Despite the NBA’s popularity, not everyone knows how to start betting on their favorite team.

So if you want to bet on the NBA, whether you’re a rookie who wants to get a head start or a pro-NBA bettor looking for the latest NBA odds, we are here to help you with guides.

The NBA Betting Guide

Some bettors start placing their bets during the offseason, when players are being drafted, or during the free-agency period.

Others wait for the action on the court to start placing their bets during the regular season and playoffs when the NBA hype is at its greatest, and basketball fans are excited to rally behind their team.

You can bet on the NBA in person, through a mobile app, or on sports betting websites in various states.

Before placing your bets, check out the betting options you can use to make this year’s NBA season more exciting.

Moneyline Bets

If you’re going for a straight-up bet, then Moneyline is for you.

It’s very simple. You just have to pick a team that you think will win the game and bet on it. If the team you bet on wins, then bookmakers will compensate you for winning. A bookmaker or sportsbook is the one who takes bets, gives payouts, and calculates the odds.

These odds are the numbers that represent the likelihood of a particular team winning. The bookmaker offers them, so you can decide which team to bet on— the favorite or the underdog.

When you look at these odds, notice the numbers with the (-) negative and (+) positive signs. 

The team with a (-) sign in their odds means that it is favored to win the game, while the team with the (+) sign odds is the underdog or the team predicted as less likely to succeed.

In Moneyline betting, the payout for each bet depends on the Moneyline odds assigned to that team.

Here’s an example for you to better understand Moneyline betting:

• Let’s say that Team A has odds of +150, while the odds for Team B are -150.

Looking at these examples, we know that Team A is the underdog and Team B is the favorite because of the (+) and (-) signs.

If you bet $100 on Team A (underdog) with +150 odds, you can win $150 plus your original bet amount, which is $100. Your total payout will then be $250. But if you bet on Team B (favorite), you have to bet $150 to win a profit of $100.

Placing a bet on the underdog will give you higher payouts than your original stake compared to betting on the favorite, which gives you a lesser payout.

Compute your payouts faster with our odds calculator, or, if you’re into math, you can use the following formulas instead:

For the team with (+) odds:

• Potential Payout = Your stake x (Odds/100) + your stake

For the team with (-) odds:

• Potential Payout = Your stake / (Odds/100) + your stake

Point Spread Bets

Point spread bets focus on the final scores of the team.

With this type of bet, you don’t just choose who you think will win the game. You also bet on the winning or losing team’s projected point difference.

Bookmakers set the point spreads (betting lines) or the estimated score difference for each team. Once the point spread has been established, the favored team should win by more than the set point spread. Meanwhile, the underdog should win the game outright or lose by less than the number of points in the spread.

To illustrate this more clearly, let’s say that +7.5 point spread odds were set for the Toronto Raptors and -7.5 for the Boston Celtics. With this spread, you can see that the Celtics are the favorite, and the Raptors are the underdogs.

Let’s say you bet on the Celtics. If the Celtics win by 8 points, they cover the spread, and you win the bet. If you bet on the Raptors and lose by 5 points, they still cover the spread, and you win your bet!

Even if the Raptors lose the game, if they lose by 7 points or fewer, they still cover the spread. You may be wondering why the spread is set with a 0.5 difference. This is called a half-point line.

Half-point lines are set to avoid situations where the final score equates to the same spread set. In the example above, a spread set at 7.5 means that the underdog still covers the spread with up to a 7-point margin of victory. An 8-point margin of success will be an against the spread (ATS) victory for the favorite.

Frequently, handicapping is used with point spread betting. Handicaps balance the bets between the favored team and the underdog.

Over/Under Bets

Like point spread bets, in over/under betting, the bookmaker sets a total number of points from both teams playing the game.

You can bet on whether the total score at the end of the game goes under or over the number set by the bookmaker.

Over/under bets are also called totals bets.

Parlay Bets

In parlay betting, you collectively bet on several different bets.

Look at it this way: as a bettor, you put your money on several individual bets, but you only win when all of your bets win.

This betting type is riskier but can result in a much larger profit.

Proposition Bets

Prop bets or proposition bets are bets made on events unrelated to the game’s final outcome.

They can be about a specific player’s performance or a situation that may happen during the game. Basketball fans who follow a particular player may enjoy this type of bet because a  player’s total points, rebounds, or assists can be bet on during this bet.

Futures Bets

As the name implies, futures bets involve the outcome of future games. They are not limited to a particular game and can span throughout the season.

Futures are done when you want to bet on who will be the next NBA champion or the season’s MVP.

Live Betting

Unlike the other betting types, live betting is done during the actual game. This real-time option allows you to place bets on the ongoing basketball action without overthinking the odds.

The key to live betting is to quickly place your bets because of this betting type’s fast-paced nature.

Bets on halftime lines and a quarter or first-half lines are often made during live betting. In halftime line betting, the bettor decides which team to bet on after the first half.

Quarter or first-half line bets are made during the first half of the game.

With first-half line betting, you make your bet before the game, and the outcome is decided at the end of a quarter. Whoever leads at the set time wins the bet. We will be stopping here for now, but we hope our brief guide will help you get started with NBA betting.

