Basketball Odds Explained

Posted : admin On 7/25/2022
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If you need the NBA betting odds explained to you so that you know that you are making the right bets, this is the page for you. The staff at ExplainBettingOdds.com loves to bet on the NBA and we are happy to help others understand how the betting lines work. The NBA plays 82 games during the regular season, plus a rather lengthy postseason. These all present a number of opportunities to bet on the NBA. Oddsmakers and online sportsbooks form a ton of NBA betting lines throughout the course of the season. And there are even odds up when the season is not in play. With the accessibility of betting odds for sports at bettor's fingertips, thanks to online sportsbooks and the wide use of the Internet, sports betting has really taken off. The NBA is one of the most popular sports in the world, with basketball being played all over. So it only makes sense that the NBA would be one of the leaders when it comes to oddsmakers forming lines. Here on this page, it is our goal to inform you about the basic betting lines you will see for NBA games, and throughout the course of the NBA Season. This way, you can go into an online sportsbook equipped with the knowledge about what they are offering, and whether you think it is a good line to take advantage of with a wager.

  1. College Basketball Odds - Live College Basketball Betting Lines. 04 February, 2021 - Compare and find the best College Basketball spreads and lines anywhere on the internet!
  2. Dec 23, 2016 Basketball Betting Odds Details Explained Updated: Basketball online match betting has many markets available that are similar to American Football, soccer and ice-hockey gambling. Because basketball has 4 quarters there are many markets available both for the final result of the match and for individual period and half-time results.

Jul 12, 2019 The same general rules apply for basketball and are quite easy to follow because of the inherent simplicity of the bet. When it comes to betting sports like baseball and hockey, the standard bets are made on the “ money line ” – an established number for both teams to win the game outright. Half betting odds in college basketball are formed for games during the season, and operate just as the normal wager on a point spread. The only difference is that the bet will be made only on one half. These half lines are typically divided in two, but sometimes can be a bit different from the point spread for the whole game.

NBA Point Spreads Explained

For every game on the NBA schedule, oddsmakers will install what is known as a point spread. A point spread establishes a favorite in the game, which is the team predicted to win, and an underdog in the game, which is the team predicted to lose. But not every point spread is the same. Oddsmakers might think that one favorite is bigger than another. They will install a spread according to how much the favorite should win by, where the favorite will have to give points away. And while the favorite gives points away, the underdog receives the points. This essentially evens the hypothetical playing field, as in real life the teams obviously do not give or take points from each other. This is only done for betting the spread purposes. Once the spread is set, a wager can be made on either team covering that line. For the favorite, it's a bet to win by more than the spread. For the underdog, it's to lose by less than the number, or win the game outright.

NBA Quarter Betting Odds Explained

There are also what are known as quarter betting lines for the NBA. These operate just like point spreads for the whole game, only broken up into the 12 minute quarters. These Lines are obviously much closer than the overall game line, but wagers are made on teams covering the spreads.

Explanation Of How To Read 1st Half NBA Odds

A first half wager is made on the betting line which is installed for the first half of play only. This line will most likely be cut in half from the overall game line, or right around there. The bet is made on which team will cover by the time the first half is over. Once it gets to half time, this betting line is over and the rest of the game has no effect on this outcome.

NBA Moneylines Explained

Betting the moneyline is another form of a straight wager. Though instead of a point spread, the moneyline bet is placed on the team to win the game straight up, with no spread involved. If you think the Magic will beat the Hawks, bet on Orlando without a point spread. Sounds pretty easy right? Well it definitely is an easy wager to make. However, because of the fact that it is technically easier to win a bet on the moneyline, the payouts are a lot different. You will have to risk a lot more on a favorite to win versus an underdog, and the profit is not very high. However, a bet on the underdog on the moneyline could be very profitable, because their chances of winning the game straight up are less.

NBA Over / Unders + Game Totals Explained

The third part of the basic game lines installed for every matchup is betting on the Over / Under odds. Here, oddsmakers set down a total for the combined score that the two teams will put up in the game. The bet is then made on the actual total for the game going over or under that mark. You simply add up the total of the two teams score, and then compare it to what you bet and see if you won. Payouts for this bet are right around even money.

