NBA BASKETBALL BETTING

NBA basketball betting offers seven different types of betting: sides, totals, moneylines, first half wagers, second half wagers, proposition bets, and futures wagering.

NBA basketball sides looks like this:

Portland -9
Toronto +9

This means that if you take Portland to cover the spread, the Trailblazers would need to win by 10 or more in order for you to cover your bet. If the final margin was to land on Portland winning by 9, the game would be a tie. If you are to take Toronto at +9, this essentially means that Toronto must either win the game or lose by as many but not more than eight points for you to cover your bet. If the game were to land on Toronto losing by 9 points, the wager would be a push and all wagers would be refunded. You may also see games with half points added to their spread which makes it impossible for a spread to tie.

NBA Totals look like this:

Over 212.5
Under 212.5

Totals can vary from very low to very high. In the example given above, if you are to place a wager on the OVER, both teams combined scores must exceed 212.5 meaning you need 213 or more in order to cover your over wager. If you take the under, both teams combined scores added together must add up to less than 212 points to cover the wager and be paid as a winning bet.

NBA Moneyline wagers look something like this:

New Jersey Nets -400
Toronto Raptors +320

This type of wager is one based on a team winning a game. There is NO point spread involved in moneyline wagers. If you were to bet on the New Jersey Nets at -400, all your saying is that you want New Jersey to win the game by 1 point or more. In order to place this bet you will need to lay $400 to win (profit) $100. (or $40 to profit $10). If your to bet the Toronto Raptors, you would lay (risk) $100 to profit $320. Toronto would need to win the game by one point or more (su = straight up) in order for your wager to be paid as a winning bet.

NBA basketball first half wagers may look something like this:

Portland -4.5
Toronto +4.5

A first half wager is the same as a side wager, however the only part of the game that counts in this bet is the first and second quarter of the game. Once the half-time buzzer rings, this bet is over and the point spread winner is determined.

NBA basketball second half wagers are the same as first half wagers except only the third and fourth quarters are used to determine the winner of the bet. Second half wagers must be placed at half-time of a game. Most online sportsbooks offer this wagering option on TV games at the very least and some online sportsbooks even offer second half wagers on ALL NBA basketball games!

NBA proposition bets may look something like this:

Vince Carter to score 32.5 or more -110
Vince Carter to score 32.5 or less -110

This is self explanatory, your either betting on Vince Carter to score more than 32.5 or less than 32.5 and laying -110 odds ($110 to win $100). Not all online sportsbooks offer proposition wagers but they can be found at solid sportsbooks such as Olympic Sportsbook and many more.

NBA futures wagers may look something like this:

Los Angeles Lakers 2-1 to win the NBA Championship
San Antonio Spurs 4-1 to win the NBA Championship
New Jersey Nets 7-1 to win the NBA Championship

If you were to bet on the Lakers to win the NBA Championship you'd be betting $100 to profit $200. If you bet on the Spurs you'd be betting $100 to profit or win $400. Lastly, if you bet on the Nets at 7-1 odds, you'd be betting $100 to win or profit $700. These types of wagers should only be placed for fun do to the odds being so poor and your chances of winning being very low.

Have questions regarding NBA basketball sportsbooks? Feel free to drop us a line and one of our friendly customer service reps will be more than happy to assist you!