NBA Betting Tips & Basketball Betting Tips
Tips for betting on basketball and tips for NBA betting
Betting on basketball and NBA betting is becoming popular around the world. Not only betting on the NBA is experiencing strong growth, but also the games of the Euroleague and the Spanish Liga ACB in particular are widely used.
In this article, we’ll show you what the options are when betting on basketball, and what you should pay attention to if you want to make bigger winnings.
A lot of money is involved in basketball betting and NBA betting, so you can often bet up to fairly large amounts.
There are a great number of different bets to choose from.
Of course you don’t necessarily have to ‘go big’, but it is of course useful to find out about the different bets that are possible in basketball. We have listed the most common basketball bets for you below.
Major Basketball Betting Tip: Find a Good Bookmaker
Finding a bookmaker is essential if you want to be a pro at NBA betting and Basketball betting. Some of the popular bookmakers may not accept players from your country or their offers and bookmaker bonuses start drying up once they see you are a regular.
Most bookmakers don’t have bonuses, offers and free bets specifically for NBA betting. Many of the popular bookmakers don’t accept players from several countries.
We found five bookmakers that give regular free bets and bookmaker bonuses which helps you to make more money by betting on many sports. These bookmakers also give special offers for Basketball betting and free bets for NBA betting.
These bookmakers also accept players from over 163 countries so there is a high chance you can bet on the NBA from their bookmaker whether you are from Nigeria,India or Canada.
Here are the five bookmakers that we personally recommend for NBA betting:
The big three types of NBA bets: Money Line, Spread and Total Points
With traditional American bookmakers, you can usually only bet on three things in a basketball game: money line, spread and total points. You also encounter the same three bets with American Football.
These will also be the most frequently offered bets among European bookmakers, as they are the most popular by far.
NBA Betting on the Money Line
First there is the money line bet. You simply bet on who wins the match. There is no tie in basketball, so that just makes it easier. You bet on ‘1’ for the home team, or on ‘2’ for the visitors.
Americans call this money line, because the bookmaker does not put the line in points (as in the other two bets described below), but in how much money will be paid out if your team wins.
NBA Betting on the Spread
Second, there is the spread , or in other words: the handicap. For this, the bookmaker employs a team of professional ‘handicappers’, who determine how many handicap points a team should receive, so that the odds will be almost equal. If there is a strong favorite, the handicap will logically be much greater than in daring teams.
Because not all bookmakers are equally great experts in all sports, they often look this up from other leading betting companies. This also applies to the ‘money line’ odds by the way. Most bookmakers simply copy the ‘Vegas line’ because the casinos in Las Vegas employ the best handicappers. This way the bookmaker runs the least risk of making a mistake.
Yet it often happens that the bookmaker makes a wrong assessment. This may be because they are too late to know about an injured (star) player, or some other factor that strongly influences the chances of winning. People who follow basketball closely will often quickly recognize a misplaced line handicap, after which there is a lot to be gained by betting on it.
A handicap bet thus gives a team a virtual lead in the match. This is usually in the form of a half point, so that no draw is possible here either. In the image above, Barcelona must make up a 14½ point deficit to overcome the handicap. If you bet on Barcelona here, they have to beat Partizan Belgrade by 15 points or more to win your bet for you. In America they call this ‘beating the spread’.
When a handicap is rounded to a whole point, then a draw is possible. This bet is then just like a regular ‘1X2’ bet, in which you can also bet on the ‘X’ for a draw, after deduction of the handicap.
Betting on the spread is much more popular than betting on the money line because the payouts for the favorite are often much higher. Moreover, it makes following a match much more exciting, as both teams will now be very evenly matched thanks to the point handicap – provided the bookmaker has set the line correctly, of course.
Basketball Betting on Total Points
Finally, there is the total points bet, in which the bookmaker has again put a line that makes both sides of the bet equal in his opinion. This is the total number of points scored in the game, of both teams added together. Usually this is the number of points including any overtime, which is clearly indicated on your bet slip, but it is important to always verify this to avoid unpleasant surprises.
This is an over / under bet, so your goal is to correctly predict whether the total number of points scored will be more (over) or less (under) than the bet line.
To be able to predict this correctly, you should not only look at the playing style and the star players of both teams, but also at the bank players. A coach who has a strong and fully fit roster can continue to change regularly, allowing the determining players to take more minutes of rest and more fit players on the field throughout the game, who can keep the pace of the game high. Of course, this yields more points than if the coach does not have his strong reserve players, and can do little else than give the star players more playing minutes, who therefore have to save their strength.
You can often also bet on the over / under winning by being aware of the type of defense both teams are having in the upcoming match.
A zone defense usually results in a slower game pace than direct man-to-man defense, which also means that less goals are scored by both teams.
It could be that a team adapts the defensive play to the opponent. You could see this right at the start of a match, for example, when a team suddenly defends in zone against their habit, while they normally rarely do. After this, you could quickly place a winning bet on the under before the bookmaker sees the same and adjusts the odds.
In order to do this, you will need to use live betting during the match, more about that below.
