Betting on the NBA offers bettors and exciting way to try and gain a profit.This is why our Sports Betting Tutorial about How to Bet on Basketball will help you do just that. In addition, we will also covers some useful tips and tricks to basketball betting.
The most popular method of betting the NBA involves the point spread, which is a handicap the sportsbooks impose on one team to make both teams equal in terms of betting.
With the point spread, the team expected to win will be called the favorite, while the team expected to lose will be called the underdog.
The team expected to win gives, or lays, points to the team expected to lose for betting purposes. An example of a NBA game involving the point spread would be:
- Boston Celtics +7 -110
- Miami Heat -7 -110
In the example the Heat are a seven point favorite. If they win by more than seven points, you win your bet. Less than seven points your bet would be a loser. If Miami wins by exactly by seven points the bet would be a tie and wagers would be refunded.
The second most popular method of wagering on basketball is in betting totals, also known as over/unders.
A total wager is the predicted combined score of the two teams playing. A number will be posted and bettors have the option of wagering more than the predicted total points will be scored (over), or less than the predicted total points will be scored (under). In the above example the total points were set at 190. The line will have a vigorish along with it , most commonly seen being -110.
Several other betting options are available to players. Money line wagers, which is a bet on the winner of the game without the point spread. In the above example once again the line was
- Boston Celtics +270
- Miami Heat -400
So if you wager on the Miami Heat you would have to put up $400 to win $100.
On the other side would be a wager on Boston where you receive $270 for every $100 wagered. Another common wager is wagering on Halftimes.
Offshore sportsbooks post a new line at halftime that pertains to the second half of a game including overtime. The line can look alot different when compared to the opening game line depending on the score, fouls, and injuries and other factors.
People who want to be an online bookie will also notice that even though the line may look different, it does not matter to the bookie. This is because as long as they have betting on both sides, they will make money off of the vig.
