The NFL is the most wagered on sport in the United States, and the menu of offerings for bettors has grown exponentially since sports betting was legalized on a federal level in 2018.
That is true for live betting, or wagers placed during a sporting event, as well.
While software and technology used by the biggest sportsbooks in the States are typically built to remove possible misrepresentation, it would be impossible to sort out some of the human error that can come with any sport, but particularly football.
Given the nature of injuries in the sport, things can always be changing during a contest. As a bettor, you take full responsibility of any wager that is made, meaning you should be sure to avoid one key mistake using the information available to you.
When NFL players are taken into the injury tent or are clearly indicating signs of an injury, their prop totals are typically locked. That is because there is uncertainty regarding the player's availability, so this provides protection for a sportsbook.
For example, when Will Levis went out with a shoulder injury against the Dolphins, his prop over/unders looked like this.
However, at the same time, Levis' alternate totals were available for betting, meaning bettors could wager on Levis to achieve milestones during the game but couldn't wager on him to not achieve those milestones. That looked like this.
If you were to make a bet on Levis at this time or include him in a live parlay or same-game parlay, you would have lost any and all of those bets, as Levis did not return due to the injury.
Another example of this can be seen with Mike Evans in the Buccaneers vs. Saints game. Evans visibly was shaken up after a play, and he exited to the injury tent. His prop over/unders were taken off the board, but again bettors were still able to bet on Evans to achieve certain metrics.
This is the entire list of receivers' over/unders that were available to wager on when Evans displayed signs of injury. Yet, you could still place bets on Evans' alternate totals.
Evans finished the game with 34 yards and did not meet any of these milestones, meaning if you placed him in any type of live straight wager, parlay or same-game parlay, you would have lost.
It is your job as a bettor to be mindful of these concepts so that you can avoid these types of problems.
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