How To Bet On Nba
The stake, the amount of cash you have to bet when the spread is in effect, is usually the same for both clubs and looks like this: -110. This tells you how much you have to bet to win $100. With the spread, you usually have to wager $110 to win $100. This can be translated into other wagers. Whatever the case, winning your NBA bet comes down to careful study of player and team trends, injury situations, matchups as well as line value. Remember that NBA basketball odds are not the number of points the bookmaker believes one team will win by, rather a number where he feels he’ll get equal betting action on both sides.
Interested in betting on the NBA, but don’t know where to start? Below is everything you need to know about betting on the NBA, including key terms to know, odds and much more!
NBA betting: Ways to bet
Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list of today’s sports betting odds and lines.
Single-game betting: The most common is betting on the final outcome of a single game. Bettors can either bet on which team will win outright or cover the point spread. Single-game bets are offered for every NBA game, whether it be during the regular season or the playoffs.Futures Bets: Players can wager on events in the distant future, such as division winners, player and coach awards and the NBA Finals. Futures bets are becoming more popular as bettors can watch and root for their bet over the course of an entire season.Live Betting: With the help of mobile apps and sports betting becoming legal in more and more states, players can bet instantly on the NBA, guessing which team will score the most points in a quarter, updated moneylines and point spreads.NBA betting: Key betting terms to know
Favorite:
The team expected to win the upcoming game. Favorites are usually expressed in the moneyline with a (-) sign, followed by a number. These odds can fluctuate from -105 to -1200 depending on the game location and opponent.Underdog: The team expected to lose an upcoming game outright. Underdogs are usually expressed in the moneyline with a (+) sign. These odds can fluctuate from anywhere from +105 to +1000 given the two teams.Moneyline: The moneyline refers to a team’s odds to win the upcoming game outright. As mentioned above, favorites will be listed with a (-) sign and underdogs will have a (+) sign.Spread: The spread refers to the number of points a favorite is expected to win by and the amount the underdog is expected to lose by in a given contest. The spread offers more value to players as the odds are typically the same or similar on each side. In NBA contests, favorites could be anywhere from -1 to -21 point favorites, meaning they would need to win by at least 2 or 22 points in order to cover the bet.Over/Under: This refers to the total amount of points that will be scored in a given contest. Often times, this number will bet set with a half-point, in order to avoid a push.Push: Every once in a while, the spread or the point total will land exactly on the number set by the sportsbook. In this case, all bets will be refunded to bettors on either side.Chalk: This is a term meaning a favorite is too risky to bet on due to such a small payout. In the NBA, a chalky favorite would typically carry odds of -250 or lower.Parlay: This is when two or more bets are combined into one single bet with higher odds. All outcomes need to be considered “won” in order for the entire parlay bet to cash.NBA betting: How do odds work?
Most bets are displayed via a single number. An example of this would be a moneyline favorite of -200, where a $200 wager would return a profit of $100. An underdog of +300 would return a profit of $300 for every $100 wagered.
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How to Bet On Sports > How to Bet on the NBA
“You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” – Michael Jordan
Introduction
For over a decade Sports Insights has been a leader in the sports information industry and our “How To” articles are designed to help our members to grasp the fundamentals of sports investing. This article will focus on the ins and outs of wagering on the NBA. The seemingly eternal NBA season starts in late October and the Finals occur in early July. The long season provides many opportunities to build your bankroll, but before you can become a sports investor, you must learn how to bet on the NBA. This article discusses the different wager types the NBA has to offer, including: Spread, Moneyline, Parlay/Teaser, 1st Quarter/1st Half, Halftime, and Futures.
How To Bet On Nba Games
Spread
Any fan of the NBA will tell you that games can become high scoring affairs as teams are only given 24 seconds on every possession to score. Due to these high scores, bookmakers use a spread, or line, to equalize the chances of either team winning a wager. It is not uncommon to see 15+ point spreads, something that is rarity in the NFL. The example below from the SI Archive should help clear things up:
How To Bet On Nba Games
| Team | Opening Line | Final Score |
| Celtics | -2 -110 | 96 |
| Knicks | +2 -110 | 86 |
The example above demonstrates the opening line for a regular season match-up between the Celtics and Knicks. The -2 indicates that the Celtics are the favorite, despite the Knicks playing at home. The ‘-110’ next to the line is what’s known as the vig, or juice, which is simply a fee the sportsbooks charge to use their service. A bet of $110 on Boston would improve your bankroll $100 as the team covered easily by 8 points. A ‘+’ symbol always indicates an underdog, whereas a ‘-‘ always indicates a favorite. A two-year study on NBA point spreads concluded that games fall within .5 points of the spread 5.5% of the time, which is why shopping for the best line is crucial to the smart sports investor.