NBA Team Props

NBA Team prop betting odds are formulated for the match ups throughout the course of the season, but can also be odds formed relating to the season. As for the games, NBA team props can cover a range of topics. An example of an NBA team prop might be, 'which team will score 20 points first?' This bet is then placed, and the team that reaches 20 points first will win. From there, the rest of the game doesn't relate to this wager. Think of NBA Team props are smaller wagers within the game, though as far as money placed on these props it can be just as much as a point spread wager on the game.

NBA Player Props

NBA Player props are bets formed on players based on their performances in a game or on the season as a whole. As for the game player props, they can be a number of different things, usually revolving around points scored, rebounds, steals, assists and other stats accumulated for a game. The bets will be on the over or under for a player's statistics. For example, the total number of points that LeBron James will score against the Celtics on any given night. The bet will be made on James scoring more or less than the installed line.

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How Live Betting NBA Odds Work

Live betting is a lot of fun for the NBA. With a number of games each week, live betting during the NBA season can be quite active as well. Not every online sportsbook offers live betting, but the majority of them do. When it comes to the NBA, live betting can feature a bunch of different lines, including alternate game spreads, team props, and player props. Online sportsbooks will list which games are available to bet live, and which games are on the schedule coming up.

NBA Championship Futures Odds Explained

From the moment that the NBA championship from the previous year is won, NBA Championship futures odds for the upcoming season are formed. These odds are formed on the teams betting lines to win the championship. They stay up all season long, going into and through the regular season where we could see a lot of changes depending on the performances of teams.

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Of the four major sports, basketball is one of the easiest to bet on. Along with football, basketball uses the point spread for wagering on sides (teams), as well as an over/under number. If you know how to bet on football, you already pretty much know how to bet on basketball. However, to help out beginners we will have the most important basketball odds explained.

The most common method of betting basketball involves the point spread. This is a handicap the sportsbooks impose on one team to make both teams equal in terms of betting. With the point spread, the team expected to win will be called the favorite. However, the team expected to lose will be called the underdog. The team expected to win gives or lays, points to the team expected to lose for betting purposes.

Totals Betting

The second most popular method of wagering on basketball is in betting totals, also known as over/unders. Essentially, a total is the predicted combined score of the two teams playing. A number will be posted, and bettors have the option of wagering more than the predicted total points will be scored (over), or less than the predicted total points will be scored (under).

In our hypothetical game between the Knicks and the Celtics, the over/under number might be 188. Bettors wagering on the over would win their bets if the total combined score were 189 or greater, while bettors wagering on the under would win their bets if the combined total score were 187 or fewer points. Again, if the combined score is exactly 188 points, the bet is considered a push, or a tie, and no money changes hands.

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NBA Over/Under Betting

Bookies always set a number that represents how many points the teams will combine to score in the game, called the Over/Under, or O/U. You simply pick whether the final score will be greater than (over) or less than (under) the number the odds-makers set. You can’t talk about basketball odds explained without totals betting. Here is an example:

Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat – OVER/UNDER 190.5

Remember that over/under bets will also always have some kind of vigorish (usually -110), so be sure to take that into account when placing this type of wager.

To determine what the scoreboard will look like after 4 quarters, take a look at schedules and injury reports for each side. If a team is in midst of a long road trip or suffering from injuries, they are more likely to have a slow-paced, half-court offense worked into their game plan. But if they’re coming in with fresh legs and/or playing at home, you can expect a lot more running than usual. It’s never a sure-fire prediction, but it’ll help get you above 50% accuracy.

Another scenario that leads to more fast-break basketball is when a coach is trying to play his team into shape in the earliest stretch of the preseason or regular season. However, that tends to happen more often in prep and NCAA basketball than in pro action.

Also, be sure to investigate both squads’ tendencies in “garbage” time. When a contest is a blow-out, pro coaches like to substitute their bench onto the floor. Depending on what type of youngsters are playing out the minutes and who is coaching them, there could be a lot of running – or a more low-scoring half-court game.

