Online Gambling - Sportsbooks

Basketball Betting

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Millions of people enjoying playing the game, and even more like to watch basketball games on television and bet on the results.

The American National Basketball Association by far the most popular basketball league in the world, and is home to some of the highest paid athletes in sports. But it may surprise you to hear that the most bet on leagues are actually the NCAA and European competitions. The Australian NBL and the Olympic Games and World Championships also attract significant betting interest.

Types of Basketball Bets

Most basketball bets placed are attempting to predict the outcome of the game.

In the United States especially, points spread betting is a very popular type of bet on basketball games. It is also known as betting the 'line' or the 'spread'. The sportsbooks will set a 'line', by estimating how many points the game will be decided.

For example the line or 'points spread' on a Lakers versus Celtics game in Los Angeles may be set at -8.5, with the Lakers as favorite. This means the sportsbook is predicting that the Lakers should win at home by roughly nine points. If you bet on the Lakers at -8.5, then they need to win by 9 points or more for you to win your bet.

Often the Celtics would then be listed as +8.5, meaning they have to get within at least 8 points of the Lakers for you to win a bet placed on them.

Setting this points spread is referred to as 'handicapping'. The sportsbooks will have oddsmakers on staff that study the form of all basketball teams and players in order to accurately predict the outcomes of upcoming games.

Money Line Betting is also popular with basketball punters. This is simply betting on the winner of the game. The sportsbook will set odds before the game which represent each team's chance of winning. For example the moneline on a particular game may be;

• Lakers -200 | 1.50 | 1/2
• Celtics +170 | 2.50 | 3/2

The odds above are displayed in American, Decimal and European formats, but they all mean the same thing. If you were to place $100 on the Lakers in this game, and they won - you would collect a total of $150.

We also provide a more detailed explanation of sports betting odds, or you can use our sports betting odds conversion calculators to easily display odds in your favorite format.

Now that you know the basic types of basketball bets, you should read our basketball betting tips or, to start betting on basketball games right now, choose one of our recommended online sportsbooks.