How to Bet on Basketball Games
Hoops betting action, whether it’s the pros or college ball is overwhelmed by point spread betting. That’s not the only action available though. There’s also moneyline, totals and futures. If you need a tutorial to avoid putting up bricks we’ve got you covered.
Point Spread
Most basketball bettors live on point spread betting. It’s by far the most popular basketball bet on the board. In point spread betting the sportsbooks assigns their favored team a certain number of points they must win by in order to cover the spread. This number is of course the spread. Basically the favored team is beginning the game down by the spread and must win by more than this number to cover and win the game for bettors. Here’s how a point spread looks at an online sportsbook.
Chicago Bulls +4.5
Miami Heat -4.5
In this example the Heat are a 4.5-point favorite, while the Bulls are a 4.5-point underdog. When a game is listed, the team with the minus odds is the favorite and the team with the plus odds in the underdog. To cover the spread the Heat must win the game by at least five points because they are essentially starting the game down 4.5 points to Chicago.
Let’s say the Heat win the game by a score of 100-94. In this case anyone betting on Miami has a winning bet because they won by 6 points and have covered the 4.5-point spread. If Miami won the game by a score of 100-97 then bettors with money on the Heat would lose their bet because with a 3-point win Miami failed to cover the 4.5-point spread. However, in this case anyone betting on the Bulls would win their wager. Since Chicago is a 4.5-point underdog they do not have to win the game outright to bettor to win their bet. The Bulls only have to lose by less than 5 points.
Moneyline
When you’re betting the moneyline there is no spread to contend with. A bettor wagering on the moneyline only has to select the outright winner with no spread to cover. However, the lack of a spread means there are different odds to contend with. This is what a moneyline looks like at an online sportsbook.
Chicago Bulls +180
Miami Heat -220
The Heat are still the favorite, but on the moneyline they are a -220 favorite. What does that mean? It means that you must bet $220 to win $100 on a bet on the Heat. Since Miami is favored to win you must risk more money with less reward for the bet to balance out at the sportsbooks. On the other side, the Bulls are a +180 underdog which means you would win $180 profit on a $100 bet. Since the Bulls are expected to lose you are already risking more by betting on them so your potential reward is higher.
Totals
When you are betting the total the outcome of the game does not matter. All that is how many points are scored.
For each game the sportsbooks sets a certain number known as the total. The bettors must decide whether the combined score from both sides in the game will go Over or Under this posted total.
For example say the Bulls and Heat are playing and the posted total is 200.5. If the final score is 100-99 then anyone who net the Under would be paid because 100+99=199 which is Under 200.5. If the final score was 102-100 anyone who bet the Over would be paid because 102+100=202 which is Over 200.5.
Futures
A future bet, like the name says, is a wager on an event somewhere in the future. This could be next week or it could be next year. A few examples of basketball futures include NBA Championship futures, NCAA March Madness Futures, NBA MVP futures and NBA Draft futures.
The most popular basketball futures are betting on the NBA Championship and betting on the NCAA Madness champion. Both can be highly profitable bets if an underdog surprises and wins the title. This occurred in both the NBA and the NCAA last year with Dallas and Connecticut finishing on top.
Before last season began the Mavericks would have paid handsomely to any clairvoyant bettors as a 15/1 underdog on the NBA futures. Uconn was an even bigger underdog on the early NCAAB futures last year, checking in at 40/1.
