If youre an NFL fan, you love Monday night football. It takes the sting out of going back to work on Monday morning , gives you something to look forward to at the end of your long, hard day. Its the game that everybody watches. And, more often than not, its a game worth watching.

2009s roster of games is sure to be a big hit with fans. There are lots of big games in store. And it starts in pre-season. Its true ,

This years first Monday night football game brings back the two teams that played in last years Super Bowl,the Cardinals and the mighty Steelers. More pre-season thunder follows, Panthers vs. Giants , Jets vs. Ravens , Vikings vs. Texans. Think about it. These are just pre-season games. The Jets-Ravens game should be hard-hitting and fun to watch when you consider that the Jets raided the Ravens roster in the off-season.

The really big games begin in September, of course. In fact, the NFL season gets rolling on Monday, September 14^th with an AFC East blockbuster, New England vs Buffalo. Whether you watch this at home, in your favorite easy chair, or youre with your buddies at a local pub, sports bar or restaurant, you can expect sparks to fly.

There are big questions connected to this opening game. Will Brady be ready-to-go and be the All-Pro he was before his injury? Will T.O. make an impact with his new team? Are the Patriots too old , the Bills too young? There are lots of questions , no answers. And that makes this opening game a must-watch.

Follow-up games will pit the Chargers against the revamped Raiders , the Colts against last years big surprise team, the Miami Dolphins , the new-look Cowboys against the Carolina Panthers. Theyre all great games, on paper. But games arent played on paper. Theyre played on a gridiron. And when games are played for real anything can happen. Which means this: sometimes favorites lose , sometimes underdogs win.

The unpredictable nature of football games is what makes betting on them so difficult and so much fun, too. The team that looks unbeatable, on paper, doesnt always play that way. The team that looks like it has no chance to win can step up and play over its head.

So, if you like betting on football games, how can you know your investment is not going to leave you with empty pockets? When it comes to early-season games, you dont know.

You need to see teams play three or four games before you can know, for sure, how to bet on them. For Monday night games in September, the best thing you can do is make modest wagers. Yup , bet small! This way, youll get the action you want without the unnecessary big risk.

You might get lucky, too. A bet on a live underdog, for example,, can help you turn a nice profit. And give you some bragging rights with your front-running buddies , if your dog steps up and wins. If youre like most sports fans, bragging rights may be worth even more than the profits from a winning bet, wink wink.

Win, lose or even if you dont bet at all, Monday night football is where you want to be,every week, are you ready, fo course you are.