Of all the sports in the world, basketball is one of the most popular, enjoyed by millions of people around the world. And what not to love?
The basketball floats in the air and into the hoop. The crowd screamed in the dome like gladiators, and of course, the incredible athleticism of the players wowed everyone. Basketball is also one of the most gambled sports – with many markets and choices offered by buyers for each game. With this guide, we will show you how you can make the most of basketball betting.
Currently, the most popular league in the world of basketball is the NBA (National Basketball Association), which is based in the United States. The league started with just under 11 teams in 1946. Today, it has grown to 30 teams across the United States, attracting and fielding phenomenal situs parlay bola terbaik talent, not only from North America but around the world.
With each NBA team playing 41 home games and 41 away games in the regular season, players have plenty of games that offer excellent value bets. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also NCAA college basketball, with thousands of games to choose from.
How to Bet on Basketball
Basketball is arguably one of the easiest sports to bet on. If you are already knowledgeable about how soccer betting works, then betting on basketball games should be a walk in the park.
The most common method or way of playing in betting on basketball games is what we call point spread betting or spread betting. A point spread is a kind of handicap placed by the bookie on one team in a match to equal the playing field in an attempt to make both teams equal in terms of betting.
The team that is most likely to win is referred to as the favorite and the other team as the underdog. Let’s explain basketball spread betting with an example of a real game.
Let’s say the Lakers play the Hornets. The Lakers are the stronger team on paper, so most people will bet on them to win. Let’s assume the point spread for this game makes the Lakers the 10-point favorite, meaning they need to win by 11 points or more. Passengers who support the Hornets will win their bets if they win the game or lose by nine points or less. If the Lakers win by a ten-point margin, it is considered a draw or a push, and neither wins.
Bettors are required to place 11-to-10 odds when they bet against the point spread, risking $11 to win $10. This basketball betting strategy is exactly what bookmakers do in general. If one player bets $11 on the Lakers and another bets $11 on the Hornets, the bookie collects $22 but will only return $21 to whoever wins. An additional $1 is the bookie fee for accepting bets.
Total
Totals are the second most popular bet type in basketball. This is also known as an over/under bet.
Total involves predicting the combined score of the two teams. Passengers have the option to choose between if the combined total points scored will be over or under the posted number by the booker. Let’s reconsider the Lakers v Hornets game.
Suppose the number for this game is 188. The bettor who chooses over in this basketball betting type will win if the combined score reaches 189 or more, while the bettor who bets on the bottom will win if the game has a total of 187 points scored or less. If the combined score turns out to be 188, it will be considered a tie again.
In the same case as for point spread betting, bettors are required to risk $11 to win $10 at 11-to-10 odds on each bet.
Moneyline Betting
Totals and point spreads aren’t the only betting options for basketball lovers; there are many others. One of them is moneyline betting. This is a bet on the winner of a basketball game with no point spread. Given that some teams have better odds of winning, moneyline betting uses odds, meaning that for every winning basketball bet made on the favorite team, you are risking more than you can win.
Moneyline opportunities appear as:
Los Angeles Lakers -300
Charlotte Hornets +240
That is, whoever bets on the Lakers to win will put up $30 to win $10, whereas for the Hornets it will risk $10 to win $24.
Parlay dan Teaser
This is sometimes referred to as an exotic bet. Here, a bettor has to predict the winner of two or more games. With parlays, there is the option of using a moneyline bet or betting against a point spread, while teasers use a point spread, with bettors adjusting as they see fit. However, all your predictions must come true, or you lose the bet.
Basketball Betting Advice
In this section, we’ll look at how to better navigate betting on basketball and team games.
Betting on Underdog Basket
The average bettor will bet his lot with the favourite, which means that the market often leans towards a handicap for the underdog. For example, over the last decade in the NBA, the underdog team played away by +12 points or more has ended up covering the line more than 53% of the time.
A similar trend in college basketball, with underdogs +17 points or more having a strike rate of over 53%. This proves that there is a market bias in favor of the underdog team, and every bettor should keep this in mind when valuing bets.
Bet on Popular Teams
Basketball betting strategy is very important when choosing a strong and considered favorite team. We’ve determined that the average punter tends to go with the favorite team in the NBA. The same trend applies to popular teams.
Take, for example, the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably the most popular team in the NBA. As a successful team over the years, you can say that it is justified that punters bet on them to win almost every time. However, it was not a wise move.
Betting on reputation isn’t a great idea, especially considering the case of the Lakers, whose attack rate on spreads at home is just under 47%. You don’t need advanced NBA basketball betting tips to know this one: it shows that the Lakers hold a subpar record when heavily favored in home games. The same is true for teams like the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, who have strike rates of 45% and 43% respectively, when they are home favorites by more than -10.
So what’s the lesson here? Certain teams may have a natural appeal to punters due to their historical or current popularity and/or the assumption that they are good. However, it can backfire on choices. It pays to know the circumstances in which you chose this team. Or, avoid them completely. Popular teams might be bad news for you in this case, so consider betting on the underdog.
