Most basketball betting fans who are just starting out will likely make bets on the outcome of a match. These match bets simply offer the punter the chance to back a winner. Because there are no draws in basketball, this is the easiest way to get used to basketball betting. You either back the home team (1) to win, or the away team (2).
Games that finish level after the fourth quarter go to overtime, where a winner will be decided. Therefore, basketball betting markets will usually offer players a match bet including overtime, to cover for that eventuality.
Handicap betting is huge in basketball because of the way the scoring works. A handicap can work in two ways: either the underdog team is given hypothetical extra points at the beginning of the game, or the favourite has points taken off their tally. Doing this evens out the odds and makes betting on an uneven match far more competitive.
Let us give you an example:
In a match between Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers we offer you a ‘Handicap – Including Overtime’ bet, where Golden State will win by at least six points (-5.5) or the Lakers don’t lose with more than five points (+5.5). If you bet on the Warriors with the handicap, and they win by seven points, you win — it’s as simple as that. Handicap betting gives the player a chance to get higher odds, or make a risky bet a safer one.
Over/under bets are also hugely popular in NBA betting. Again, this is because there are sometimes over 220 points scored in a single game. It means players face little chance of predicting the correct score, or the total number of points. So an over/under market is offered instead.
In over/under bets, a player bets on whether or not the game will produce more or fewer points than a specific target. So, you could bet on a Pistons vs Bucks game yielding +190.5 points. If 191 points are scored, you win your bet. As the average number of points scored in an NBA game is around 180 and 220, most over/under bets have odds around these points.
You can also bet on the first quarter result, as well as the first half result. So if you think a team will start brightly but may not have enough to secure the win, then this is the sort of bet where you can improve your chances of winning a bet. It works like a match bet, where you back the team (1 or 2) you think will be leading at the first quarter or at half time.
Player specific bets are also big in basketball — usually because each team has one star man. For example, you may wish to back Luka Doncic to top score for his team during a specific game. Doncic is a formidable point guard and the Slovenian’s odds on top scoring in a match could be very low indeed. Top scorer betting remains popular in basketball and is a great way to follow a player you like, even if you don’t support their team!