How to Bet on NFL Preseason Games (3 Strategies to Follow)

The NFL preseason is officially here, and if you're like me, you have no plans to wait until the regular season to place some football bets.

With that being said, if you're going to bet on the NFL preseason, be sure to be smart about it.

Here are three big tips and strategies that you should follow when betting on the exhibition games in August.

3 Strategies for Betting on NFL Preseason

1) Pay Attention to Who Is/Isn't Going to Play

This one is as obvious as it gets, but it's probably the number one thing you should do when betting on the NFL preseason.

Follow beat writers for every single team, and watch your Twitter timeline closely.

When teams announce which starters will/won't be playing, sportsbooks will adjust the lines. If you're quick, you can place your bet before the line moves, or at least before it stops moving.

For example, in the Hall of Fame Game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders, the Raiders were -1 at some books, but once it was announced that Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne wouldn't be playing for the Jaguars, the line moved a point and a half to -2.5.

2) Don't Automatically Bet on the UNDER

There's a trope going around that you should bet on a ton of UNDERs in the postseason.

To be fair, the belief is for good reason. The average score in preseason games is 36.8 points, which is much lower than the average score of regular season games. Also, the UNDER has hit at a 41.2% clip since 2019.

But, sportsbooks adjust. Once everyone starts talking about a trend, it's time to get off it.

As numberfire.com points out, the average total for Week 1 preseason games is 33.5, much lower than we've seen in the preseason in the past. Since 2019, 57.4% of preseason games have gone over the 2022 preseason average set total of 33.5.

That means sportsbooks are correcting for those trends, and it might be time to go the opposite way.

1) Look Up Coaches Preseason Records

I'm not one to back a coaches trend, like this coach or that coach has a certain record in specific spots.

BUT, if there's a time to do it, it's in the NFL preseason

Some coaches treat the preseason very differently than others. Some make winning a priority, while others don't care one way or the other what the final score is, all they care about is evaluating their players.

For example, John Harbaugh has a 37-15 ATS record in the preseason. That means his Ravens cover at a rate of 71.1%. That's extremely significant.

Meanwhile, Mike Tomlin is at 28-29-1 ATS in the preseason.

If you following these three tips, you should be able to win some cash betting on the 2022 NFL preseason.