NBA offers a plethora of betting opportunities to newbies and professional bettors alike. NBA betting can be quite exciting and lucrative with tons of bets, a packed schedule, and endless action.
This article highlights everything you need to know before starting your NBA betting experience. The goal is to prime you for a profitable sports betting experience by teaching you the basics, effective strategies and granting you access to relevant resources.
Choosing The Best Sports Betting Site
Your online sports betting experience will greatly depend on the sportsbook that you sign up with. With thousands of online bookies on the market, you must choose the best site for your gambling needs.
Different bookmakers rank for different reasons. As such, you must conduct thorough research to find the one that accommodates all your needs. When assessing an online sportsbook, factors to consider include welcome bonuses, payment methods, availability of odds, mobile-friendliness, customer support, and data security.
The Most Popular NBA Bets
In the past, basketball betting was as simple as predicting the winning team. However, sports betting has evolved over the years, becoming more complex than just picking the winner. To make informed bets, it is important that you keep tabs on current events by following NBA betting news.
Below are the most popular basketball bets that you will find at most bookmaker sites:
Spread Bets
Spread bets in basketball betting are offered as a way to even out the odds between the favorites and the underdogs. The favorite is assigned a specific number of points as a handicap, and the underdog a specific number of points as a head start.
If you bet on a favorite to win, the team must beat the underdog by more points than the attached handicap. For a bet on an underdog to win, they must lose by a total that is less than the attached head start. A bet on an underdog will also win when the team wins the match.
Over/Under & Totals Markets
In the Totals market, you are essentially betting on whether the total points scored in a specific match will be either over or under a predetermined line that’s set by the sportsbook.
For instance, if you are betting on over 226.5 total points in a specific match, your bet will only win when both teams’ combined scores are higher than 226.5.
Player Prop Bets
These are bets placedpredicting how specific players perform during a match. Player prop bets are popular among NBA betting fans because they allow them to forego focusing on the match’s outcome.
The Player prop betting market is quite broad, with several wagering options. Some of the most common betting options include:
- Total assists
- Total points scored
- Total turnovers
- Total steals and blocks
- Total assists and rebounds
Parlay Betting
Parlay bets come with multiple picks from different games or singular games where the sportsbook has allowed parlay betting. An NBA parlay bet would look somewhat like this:
Parlay Bet Odds
Nets, Warriors, and 76er’s to win +500
In that case, all the three teams must win for your bet to win. If two of the teams win and one loses, your bet will lose.
Live or In-Play Betting
Also known as in-play betting, live betting allows you a chance to place bets when the match is still ongoing. This way, you can take time to assess how the game is playing out before staking your money on any team.
For instance, if the Miami Heat is -130 to beat the Denver Nuggets before the match and the Nuggets are 20 points up after the first quarter, you can bet on Miami to win at the improved odds if you are confident in the team winning.
Reliable NBA Betting Resources
Since you do not want to make random bets like the average Joe, consider relying on the following resources for odds picking.
Free NBA Picks
The sports betting space is getting competitive by the day. There are numerous reliable sites that offer generous and lucrative free NBA picks to beginners and professional bettors. These sites will provide you with great tips and insights that will inform your picks.
Free pick suggestions give a closer look at what the professionals are plotting. This means an analysis of the match, including insights into top players, previous competitions, and other impactful statistics.
In the long run, you will begin to spot the patterns and correlations, hence developing your odds picking strategy.
NBA Computer Generated Picks
Besides expert picks mentioned above, you can also rely on picks generated using advanced artificial intelligence. Computer picks are the end product of a deep analysis of thousands of different factors and statistics.
When fed with the right data, AI is more likely to make accurate predictions of the outcome of the specific match. The greatest upside to computer picks is that they improve over time, thanks to machine learning.
Betting News
To have a profitable NBA betting experience, you will have to keep up with current events. With a great understanding of what is happening in the league, you will know where to place your bets.
Keeping up with NBA news will also help identify betting opportunities in advance, hence giving you enough time to make the best picks. There are numerous channels that air NBA related news. The best practice is to compare news from different news outlets.
Sports Betting Blogs
In addition to being up to date with the news, you can also seek additional information from reliable basketball betting blogs. Such blogs offer vital supplementary content that goes beyond current events.
Blogs address everything from analyzing divisional matchups to betting strategies comparison.
A Summary of NBA Betting
Sports betting, especially NBA betting, offers a thrilling gambling experience to beginners and professional bettors alike. With a wide range of betting markets and a plethora of resources, you can confidently make profitable wagers.
If you ever experience challenges, you can always refer back to this guide to enhance your NBA betting experience. Following the tip outlined above will help you build a sustainable betting strategy. It will also help you avoid common pitfalls that most newbies succumb to. In our parting shot, remember to bet responsibly, and best of luck!
