A Beginner’s Guide to the NBA betting


We have all been captivated by the NBA at some point in our lives. But whilst it is a sport that originates in the United States, it has a huge fan base worldwide. Fortunately, betting on NBA matches is made effortless and accessible thanks to various betting guides you may find online. 

As said before, betting is straightforward, even for beginners. If you need a starting point, in this article, you will find some tips to begin this wild adventure of online betting on NBA games. 

The different options

As in many other sports, there are different types of betting. These options are available to adapt to different betting styles. While there may be some bold betting personalities, some conservative players love to analyse their options and chances before betting, so there are types of bets that suit them better. 

Having options is always great and makes the game more interesting in the long term. 

Moneyline

The Moneyline is one of the most popular types of bet. It is very easy to understand and get into it. To put it in simple words, you bet on which team will win, and you bet against the odds of the Moneyline. The bets are divided between the favourite and the underdog. The favourite is the team that holds the negative odds, while the underdog holds the positive odds. The odds are the amount of money you will get if your team wins. If you bet on the favourite, you will likely win very little money if the team comes out victorious. Now, the underdog holding the positive odds will pay much more. 

The following difference is obvious; the favourite is the team that statistically has more chances of winning, so more people bet on it. If the underdog finds a way to turn things around, those who bet on them will be very happy. 

Spread

Spread represents a virtual advantage or disadvantage with which a team would start a match. It is a margin of points that the favourite team grants to the opponent and implies placing a bet on one of the two teams, taking into account this virtual advantage or disadvantage. The objective is that the quotas of both teams become the same or that they keep very little difference between them.

Many users tend to resort to the spread when the odds of the favourite team are very low since granting this advantage increases the odds. The same happens with the non-favourite team. Although it has a very high quota, it will have a quota equal to its rival in the spread market, receiving a certain amount of points. The spread line is determined according to the difference between the teams.

Let’s look at a brief example where the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder face off in the popular NBA. In this case, Oklahoma starts as the favourite to win the game but the odds are based on a 5.5-point spread. Therefore, the Spread market is as follows:

Oklahoma City -5.5 

San Antonio +5.5 

Using the example above as a reference, a bet on the Spread -5.5 of Oklahoma implies that this team would start losing by 5.5 points and that they will have to win by 6 or more for you to hit that bet. For its part, with the Spread +5.5 of San Antonio, you will start winning by 5 and a half points. This implies that even if the Spurs lose by 5 points of difference, you will end up winning your bet.

Parlay

Parlay has to do with combined bets, and it is widely used in Las Vegas to place bets on sporting events. In this case, you will have to choose one result amongst several that will be presented. In some cases, the parlay can be a maximum of eight, ten, twelve outcomes, etc., mostly depending on the site and what you want to do. Of course, the great condition is that you must hit all the results; otherwise, your bet ticket will be worth nothing.

The quotas influence a lot when making a parlay. However, it is not determinative, and you can make the decision that you consider correct. However, if one of the matches you bet on is abandoned or cancelled, it will not affect your bet. The profit margin may be lower, but you will not lose it, which is the most important thing. As you can see, the parlay is an enjoyable betting method; all you have to do is try it and start enjoying it.

Player props

These types of bets are very fun, as you bet on how many points a player will score in a specific match. It is not only limited to scoring, but it also applies to assists, rebounds, free throws or all. There is really no limit here. For example, you can bet on Jalem Adams to score 13 points knowing his average per game.

This type of bet is very engaging, and it keeps you on your toes until the end of the match. 

Game Props

Game props are also extremely fun because they are tied to specific events in a match. This type of bet is as flexible as you may want, and you can bet over or under any number you can think of. 

Again, it makes NBA games so much more exciting! That said, most bets being online these days, you can go beyond the United States and even bet on the Euroleague.

Conclusion

Ultimately, basketball bets are easy and flexible enough for anyone to understand and get into it. The game is so engaging that betting is just the icing on top of the cake.