BASKETBALL BETTING
If you've come to this page wanting to know about betting on basketball, I'm going to asume that you know all about the game of basketball already. If not then Wikipedia, or NBA.com are both good places to start.
Most basketball bets depend on the outcome of the game. The two most common bets are the result and the line. To bet on the result, means you are simply picking the winner of the game. The sportsbook will offer odds which represent the chances of each team winning. For exampe if the odds are $1.40, that means that for every $1 you bet on the outcome, you will receive $1.40 back if your bet wins.
Betting on the line is also known as spread betting or betting on the team to 'cover'. Each team will be given a plus or minus points rating. For example if the Lakers were playing the Celtics, the line may look like this
Lakers -4.5
Celtics +4.5
That means that the Lakers need to win by more than 5 points for them to cover the spread. At the end of the game you would simply take the number of points the Lakers scored, and subtract 5 points. (well 4.5 points actually, but there are no half points in basketball - hence why the line is usually in half point units - to avoid ties)
If the Lakers, with the 4.5 points removed still had more points that the Celtics, then they have covered the spread, and if you had of bet on them - you would have won.
If however the Celtics only lost by 1 point, that would mean they had covered the spread, in losing by less than 4.5 points.
It's a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but once you understand the basic prinicpals of spread betting, it is great fun. It turns even the most boring games into an excisting contest, because often you will end up cheering for the bench scrubs in garbage time, begging them to score one more bucket so you cover the points required.
Go give it a try at Bodog, and have fun with your basketball bets!