Moneyline
The Moneyline is a type of wager that provides different odds based simply on who will win. The Moneyline (ML) odds can be drastic when the powerhouses of the NBA face-off against the lower level teams who are struggling to stay above .500. The example below demonstrates a typical Moneyline wager in the NBA:
| Team | Moneyline Odds |
| Warriors | +600 |
| Spurs | -850 |
The example above shows drastic moneyline odds, indicating that the Spurs are the big favorites in this contest. In fact, one would have to lay $850 on the Spurs to collect a mere $100 in profit. On the other hand, a wager of $100 on the Warriors would earn the bettor $600 in winnings. The Moneyline and point spread are not necessarily released simultaneously.
The Spread and Moneyline are contributing factors for Sports Insights’ Steam Moves and Smart Money plays, both available in our Sportsbook Insider Pro plan.
Totals
A total wager is one placed on the COMBINED score of each team. This number is determined by the bookmakers and the bettor places a wager on the over or under (O/U). The NBA is the highest scoring sport of all the major U.S. sports, so it is not uncommon to see totals in the +220’s. The example below should help makes things clearer:
| Team | O/U | Final Score |
| Heat | 197.5o -105 | 100 |
| Pistons | 197.5u -115 | 94 |
The final total for this contest was 194 points, falling just 3.5 points short of the bookmakers’ predicted total. Due to the increased juice, a wager of $115 on the under would earn $100 profit. Totals lines can fluctuate from their time of release, so make sure you consult SportsInsights.com’s Betting Trends Data before placing a wager.
Quarter/1st Half Lines
A 48-minute NBA game is broken down into four 12-minute quarters, and bettors are able to place bets on the 1st quarter and 1st half lines before these contests begin. These bets can be best thought of as the game within the game. The 1st quarter line (generally ¼ of the entire game’s spread) lets you dictate who you think will be covering the spread at the end of one quarter of play. The 1st half lines are essentially the same, only they extend through the 1st half of play. Like other sports, some teams are known to jump out of the gate quickly and build an early lead, while others are “4th quarter teams” who like to play from behind. These situations are some of the inspirations for 1st quarter and half lines. (you can keep or delete this above sentence, I couldn’t decide)
Halftime Lines
For most people, the dawning of halftime means it’s time to change the channel, but for the avid sports investor, halftimes can become a thing of profit. Halftime lines are available DURING halftime only. The halftime lines take into consideration what transpired in the 1st half to create an entirely new spread for the remainder of the game. Think of the 2nd half as a completely new game with a new spread to accompany the remainder of the contest. The example below should shed light on this concept:
| Team | Halftime Score | Halftime Line | Final Score |
| Bulls | 58 | -4 -110 | 102 |
| Pistons | 53 | +4 -110 | 90 |
If you were to think of the start of the 3rd quarter as 0 to 0, the final score would be 44 to 37, meaning the Bulls would have covered the halftime spread by 3 points. Halftime wagers are not nearly as popular as bets placed before the game, but a winning wager still creates the same profit.
Parlay/Teaser
Like any major American sport, you can parlay, essentially combine, your bets to increase the payout. For your parlay to hit, or win, ALL of the bets must cover. You can combine spread, totals, and moneyline bets to increase the payout of a parlay. A teaser bet is essentially the same as a parlay wager only the booksmaker gives you points to increase your odds of winning, but decrease your overall payout. For example, if you are wagering on a 4-point teaser and the Boston Celtics spread is -10, it would become -6. This 4-point advantage is included on each part of the teaser wager. The chart below shows payout structure for a typical spread parlay:
| # of Teams | Payoff |
| 2 | 2.64/1 |
| 3 | 6/1 |
| 4 | 12.28/1 |
| 5 | 24.35/1 |
| 6 | 47.41/1 |
| 7 | 91.42/1 |
| 8 | 175.44/1 |
| 9 | 335.85/1 |
| 10 | 642.08/1 |
| 11 | 1226.70/1 |
| 12 | 2342.79/1 |
| 13 | 4473.51/1 |
| 14 | 8541.25/1 |
| 15 | 16306.94/1 |
Futures
Futures bets are proposition bets placed on which team will win what conference or the NBA championship. Futures are not only limited to teams. For example, you can place bets on who you think will the league’s MVP. There are even bets available at the beginning of the season as to the over/under win totals for a specific team. As the season progresses, the odds fluctuate, and once a team has officially been placed out of the running, they take down the odds for them to win in all. It is not uncommon to see teams fall from this list before the end of March. Despite the fact that only 8 different teams have won the NBA championship in the last 30 years, many bettors like to wager on a dark horse team due to the better odds these teams receive. A bettor may choose to place wagers on several teams to win the big game in order to increase the chance of a decent payout.