How to Bet the NFL Preseason

Can money be made on NFL preseason picks? Absolutely. Can handicappers approach the preseason the same way they do in the regular season? Of course not. Should you bet the NFL preseason? That's up to you. I like to take a cautious approach in the preseason because honestly, I am less confident about the available handicapping information. There is much less info to work with. For example, power ratings don't mean a thing. Past season performance doesn't mean much. And, there are few if any past games to look at that provide any true predictive value.

That being said, there are some indicators of ATS (against the spread) results in the preseason. In fact, the same issues that make these games more difficult to handicap make them more difficult for lines-makers to peg. Remember, it doesnt take much of an edge - if we can beat 52.4% with our picks, we bank!

In 2002, I went 4-1-1 ATS in the preseason. In 2003, I went 9-6 ATS and in 2004, 11-9-1 ATS in the "games that don't matter." Overall, that's 60% and a healthy profit. I make my preseason picks by analyzing the following:

Coaches/Philosophy
Do they take the preseason seriously or use it for its intended purpose (to test out players and new schemes)? For example, look at Bill Parcells who is back in the mix with the Cowboys. His focus on making every play count, whether in a real game or practice, and his disciplined approach has resulted in his team covering the spread in roughly two thirds of the preseason games he has coached. The retired Marv Levy of Buffalo was just the opposite and was a great "go-against" preseason coach.

Be careful, however, about blindly betting "good" coach vs. "poor" coach. Over the past five years, "good" coaches (50%+ preseason ATS record) were 51% ATS while "poor" coaches (<50% preseason ATS) were 44% ATS. There is a difference, but it isn't huge. Further analysis is required to uncover more predictive trends. For example, put that "poor" coach in a favorite position and he'll cover only about a third of the time. Find another trend or two to combine with that and we have a very good bet.

Finally, new NFL coaches have more to prove and more to play for than experienced vets who are secure in their jobs. In the 2003 preseason, the 5 head coaches who were new to their team (Bill Parcells, Marvin Lewis, Steve Mariucci, Jack Del Rio, Dennis Erickson) went 12-8 (60%) against-the-spread. In 2002, the four new coaches went 11-5 (69%) ATS.

Team Depth
Backups play more than starters and some teams' backups are better than other teams' starters. Look for situations in which starters will be playing against backups. Teams with veteran starters who are not fighting for their job will tend to play these starters very little in the preseason. Look for teams with a couple of good players fighting for the same job. These players will get extra playing time as coaches try to determine the starter. Also look for teams with great backups, especially at quarterback. Some teams second or third-string quarterbacks could start for other teams. When they get to play against their opponents second or third-stringers, theyll rack up the yards and the points.

Game Plan
Coaches often announce their intentions for upcoming games. Sometimes they are looking to give a specific player a lot of playing time and other times they are just looking to get out of there as quickly as possible without any injuries. Sometimes after several weak preseason performances, coaches challenge their teams to show something before the regular season starts and meaningless game becomes meaningful.

Preseason Historical Systems and Trends
It is true that some simple older popular trends (bet on a team in its second preseason game if its opponent is playing its first) are no longer predictive (this one is <50% over the past five years). However, there remain very good predictive trends/systems for the preseason. For example, dogs of over 7 points do very well, especially when facing a team off a win.

Keep these items in mind when handicapping the NFL preseason. I utilize a system that takes these variables into account on my preseason picks. My preseason picks will start next week with the first full week of games.

How much to bet? I recommend 1% of your bankroll for every star. A one-star pick = 1% of bankroll. A five-star pick = 5% of bankroll. It is strongly recommended that you never bet more than 5% of your bankroll on any given game! Remember, there are no such thing as locks. Never bet over your head and you'll live to see another day. Approach your bets as an investment that grows steadily over the long-term. For more, see my write-up on Bankroll Management.