What is AFL? | Australian Rules Football and How to Bet on it

If you have never seen Australian Rules football, you are in for a treat. If you have never bet on Aussie rules, you're in for a bigger one! I discovered Aussie Rules about 20 years ago and was hooked instantly!

What is AFL?  - AFL stands for Australian Football League, and it is the craziest form of football you will ever witness. Yes! Even more insane than the Irish Gaelic version. A football game played at an incredible pace, with seemingly free for all rules. This guide is the best you will find to betting on Aussie Rules football.

Oh, Did I mention stats? If you think NFL has a lot of stats, you've seen nothing. Let's take a more in-depth look into this incredible sporting spectacle. I investigate how to bet and which betting sites are recommended.

How to bet on AFL? - Placing bets on various outcomes from outright game-winners, to total points and traditional spreads, there are a host of opportunities to bet on AFL in the US - Use one of the recommended online sportsbooks featured in this guide who are researched and endorsed as one of the best online sportsbooks for AFL betting.

Best Sportsbook for Betting on Australian Rules Football

The online sportsbook you choose for betting on Aussie Rules will depend on which is available in the state in which you plan to connect and wager.

This article has a wealth of information, either generically for your AFL betting in the US right here, or by choosing a button above to select the state in which you plan to connect and bet on Aussie Rules online.

Our extensive in house team of online sports betting experts and top Aussie Rules handicappers have worked endlessly, to test every sportsbook in each state offering betting on the AFL. They have come up with a definitive list of the best for each state in this guide to betting on Aussie Rules.

As more sportsbooks are released online across more and more states, this article will be updated.

Best Sportsbooks for Australian Rules Football Betting by State

This section is an overall recommendation of a single sportsbook app in case you want to use only one on your mobile device. 

Further down this section, you will find tables for individual areas where different sportsbooks may appear, depending on the range of 

• Events covered
• Choice of betting markets available
• Live In-Game betting options
• Futures betting
• Which sportsbook offers the best odds overall on Aussie Rules

What Online Sportsbook has the Best Aussie Rules Coverage?

Unsurprisingly you'll find Australian Rules football betting only available for the action taking place in Australia. As a professional sport it is not played anywhere else in the world. The fact that US Online Sportsbooks have introduced Aussie Rules betting is great news for any Aussies now residing in the States and looking to have a bet on the action

Which is the Best Online Sportsbook for Aussie Rules Betting Options?

In some cases, there can be hundreds of different wagers available to bet on a single Australian Rules Football match. If you thought NFL had lots of stats, then AFL matches it and then some. This leads to tons of different betting markets being made available to wager on.

Which Online Sportsbook has the Best AFL Odds?

Getting the best odds possible for the Australian Rules Football picks you want to wager is a key element to your long term AFL betting success. 

You'll find some one-sided games but others than are much closer, so playing the normal betting lines is good in some cases, and the props will be better elsewhere. Getting the best odds most often will help long terms with your overall AFL profit and loss

Our expert team, review market prices on a regular basis and compare sportsbooks to see which offer the best odds more often. This way, rather than use an odds comparison service for every wager you want to make, you can use a single online sportsbook app on your cell, safe in the knowledge that overall, you will be getting better odds more often than another sportsbook.

Another aspect of getting the best odds is the HUGE difference it can make to your parlays. We have a full guide to Parlay betting on site, where you can find the best sportsbooks for parlay bets

Which Online Sportsbook is Best for In-Game Wagers?

One of the most exciting ball games in the world, no, seriously, you have to watch it, AFL is just brilliant for in-game betting. The action is fast, furious and sometimes unpredictable, but if you can read the game, you can enhance the pre-game wagers you already have one, or try to offset some losses if a pre-match bet is going against you

Some sportsbooks offer in-game betting on AFL, others do not. Our team has watched and wagered in a range of Aussie Rules matches [They loved it!!], to find you the best online sportsbook for in-play Australian Rules Football betting.

Which Sportsbook for AFL Futures?

Given we are looking at only a single division in a single league in only one country, as you can imagine Futures betting is limited. However, in Australia, just about every man and his dog will be making a bet on who will run out the Champions at the end of the season, and there are usually lots of futures markets to play as well.

Futures wagering can be make or break for some, with much higher odds available months in advance. The further you can predict a result ahead of time, the higher the betting odds are likely to be.

A great online Aussie Rules sportsbook will offer the greatest range, and be the most innovative in their AFL futures wagering markets.

I hope this section has helped you choose the right Aussie Rules sportsbook for you to use. 

Just click the review column to read more about the recommended online sportsbook for your betting preferences. 

Or hit the state buttons at the top of the page for specific information on AFL betting in the state you plan to connect from.

In-Depth View of Betting on Aussie Rules Football

I'm going to break this review down into sections as it could get lengthy. The options of betting on Australian Rules football, along with the statistics available to help you choose your wagers, are vast.

