Florida is an important college football state with several quality schools with huge fan bases. If you reside in Florida and are interested in betting on college football online then you are in the right place. On this page I will recommend a betting site for Florida residents, touch on the regulatory climate for sports betting in the state, outline examples of the three most popular college football bets, and provide a simple 3 step guide you can follow to bet on NCAA Football online right now.
Best Betting Site For Florida Residents
Bovada.lv is our top rated online sportsbook for Florida bettors looking to wager on NCAA Football games. Bovada has served the US betting market since 2012 and have built a strong reputation as a trusted and secure betting site that is popular throughout the United States, including Florida.
College Football Betting in Florida
Regulated sports betting in Florida is currently in state of limbo. A new gaming compact was signed with the Seminole Tribe in April of 2021 and filed in August 2021. This briefly made it legal to operate a sportsbook in the state of Florida, however the federal court vacated the compact a few months later after local groups mounted successful legal challenges claiming the compact violated a constitutional amendment which requires voter approval to proceed. The Seminole Tribe then appealed this decision, and the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Seminole Tribe on June 30, 2023, once again making sports betting technically legal in Florida.
That said, there are still no regulated sportsbooks currently operating in the state. Hard Rock Bet may relaunch in the near future.
Florida residents do still have the option to place bets through offshore betting sites that are licensed and regulated outside of the US. Bovada.lv falls into this category as a sportsbook that is licensed and regulated in Antigua, while accepting US players for the past decade.
College Football Bets
The three most popular bets on college football games are the point spread, money line, and over/under.
Below I will explain all three of these bets using a past game between Florida and Tennessee:
Spread
The point spread is the most popular bet on college football games. The spread attempts to handicap the game so that either side has an implied probability of close to 50%. This is an especially important betting option in college football because some of the games are very lopsided.
With spread bets the favorite must win by more points than the spread amount to “cover the spread”, while the underdog must either win the game outright or lose be fewer points than the spread amount to “beat the spread”.
In this example Tennessee is a 10.5 point favorite (-10.5). Tennessee must win by 11 or more points for a spread bet on Tennessee to win. Florida is a 10.5 point underdog (+10.5), so Florida must either win the game outright or lose by 10 or fewer points for spread bets on Florida to win.
Money Line (To Win)
A money line bet is simply a wager on which team will win the game outright. The odds for each team determine the risk vs reward for a bet on that team. Typically a bet on the favorite will win less than the bet amount, while a bet on the underdog would win more than the risk amount.
In this example Tennessee are -400 favorites. This means a $400 bet on Tennessee would win $100 (payout $500). Florida is a +300 underdog so you would win $300 for every $100 risked if Florida pulled off the upset.
Total (Over/Under)
A totals bet is a wager on the number of points to be scored in the game by both teams combined. The oddsmaker will set a total and you can bet on whether the number of points scored will be over or under that amount.
In this example the total is set at 62 points. Over bets would win if 63 or more points are scored and under bets would win if 61 or fewer points are scored. If exactly 62 points are scored then the totals bets would push (be returned).
How To Bet On College Football in Florida – 3 Step Guide
Follow this three step tutorial to bet on college football games online from anywhere in Florida.
Step 1. Create A Bovada.lv Account
Click the above link and complete the overlay sign up form on the home page to open your account.
Bovada is the most popular online sportsbook serving the US betting market and our recommended sportsbook for Florida residents.
Step 2. Deposit
After logging into your Bovada account click the ‘Deposit’ link under your accounts drop down menu. Select one of the deposit options (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Bitcoin, etc.), enter your deposit amount, and follow the instructions to complete your deposit.
You can cash out any winnings through bitcoin, bank transfer or check in the mail.
Step 3. Place Your College Football Bets
- Click ‘Sports’ from the top menu bar and select ‘Football’ from the secondary sports menu.
- Open the ‘Football A-Z’ drop down menu in the left sidebar and select ‘College Football’.
- Select the odds of the bet you want to make to add it to your Bet Slip.
- Enter your risk amount on the Bet Slip.
- If you are happy with the risk and potential win amounts click ‘Place Bets’ to lock in the wager.
Are you ready to bet? Click here to visit Bovada.lv.
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