Moneyline Betting

While betting against the point spread or on totals make up the vast majority of basketball wagers, bettors also have several other betting options available to them. One is the moneyline wager, which is a bet on the winner of the game without the point spread. But because some teams are given a better than 50-percent chance of winning, moneyline wagers are made using odds, so that if you bet on the team expected to win you will be asked to risk considerably more than you stand to win.

The moneyline odds on a game will look something like:

  • Boston Celtics -300
  • New York Knicks +240

What this means is that bettors taking the Celtics are asked to put up $30 to win $10, while those believing the Knicks will win are asked to risk $10 to win $24.

All sports betting was done with moneylines at one point, but with too many people betting on the obvious favorites all of the time, the point spread was introduced, and sports betting hasn’t been the same since.

Basketball Odds Nba

Basketball Odds Explained: Betting on the Spread

If the Celtics are playing the Knicks, most bettors would bet on the Celtics to win the game. But say the point spread will make the Celtics a 10-point favorite. What this means is that the Celtics have to win by 11 or more points for its bettors to win their bet, while those betting on the Knicks would win their wagers if the Knicks won the game or lost by nine points or less. If the Celtics win by exactly 10 points, the bet is a push or a tie, and no money changes hands.

When betting against the point spread, bettors are asked to lay 11-to-10 odds, which means that they risk $11 to win $10. This is how the bookies and sportsbooks make their money. If I bet $11 on the Celtics and you bet $11 on the Knicks, the bookie collects $22 between us, but only returns $21 to the winner. The extra dollar is essentially the bookie’s fee for accepting our wagers. Spread betting is otherwise known as handicap betting. You can check our basketball handicap section to learn more about that. Additionally, check the Coinbet24 blog to learn more about Handicap Betting.

Betting the NBA Against the Spread

Let’s start off with an example of a pro hoops game with the point spread listed:

Basketball

Chicago Bulls +6 (-110)
LA Lakers -6 (-110)

In these lines, Los Angeles is a 6-point favorite over the Chicago Bulls. Remember, the team with the minus (-) sign is the favorite. The number listed after is how many points they are favored by. That means you could bet on L.A. to best their opponent. However, they must prevail in the contest by more than 6 points for your wager to pay off.

If the Lakers prevail by less than 6 points, your bet would be a loser. If Los Angeles prevails by exactly 6 points, your wager would be a “push” or tie, meaning your wager would be nullified.

On the other side of the ledger is Chicago at +6. This means the Bulls are “getting” 6 points (or are 6-point underdogs). A wager on Chicago would score for you if the Bulls either prevail outright, or lose by less than 6 points (e.g. Bulls 101, Lakers 105 would give you a winning bet if you took the Bulls +6).

The next number, after the point spread, represents the “vigorish,” or juice, that the book requires to place your bet. In the example above, both numbers are -110 (which is fairly typical). This means you must wager $110 to win $100 (or $55 to win $50, etc.). However, this number does change on occasion, so be sure you check it before placing a wager.

Basketball Odds Explained: Bitcoin Betting

Basketball odds explained predictionsExplained

When betting on basketball, it’s important to look for the best markets and odds on the most popular leagues. This includes the NBA, NCAAB, EuroLeague, and international tournaments like the World Cup or the EuroCup. This is why we suggest visiting Coinbet24, an online sports betting and casino operator. We hope that our basketball odds explained article shares enough information on the matter.

Conversely, the best place to place basketball bets is on a bitcoin sportsbook like Coinbet24.. The bitcoin sportsbook offers odds and markets from the most popular basketball leagues in the world. You will find markets from the NBA, NCAAB, Euroleague, Eurocup, FIBA Europe Cup, etc. Additionally, there are markets from almost every national basketball league in the world.

The Coinbet24 bitcoin sportsbook offers a broad selection of betting types when it comes to basketball. You will find all standard bet types like moneyline (including OT) bets, several different totals score bets, handicap bets (including OT), etc. There is a wide selection of special bitcoin basketball betting offers as well.