In any case, there is a lot to consider when estimating this over / under, which is exactly why this bet is so popular among basketball enthusiasts worldwide. People with a lot of knowledge of the sport can regularly achieve good profits with this.
In addition to the three most popular bets, there are many more bets available from online bookmakers in basketball.
Other popular types of bets in Basketball Betting and NBA Betting
1X2 bets in Basketball Betting
Besides the standard money line bet, there are many more options for betting in the form of a ‘1X2’ bet.
Some examples:
Standings at the end of quarter 1
Standings at the end of quarter 2
Standings at the end of quarter 3
Result at the end of quarter 4
3-way handicap after the first quarter
3-way handicap after the second quarter
3-way handicap after the third quarter
3-way handicap after the fourth quarter
In the standings after every quarter it is of course possible that the teams are tied, which is why you can also bet on the ‘X’. With the 3-way handicap, the bookmaker again gives a team a fixed number of points ahead. Since these are not half points, there are three possible outcomes: 1 (home team), X (tie) and 2 (away team). Hence the name ‘3-way’ handicap.
Totals: Over and under betting in NBA Betting
The over / under on total match points has already been discussed in this article , but over / under bets are of course also available for the number of points after the first, second, third and fourth quarter.
You can also bet on the total number of points of the home team or the away team in the form of an over / under.
Even odd bets
If you like tossing coins, you can also bet whether the total number of points scored (including overtime) will be an odd or even number. There is no real strategy possible here; it is a pure 50-50 proposition, only the bookmaker does collect his commission. We advise you to ignore this bet.
HT / FT: Half time / Full time bets in NBA Betting
The HT / FT bet is ‘borrowed’ from football, but can also bring big winnings in basketball. This is actually a combination bet, in which you predict who will have the lead halfway through the match, and what the score will be after the fourth quarter (so without overtime). This is because you can also bet on an ‘X’ for a tie, so that’s why the score after the fourth quarter is used instead of the final result including overtime.
With an HT / FT bet ‘2/1’, for example, you bet that the away team has a lead halfway through, but that the home team has scored more points after quarter 4, and thus wins the match.
Double Chance in Basketball Betting
In basketball, a ‘double chance’ bet is only available for the score after the first, second, third or fourth quarter, and not for the final score after overtime. Here you can bet on two of the three possible outcomes in a 1X2 bet. The possible bets are 1X, X2, and 12.
For example, a ‘Double Chance 1X’ bet pays out if the home team is ahead at the end of the relevant quarter, but also in the event of a tie.
Invalid in case of draw (Draw No Bet)
A DNB bet also takes the form of a 1X2, but you cannot bet on the ‘X’. If there is a tie, you will get your bet back. As with the Double Chance, you can often place a DNB bet on the position after each of the four quarters, but not on the final position including overtime.
Competition specials in NBA Betting
A common ‘special’ is a 1X2 bet in the following format:
1: Home team wins by at least 6 points difference
2: Away team wins by at least 6 points
X: Any other outcome (difference less than 6 points)
If you’re predicting a match where both teams won’t be out of line, you can use this bet to bet on it.
This bet is usually available as regular 1X2 and also as Double Chance.
Other special bets are the so-called ‘races’, in which you predict which team will score a certain number of points first (for example 5, 10, or 20). You can also bet on which team will score last in the first quarter, or which of the four quarters will be the most scored by both teams together. More of these specials will usually be available at major competitions. This differs per game, so keep an eye on the lobby of your online bookmaker.
Player specials
The most common ‘player special’ is an over / under bet on the total number of points for a particular player in a match. This is of course only available to a select number of players.
Again, the bookmaker sets a ‘line’ here, based on, among other things, his average number of points per game and his current form.
But here too, the avid basketball fan can regularly know more about a particular player than the bookmaker, and must therefore be able to spot a line that is too high or too low – and thus a profitable bet.
Season Bets (Outrights) in NBA Betting
Finally, there are countless seasonal bets to place bets on in basketball, for the performance of teams and individual players. Popular examples are:
Which player will win the MVP trophy
Which player will be ‘Rookie of the Year’
Which player will have the most points per game in the coming season
Which player will have the most rebounds per game in the coming season
Which player will have the most assists per game in the coming season
Will this player be selected for the All Star team (yes / no bet)
Which team will win the championship
Which team will win the Eastern Conference
Which team will win the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference
Which of the two teams will finish higher in their division (head-to-head bet)
Does this team qualify for the Playoffs (yes / no bet)
How many games will this team win in the coming season (over / under bet)
… the possibilities are of course endless.
These bets usually require you to get there very early to get the best odds, so it is often important to follow the pre-season games and especially the draft picks before placing your seasonal bets quickly. . Once the first few games of the season are convincingly won, you won’t be able to make much profit from tipping that team as a division winner or a Conference finalist, as the bookmakers will quickly adjust their odds afterwards.
Live NBA betting and basketball betting
As mentioned, you can use live betting to place a winning bet on the over / under, but there are of course many more options. In our opinion, one of the best bookmakers for live betting is b-Bets.com as they give you special offers for live betting on many NBA games, especially during the playoff and championship season.