovada to create your lineup.

It goes without saying that using Vegas odds is not a guarantee that you’ll win your daily fantasy football contests. The odds are not magic. But they can reveal opportunities you can exploit to build a highly-productive – and profitable! – fantasy squad.

Resources For Proper Odds

• Bovada Sportsbook – This is my #1 recommended sports betting site for current odds and player props. They are legit, honest and trustworthy and you do not have to have an account to see todays odds. I’ve linked directly to the odds page for current NFL games.
• Fantasy Football 101 – Guide for one week leagues found at FanDuel and DraftKings.
• FanDuel v. Draftkings Fantasy Football – The two largest fantasy sites are compared including a fantasy nfl scoring rules chart.
• And just for fun, go check out Monkey Knife Fight – Newer to the DFS games, but we’ve been using them and having a blast!

The relaunched XFL is set to kick off on Saturday, Feb. 8, and betting odds are now posted at DraftKings Sportsbook for the eventual champion. Week 1 lines are expected to follow in the coming days.

The Dallas Renegades, coached by Bob Stoops (who spoke with us in January), opened as the betting favorites at +300 to finish atop the eight-team league. The Seattle Dragons are the biggest longshots at +1100.

Vince McMahon’s reincarnation of the XFL was created with betting and fantasy games in mind. During a short hype video released along with the league’s announcement in January of 2018, a voiceover states: “This is gaming and fantasy. This is padded roulette. Make a trade, make a team, make a move, make a bet.”

XFL fantasy games are expected to hit the DraftKings lobby sometime before the season starts, according to a DraftKings representative.

XFL futures odds 2020

A more accessible XFL?

There’s reason to believe the 2020 XFL season will go better than its inaugural year in 2001, which folded after one season.

Draft Kings Sports Books

First, the XFL is no longer attempting to compete directly with the NFL. The 2001 iteration began in the fall, overlapping the end of the NFL season. By kicking off Feb. 8 — six days after Super Bowl LIV — the new XFL will have the entire football world to itself.

The league will also be easier to catch on TV, as it announced a major deal in May with ABC, ESPN, FOX and FOX Sports 1. The weekly Saturday slate will be especially accessible, with games at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. EST on ABC and FOX. Sunday games will kick off at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. EST and rotate among ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX and FS1.

Rule changes to consider before betting

One of the main challenges for bettors will be anticipating teams’ strategies for point-after touchdown plays. The XFL will not allow extra-point kicks. Instead, the scoring team will choose from three options: a two-yard play worth one point (similar to the NFL’s two-point conversion); two points for a successful play from the 5-yard line; and three points for a score from the 10-yard line.

The XFL will tend to move faster than the NFL, both in terms of time clock and, in some ways, action. Kickoff rules have been reimagined to encourage returns — teams will kick off from their own 25-yard line; the NFL recently pushed kickoffs out to the 35 in part to reduce both returns and injuries.

The XFL’s kickoffs have taken some safety precautions as well. The kicker will be the only player on his own side of the field — the kicking coverage team will line up at the receiving team’s 35-yard line. But the coverage unit will not be allowed to move until either the ball is caught or three seconds after it hits the ground.

Draft Kings Point Spread Football

The return team will be lined up five yards from the coverage team, at its own 30-yard line, prepared to block against players who haven’t sprinted full-speed down the field ahead of the catch.

There are also harsher penalties for kicking the ball out of bounds and two different touchbacks. The ball comes out to the 35 if a kickoff hits the end zone on a fly, but only to the 15-yard line if it bounces in. Similarly, punts that bounce out of bounds deep inside the receiving team’s territory will be brought out to the 35-yard line.

The expectation is that offenses will go for more fourth downs because flipping field position isn’t a viable strategy. On the other side, receiving teams will be that much closer to scoring after botched punts.

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In general, the XFL intends to keep the action moving and to reduce the time of games to around two hours and 40 minutes.

Draftkings Point Spreads

Familiar faces and cities

The 2020 XFL Franchises are located in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C. Former Oklahoma Sooners and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Landry Jones was the first player signed by the XFL.

Other former NFL players on current XFL rosters include Cardale Jones, Josh Johnson, Christine Michael, Cameron Artis-Payne and Sammie Coates.