Despite the NBA’s popularity, not everyone knows how to start betting on their favorite team.

So if you want to bet on the NBA, whether you’re a rookie who wants to get a head start or a pro-NBA bettor looking for the latest NBA odds, we are here to help you with guides.

The NBA Betting Guide

Some bettors start placing their bets during the offseason, when players are being drafted, or during the free-agency period.

Others wait for the action on the court to start placing their bets during the regular season and playoffs when the NBA hype is at its greatest, and basketball fans are excited to rally behind their team.

You can bet on the NBA in person, through a mobile app, or on sports betting websites in various states.

Before placing your bets, check out the betting options you can use to make this year’s NBA season more exciting.

Moneyline Bets

If you’re going for a straight-up bet, then Moneyline is for you.

It’s very simple. You just have to pick a team that you think will win the game and bet on it. If the team you bet on wins, then bookmakers will compensate you for winning. A bookmaker or sportsbook is the one who takes bets, gives payouts, and calculates the odds.

These odds are the numbers that represent the likelihood of a particular team winning. The bookmaker offers them, so you can decide which team to bet on— the favorite or the underdog.

When you look at these odds, notice the numbers with the (-) negative and (+) positive signs. 

The team with a (-) sign in their odds means that it is favored to win the game, while the team with the (+) sign odds is the underdog or the team predicted as less likely to succeed.

In Moneyline betting, the payout for each bet depends on the Moneyline odds assigned to that team.

Here’s an example for you to better understand Moneyline betting:

• Let’s say that Team A has odds of +150, while the odds for Team B are -150.

Looking at these examples, we know that Team A is the underdog and Team B is the favorite because of the (+) and (-) signs.

If you bet $100 on Team A (underdog) with +150 odds, you can win $150 plus your original bet amount, which is $100. Your total payout will then be $250. But if you bet on Team B (favorite), you have to bet $150 to win a profit of $100.

Placing a bet on the underdog will give you higher payouts than your original stake compared to betting on the favorite, which gives you a lesser payout.

Compute your payouts faster with our odds calculator, or, if you’re into math, you can use the following formulas instead:

For the team with (+) odds:

• Potential Payout = Your stake x (Odds/100) + your stake

For the team with (-) odds:

• Potential Payout = Your stake / (Odds/100) + your stake

Point Spread Bets

Point spread bets focus on the final scores of the team.

With this type of bet, you don’t just choose who you think will win the game. You also bet on the winning or losing team’s projected point difference.

Bookmakers set the point spreads (betting lines) or the estimated score difference for each team. Once the point spread has been established, the favored team should win by more than the set point spread. Meanwhile, the underdog should win the game outright or lose by less than the number of points in the spread.

To illustrate this more clearly, let’s say that +7.5 point spread odds were set for the Toronto Raptors and -7.5 for the Boston Celtics. With this spread, you can see that the Celtics are the favorite, and the Raptors are the underdogs.

Let’s say you bet on the Celtics. If the Celtics win by 8 points, they cover the spread, and you win the bet. If you bet on the Raptors and lose by 5 points, they still cover the spread, and you win your bet!

Even if the Raptors lose the game, if they lose by 7 points or fewer, they still cover the spread. You may be wondering why the spread is set with a 0.5 difference. This is called a half-point line.

Half-point lines are set to avoid situations where the final score equates to the same spread set. In the example above, a spread set at 7.5 means that the underdog still covers the spread with up to a 7-point margin of victory. An 8-point margin of success will be an against the spread (ATS) victory for the favorite.

Frequently, handicapping is used with point spread betting. Handicaps balance the bets between the favored team and the underdog.

Over/Under Bets

Like point spread bets, in over/under betting, the bookmaker sets a total number of points from both teams playing the game.

You can bet on whether the total score at the end of the game goes under or over the number set by the bookmaker.

Over/under bets are also called totals bets.

Parlay Bets

In parlay betting, you collectively bet on several different bets.

Look at it this way: as a bettor, you put your money on several individual bets, but you only win when all of your bets win.

This betting type is riskier but can result in a much larger profit.

Proposition Bets

Prop bets or proposition bets are bets made on events unrelated to the game’s final outcome.

They can be about a specific player’s performance or a situation that may happen during the game. Basketball fans who follow a particular player may enjoy this type of bet because a  player’s total points, rebounds, or assists can be bet on during this bet.

Futures Bets

As the name implies, futures bets involve the outcome of future games. They are not limited to a particular game and can span throughout the season.

Futures are done when you want to bet on who will be the next NBA champion or the season’s MVP.

Live Betting

Unlike the other betting types, live betting is done during the actual game. This real-time option allows you to place bets on the ongoing basketball action without overthinking the odds.

The key to live betting is to quickly place your bets because of this betting type’s fast-paced nature.

Bets on halftime lines and a quarter or first-half lines are often made during live betting. In halftime line betting, the bettor decides which team to bet on after the first half.

Quarter or first-half line bets are made during the first half of the game.

With first-half line betting, you make your bet before the game, and the outcome is decided at the end of a quarter. Whoever leads at the set time wins the bet. We will be stopping here for now, but we hope our brief guide will help you get started with NBA betting.