The NFL is the most popular professional sports league to bet on in Texas. The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most popular professional sports teams in the country and the Houston Texans also have a loyal fanbase.
The 2026 NFL Season gets underway this week, running from September 9th, 2026 to January 10th, 2027 with all teams playing 17 regular season games with one bye week. The playoffs will then begin with Wild Card Weekend on January 16th-18th, 2027, followed by the Divisional Round and Conference Championship games the subsequent weeks. The Super Bowl will then take place on February 14th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
On this page I will recommend our top rated betting site for Texas residents, touch on the regulatory climate of sports betting in the state, look at examples of the three most popular bets you can make on an NFL game and finish with a simple 3 step guide you can follow to bet on the NFL online.
Best Betting Site For Texans
Bovada.lv is our top rated betting site for Americans looking to bet on NFL games. They have a wide variety of betting options for every NFL game and offer fair odds.
Sports Betting in Texas
At this time it is not legal to operate a sportsbook in Texas.
That said, Texas residents can still join and place bets through offshore betting sites that are licensed and located outside of the United States. Bovada falls into this category by being licensed and regulated offshore, while serving the US betting market.
Check out our Texas betting section to learn more about the regulatory climate for sports betting in the state.
NFL Betting Options
There are three bets that are the most common wagers on each NFL game. These are the spread, money line (to win) and total (over/under). Below I will look at examples of each using the NFL season opener between the Patriots and Seahawks.
Spread
The spread is the most common wager on NFL games. The oddsmakers will set a point spread, which will attempt to even out the game by basically spotting the underdog a certain number of points (the spread).
A bet on the favorite would have to “cover the spread”, which means the favored team would have to win by more than the spread amount. A bet on the underdog to “beat the spread” would win if the underdog either wins the game or loses by fewer points than the spread.
In this example the -3 indicates that the Seattle Seahawks are 3 point favorites to beat the Patriots. The Seahawks would have to win by 4 or more points for a spread bet on Seahawks to win.
On the flip side, the +3 indicates that the Patriots are 3 point underdogs. For the Pats to beat the spread they must either win the game outright or lose by 2 or fewer points.
If Seattle wins by exactly 3 points then the spread bets would “push” and be returned.
Win (Money Line)
You can also bet on which team will win the game straight up, with no spread involved. The money line odds are set based on each teams perceived chances of winning the game. A bet on the favorite would win less than a bet on the underdog.
In this example the Seahawks have -175 odds to win the game. This means you would have to wager $175 to win $100 betting on the Seahawks.
The Patriots are +150 underdogs, which means a $100 wager would win $150 if they pulled off the upset.
If you are having trouble understanding the risk vs reward when looking at the odds above check out our betting odds explanations here.
Total (Over/Under)
The total, also known as the over/under, is a bet on the total number of points to be scored in the game by both teams.
The oddsmaker will set a “total” and you can wager on whether the number of points scored will be over or under that number.
The total for the Patriots vs Eagles game is set at 44.5 points. Over bets would win if 45 or more points are scored and under bets would win if 44 or fewer points are scored.
How To Bet On The NFL From Texas – 3 Steps
Follow this three step tutorial to bet on the NFL online from Texas.
Step 1. Open A Bovada.lv Account
Click the above link, select ‘Join Now’ on the landing page and fill out the short form to open your account.
Step 2. Deposit
After logging into your Bovada account click on the ‘Deposit’ link under your account drop down menu. Select your preferred deposit method (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.), enter the amount of your deposit, and complete the instructions to fund your account.
You can cash out your winnings through bitcoin, bank transfer or a check through the mail.
Step 3. Place Your NFL 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 ‘NFL’. **You can also usually click ‘NFL’ from the Trending Competitions menu.
- Select the odds of the bet you want to make to add it to your Bet Slip.
- Enter your Stake amount and click ‘Place Bets’ to lock in your wager.
Here’s a screenshot showing the clicks using a money line bet on the Patriots from the season opening game as an example:
Ready to bet? Click here to visit Bovada.lv.
Tagged With : NFL Betting • Texas Sports Betting
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