What are the Betting markets in NBA?
Sports betting has long been a popular way of adding thrill to your favorite sports. But unlike the olden days when the only betting option was to predict the winner, there are lots of betting markets available today. You can still place a wager on who you think will win, but you can also make things even more exciting by using NBA player prop predictions to wager on things such as how many points a specific player will score or the team that will score first.
In this guide, we’ll explore the different betting markets you can consider when you start betting on the NBA.
Moneyline Betting
If you are looking for a straightforward entry point to the world of NBA betting, this is the easiest place to start. In moneyline betting, you simply select the team you think is going to win. You don’t need to consider how many points it will win by or any other intricacies.
Generally, one of the two teams will be assigned as the underdog. This is the team with the lower odds of winning, and it usually has the higher odds. If you pick the favorite, your risk will be lower, but your winnings will also be smaller, and vice versa. In moneyline betting, the odds will generally be expressed as +200 for the underdog and – 150 for the favorite. The former will win you $100 in profit if you place and win a $100 bet, while the latter will need you to bet $150 to win $100 in profit.
Point Spread Betting
The points bookmakers assign to a favorite may be too low. So how about predicting how many points the team will win by? This is essentially what points spread betting is. In a way, it tries to balance the playing field as it gives the underdog an advantage and the favorite a deficit. For the favorite to win, they have to overcome that deficit.
The bet itself is usually expressed using a single number for both teams. For example, when the Los Angeles Lakers are playing the New York Knicks, the point spread may be given as Lakers -5.5 and Knicks +5.5. If you bet on the Lakers, you will need them to win by at least 6 points to win your bet. And if you’ve wagered on the Knicks, they can lose the game by up to 5 points or win outright for you to win your bet.
Over/Under (Totals) Betting
If you don’t want to predict the winner, you can bet on the points you think both teams will score. This bet type doesn’t take into consideration the strength of the teams, just how many points they can score. The result is based on the cumulative points.
Typically, a sportsbook will set a line, or a total, that you can then work with. For example, in a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, we can have the line set at 215.5 points. You can then predict whether the combined points will be higher or lower than this.
Futures Betting
Futures betting allows bettors to look at the entire season or a huge chunk of it. Instead of looking at the specific games, you consider what might happen, such as who will win the championship. Other options include conference/division winners, award winners, and the over/under totals for a team’s regular-season wins.
Game & Player Prop Bets
Instead of considering the game as a whole, you can also break it into specific items. Basically, prop bets are a wager on specific events of the game, and they don’t take into consideration the result of the game.
There are both game props and player props. In the former, there are things such as the first team to score, the highest-scoring quarter, and whether a game will go to overtime. Player props have options such as the number of points scored, the rebounds/assists, and the first/last player to score.
NBA Live Betting
Unlike regular bets that only allow you to place your bet before the game starts, live betting lets you make decisions while the game is ongoing. Here, you get to watch the game and then make a quick decision. You’ll get a variety of markets that include point spreads, moneylines, totals, and various prop bets. All these will allow you to put a stake in the game and make watching it more exciting.
