Betting on NFL games is one of the most fun activities that you could ever do. As if just watching the game on TV wasn't fun enough, betting on the game makes it that much more exciting. Now you don't just have a passing interest in the game, but you have a vested interest. The players on the team you picked better put out...or else!

So how do you decide which side to bet on in an NFL game? That is an issue that many gamblers are faced with. Should they take the favorite and get a lower payout? Or do they take the underdog and potentially make the big bucks?

As the expression goes, "Different strokes for different folks." It's really all up to you. Personally I think it's much more fun to pick the underdog to win. Now this doesn't mean that I'm going to go around and pick every single underdog to win. Let's say that the Oakland Raiders are going into Dallas this weekend. Am I going to pick them to win? Probably not. Am I going to put even one single, solitary penny on it? No way! I might as well go to Vegas and put my life savings on #37 on the Roulette table. It might happen, but it probably won't.

When I pick an underdog, I'm going to do some research. I'm going to use my vast football knowledge and experience as an armchair quarterback to make a prediction. This won't be just a guess. It will be a very educated guess. If I know a lot about the underdog and really believe that they have a shot to win, I'll go for it. As they say, "Any given Sunday".

Besides the huge amounts of money that you can win by picking the underdog, there are other benefits as well. For example, when you actually get it right you will look like a genius with all of the other guys at work. You can't really put a price on that. The number one topic around the water cooler is NFL football. When you look like you know the most about it, you now have a certain "expert status" about you. The best part is when you told someone who is a fan of the favored team before the game that they were going to lose. You told them that you were even putting money on it. After you announced this, they laughed at you and started quoting stats.

"Are you kidding me? How are they going to match up against our 2nd ranked run defense? Did you know we were 4th in the league in takeaway ratio last year? How are you going to combat that?"

It's these guys that you really like to prove wrong and the best way to do it is by picking the underdog. When you pick a favorite and they win, who cares? They were supposed to win. However, when you go with the underdog and they win, you are now a genius.