How to bet on Aussie Rules Football

This section will explain the basics of betting on the AFL. The one thing you do not want to do too early is to start getting deep down the rabbit hole of the markets on offer without fully understanding how they work.

How the game works [It's crazy]

This game is not for the faint of heart either physically or from a gambling perspective.

The AFL season runs from March through to the end of September; eighteen teams compete in the league playing around 200+ games, including the playoffs and finals. Over 23 weeks of the regular season, plus four weeks of the finals culminating in the Grand Final; Australia's SuperBowl if you will.

Such is the thirst to watch the sport from the Australian public; the games are spread out over the entire week. This format produces a host of betting opportunities and [hopefully] long-running parlays.

And they Play on a Huge Field!

On Which Australian Rules Betting Markets Should I Concentrate?

Firstly be aware that home teams are listed FIRST! There is no @ listing here. The first team listed is playing on their home ground.

Thankfully there are some familiar markets from the betting lines range you will be familiar with if you have bet on American sport.

Head to Head or Moneyline Betting on Aussie Rules

As you will be familiar, this is betting or predicting the outcome of the game. The winners are the side scoring the highest number of points.

The market will look familiar too.

Brisbane +150 Essendon -210

There are two methods of scoring. Understanding the points system will help.

There are four posts to an Aussie Rules Goal. Goalposts and behind posts

GOALS are worth six points and scored by the ball passing through the two goalposts cleanly

A BEHIND is worth one point and awarded if the ball hits the goal post or crosses between the goal and behind posts.

Check the individual sportsbook rules on draws. No overtime is played out to decide a winner so that a tie/draw can occur. Some sportsbooks will pay out on dead heat rules halving the fixed odds gained when placing the bet. If you can find a 3-way moneyline market, that's fine, but odds will be reflective. In some ways, the dead heat rule for a draw is a good option.

Margin (Big Win, Little Win)

This market is very much like US sports points spread. Only in Australian Rules, the spread remains static, and odds fluctuate accordingly with options of 

• 1-39 points
• 40+ points
• Draw

The market may look like this 

You will understand that to bet 1-39 on Brisbane [the underdogs]; you are predicting the winning margin will be between 1-39 points inclusive and so on.

Line Betting on Australian Rules

Line betting is far more familiar with a predicted points line in place equalizing the betting odds. With the underdog or favorite having to overcome the handicap points spread to land a successful wager for you

Brisbane  +17.5        Essendon -17.5        -112

Australian Rules Total Points Betting

And, as you would on NFL, Basketball, or Hockey, you have the total points over/under betting options. A total points score is predicted, once again, to equalize and level the betting odds, and you decide if fewer or more points will be scored in total in the match accordingly.

Over 155.5 -110  Under 155.5 -110

Other Australian Rules Betting Markets

Disposals. This bet falls into the proposition bet category but is worth a separate mention. Disposals are often scored by midfield players, who are strong in the tackle and pass. They gain possession, kick, and handball, and the disposals are kept count. It is not unknown for a player to score 30-40 of these in a single game, and you can bet on individual players or team totals of disposals.

You can expect to find other familiar prop bets such as 'first team to score,' 'player to score first,' 'the first team to score a goal or behind, or indeed a point' and other options available.

There will also be markets for kicks, tackles, and goals, of course.

Australian Rules Statistics and how to use them

As Americans, we love a statistic — the more statistics; the better. And I love to bet, Hell yeah, drown me in statistics.

Fortunately, if you love considering statistics when working out the wagers you want to place, you are about to land in stats heaven. If you thought there could be no more team, game, and player statistics available than you'll find on the NFL or MLB, you were wrong. Very wrong, Sir. The king of the sporting statistic is Australia Rules football!

It is fun taking the statistics of a team or player from the season and applying them to your wager formulation. A good AFL stats site is vital for research. It would seem that online sportsbooks are not unaware of our thirst for them and are introducing on-site stats to consider, or offsite stats links to use.

Australian Rules Football Teams 2020

From left to right this is the finishing positions in the AFL league ladder for the teams for the 2019 season

Australian Rules Fun Facts

Aussie rules football is first documented as far back as 1858.

Originally there were no rules as to how many players one team could play with.

In Australia, you can bet on who will win the wooden spoon. The imaginary award for finishing bottom of the league table.

Aussie Rules is played in 80 countries, including SouthAfrica, Denmark, and here in the US.

Fighting between players is a commonplace sight. Aussie Rules Football is rough, really rough. Like the NHL, a level of tolerance is given to players to let out some frustration on the field with some pulling and wrestling. Bans and fines can be handed out for the most severe incidents, though.

Other Sportsbook Guides

Did you know we have articles on every sport available for betting online in legal states in the US. Why not try some of these to find the best online sportsbook for each