Basketball is one of the most popular sports to bet on. It can also be one of the most lucrative for a smart bettor.
This website is dedicated to giving you all the information you need to start your journey to become a winning basketball bettor: We cover events you can bet on, types of bets available, basketball betting strategies, and tips on improving your basketball betting skills.
Types of bets
Most common bets are the moneyline, spread, and over/under. In moneyline betting you are simply betting on the team to win the game. It doesn’t matter by how much. In spread betting bookmakers use so called line to indicate the expected difference in final score between the two teams. For example in NBA finals Toronto could be a 4 point favorite over Golden State. In that case, Toronto needs to win by at least 5 points in order for you to win. On the other hand, a bet on Golden State wins not only if they win, but also in case, they lose by less than 4 points.
In moneyline betting it doesn’t matter by how many points the team you bet on wins the game as long as it does win. In spread betting you can bet on the loser of the game but still win your wager as long as your team covers the spread, also known as handicap.
When does it make sense to bet on moneyline and when on the spread? There’s no one right answer to this question, but key consideration in making your decision are the odds which represents the “price” of your bet.
Since no spreads are used to balance the two teams, the cost of those bets change. If a superior team is -350 to beat a weaker opponent, bettors must bet $350 to win $100. Conversely, an underdog bet of +300 means that a bet of $100 would return $300 if that team won the game. This shows two problems of moneyline betting. First, if you are betting on favorite to win the game, then the odds can be very low and you will not win much. Second, if you are betting on a heavy underdog to win the game, you will be very frustrated if they play better than the market expected but still lose by a point or two.
On the other hand, if you simply want your wagers to win as often as possible, the best way to do that is by simply betting on the favourites. But remember that even one loss may wipe out several winning wagers. Also, by betting on the underdog to win a game you can get higher odds than by betting on the spread. Just remember that because you are betting on underdogs to win, the chances are that you will suffer losing streaks.
Over/under is another very popular form of betting. Betting on over/unders means you don’t have to care about who wins the game, just how many points the teams score in total. Sportsbooks set a total number of points it believes the two teams will combine to score, taking into account the offenses and defenses of both teams.
Bettors can also wager on first- and second-half spreads, moneylines and over-unders. Many bookmakers also make betting on quarters. When that is the case it can be a substantial advantage if the bettor knows when a team is usually resting its best players.
Outright and futures betting is a special kind of wagering where instead of one game you are betting on the winner of a competition. It could be betting on NBA champion but even a conference or division winner, or who will win the MVP or Rookie of the Year award. For a bettor who is following sports closely futures betting may be one of the most profitable kinds of wagering. What you have to keep in mind is that the wager will only be settled often several months after you have made the bet. If you can bet profitably throughout the season, it may not be a good strategy to have a large chunk of your bankroll tied up in futures.
Basketball betting competitions and events
NBA (National Basketball Association) is the most competitive basketball league in the world. No wonder it is also the most popular basketball league to bet on. It is usually recommended, especially for American bettor to focus on NBA because there is more information available. While there are some fairly competitive European basketball leagues, and especially the continent wide Basketball EuroLeague, the information and best insights may often be available only in foreign languages. Of course, these events are also more difficult for bookmakers to price correctly, so if you are following closely some leagues you may gain an advantage that will be difficult to achieve in the NBA where all statistics about teams and players are generally available for everyone.
NCAA is a different beast altogether. While some of the most successful basketball bettors are focusing exclusively on NCAA, there are many things you have to keep in mind before investing your hard-earned cash in college basketball.
At the beginning of the season teams usually play preparatory games and tournaments at neutral sites against teams who play in different conferences. These tournaments can give valuable information to bettors who observe and are able to make the right conclusions about strengths of teams.
Another feature of NCAA betting are the intense rivalries between teams, especially traditional enemies from the same or neighboring states. Some of the most well-known rivalries include those between North Carolina and Duke, Kentucky and Louisville, Cincinnati and Xavier, Indiana and Purdue, Kansas and Kansas State, Michigan and Michigan State as well as Georgetown and Villanova.
Often games between rivals provide some of the most memorable surprises in college basketball. Never rely exclusively on statistics and standing when betting on games between rival teams. Conference games also carry extra importance because of their impact on team rankings. Of course, many conference opponents also form rivalries because of the repeated matchups they play year after year.
When betting on NCAA basketball you should pay particular attention to individual matchups. Therefore bettors who are familiar with each teams’ starting five and its strengths and weaknesses have an advantage over bettors whose wagering is based on standings only, or worse still, on their own loyalties.
It’s important to keep in mind that players in NCAA basketball are young students, not seasoned professionals, so the importance of coaching tends to have extra significance for the prospects of teams. For the same reason, homecourt advantage tends to be more important in college basketball than in NBA.