Here’s a sample of what I might submit for my picks in week 1:
Tennessee – 100
Philadelphia – 700
San Diego – 400
Kansas City – 1000

I’m going to go through each of these games pretending those are my picks. Since this is the first week of betting, I’m starting with 10,000 points. I have to bet on four games at a 100 point minimum and can only bet in 100 point increments.

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The first thing to learn is how to read the lines. Here’s an example of one:

JACKSONVILLE 6.5 Tennessee

This looks like nonsense to most people. What this says in English is:
“The Jacksonville Jaguars are playing at home and favored to beat the Tennessee Titans by 6.5 points or more.”

or in cool betting lingo:
“6 and a half, Jaguars.”

Both of those sentences mean the same thing. The home team is always in caps. The favored team will always be listed first in this league.

So here, 6.5 refers to the number of points that will be considered the “spread” between the two teams’ final score. Sometimes people will say “Hey, what’s the spread on Jags/Titans game?” and someone else will answer, “6 and a half, Jacksonville!” Now you can know what the hell they’re talking about.

There’s two different ways you can bet on this game:

1—go with Jacksonville. This means you think Jacksonville will live up to their expectations and actually beat Tennessee by 6.5 points or more. If the final score for this game turns out to be 21-14 with Jacksonville winning, then you win (because the difference between the two scores is 7 points, which is greater than 6.5). If the final score is 20-14 still with Jacksonville winning, then you lose your bet (because the difference is 6 points, which is less than 6.5).

2—go with Tennessee. This means you think that Tennessee can keep it a close game and get within 6.5 points of Jacksonville. Tennessee doesn’t even have to win the game for you to win on this bet. If the final score is 20-14 with Jacksonville winning, then you win your bet (because the difference is 6 points, which is less than 6.5). If the final score for this game turns out to be 21-14 with Jacksonville winning, then you lose (because the difference between the two scores is 7 points, which is greater than 6.5). Obviously, if there’s an upset and Tennessee wins the game outright, then you win your bet too. You do not get extra points if they do win outright.

For my example, I bet 100 points on Tennessee. Obviously I had some faith in Tennessee, but not enough to bet more than the minimum. Let’s say the final score is 21-17 Jacksonville. So I win! Yay me. I win 100 points. We’ll add up my winnings later in this ever-growing guide.

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Next game, Philly at St. Louis. Here’s how the line looks:

Philadelphia 13 ST. LOUIS

So here, even though it’s a home game, the line makers think St. Louis will lose to the visiting Eagles by at least 13 points. This is probably because Philly will beat the living crap out of them in this game. Once again, in English, this line says: “The Philadelphia Eagles are favored to beat the at home St. Louis Rams by at least 13 points.” Or “The Eagles by 13”.

The 2 scenarios:

1—Go with the Eagles. If they can live up to any of their pre-season hype and beat the Rams by more than 13 points, you win. If not, you lose.

2—Go with the Rams. If they keep the game tight and lose by less than 13 points, or they win the game outright, then you win. If not, you lose.

IF THERE IS A GAME with a whole number spread, such as this one, there might be the case that you do not win or lose your bet. Let’s say the final score of this game is 30-17 with the Eagles winning; this is a PUSH. You do not win money or lose money on this game. You keep whatever money you originally had. Here, I bet 700 points on Philly. I don’t win 700 points, but I don’t lose it either. Kind of a middle of the road thing.

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(I’m going to stop going into so much detail now hoping that you’re catching on.)
Next game, Minnesota Vikings at San Diego Chargers. Here’s the line:

SAN DIEGO 4.5 Minnesota

In English: “The at home San Diego Chargers are favored to beat the Vikings by 4.5 or more.” Or, “San Diego at home by 4 and a half.”

1—Going with SD. You think this is really the year that San Diego won't suck (yeah right). So you side with the Chargers. If they do it right and win by more than 4.5, then you are sitting pretty. If not, you are SOL.

2—Going with the Vikings. You think McNabb will be able to stay off the bench for at least a quarter and lead his new team to at least stay within 4.5 points. Hopefully you're right. Otherwise, better luck next week.

Here, I bet on the Chargers with 400 points because I gotta back up the local team, even if logic says not to. Unfortunately for me, the final score is Vikings 19, Chargers 13. Too bad. I lose 400 points.

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Last game. Buffalo at Kansas City. Line looks a little something like this:

KANSAS CITY 3 Buffalo

Just for the slow people, I’ll do some last translations. “The Kansas City Chiefs are playing at home and are favored to beat the Buffalo Bills by 3 points or more.” Or, “Kansas City at home by 3.”

Your two options: 1—Bet on KC. If they win, blah blah blah. If you don’t get it yet, re-read the other three game things.

Let’s say the final score here was 38-24 Kansas City. Hooray for me. Since I bet 1000 points, I win 1000 points.

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So now I add up my winnings! (Or just wait for the computer to add them for me.) On the first game, I won 100 points. On the second game, I pushed. On the third game, I lost 400 points. On the fourth game, I won 1000 points. Overall, my score is now 10,000+100+0-400+1000 which comes out to 10,700. That’s how many points I’ll get to start with next week. Until then, happy betting!!

--Why do you care if they’re playing at home?
Most teams when playing at home are way better than when playing on the road b/c of crowd energy, etc. That’s why they call it home field advantage. So it’s (usually) a good assumption that the team will perform better when playing at home.