How to Place Your NBA Bets

Find top NBA Betting Odds, Scores, Matchups, News and Picks from VegasInsider, along with more pro basketball information to assist your sports handicapping. How to Bet on NBA Games. Getting started on NBA betting means finding the best NBA betting sites. In fact, if you want to make sure to get the best deals on all the markets, it is even a good idea to sign up at more than one. Having all the cards on the table will help you make the best NBA bets.

If you’re into NBA betting, then you’ve got a lot of choices to make as far as which games you bet and which types of bets you make. There are also numerous choices when it comes to which online or Vegas sportsbook at which you decide to wager. Here’s a look at some of the bets you can make, how you should choose your sportsbook and basic Vegas book etiquette.

In looking for a sportsbook, you want to make sure that it’s been around for a while and is reputable. A book that’s been online for a long time, five or more years, is probably doing something right. Locating a good sportsbook is an important part of the wagering process. It does take time and effort to find the book that will fit your needs.

Just because a book has amazing graphics, beautiful swimsuit models and a huge sign up bonus does not mean it’s a great place to bet. Plus, it doesn’t mean that it’s the right book for you. It also doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. How do you decide what site is the one you should join?

A few things that are absolutely necessary are good service, ease of betting and a focus on safety and security. It should be easy to transfer cash in and out and 24/7-service with various modes of communication (live chat, 800-number, email) are basic features. Make sure that the book takes American bettors and that it carries the NBA if you are living in the States. These two features are basic but they are also about as important as it gets.

A book that posts early lines overnight that are soft, that offers reduced juice
(-105 rather than -110, which means less risk) and a range of NBA bets can be a great choice. Some books have reduced juice the night before, others just before the tip off and still others provide bettors with the vigorish reduction all the time.

The fractional odds for this example would be San Antonio at 3/1 and the Decimal conversion would read 4.0. How to Bet NBA Money Line Odds. A majority of NBA games involve point-spreads of single-digits, while games. One of the best features on the NBA Vegas Odds is the Open Line. This numbers consists of the first betting line received from one of our Las Vegas or Global Sportsbooks. The opening line varies. A bet on college basketball isn’t much different from a bet on NBA games. When you bet on college basketball, you get much the same options as with the NBA. Moneylines, spread bets and totals are the most common betting.

Player props, quarter and second half and live betting during the game give you more choices than your standard bets. Do you want those options? What about the minimum bet? Do you want a low minimum? Some allow $10 wagers, while others go down to $5 and some have been known to offer a minimum bet of $1.00. Or maybe you’re a high roller and want to be able to toss $20,000 on a game? Make sure the book meets your requirements.

After you’ve located at least three and preferably five to six sportsbooks, it’s time to find the one that provides you with everything that you want. How important is a sign up bonus to you? Is it more important than early lines? Sign up bonuses takes time and money to clear, whereas early lines with reduced juice offer fine chances to make cash and savings immediately and throughout the year. If odds are a big deal to you, then take a moment to compare various books by clicking to our NBA sportsbook odds page. You’ll get a fine sense of the types of lines and spreads offered by some of the best online books around.

By the way, you’ll usually find big sign up bonuses at newer books looking for new members. Before going for that big 100% match first deposit bonus on $1,000 be sure that you understand how much you’ll have to wager before you can get that extra $1,000. It could be $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 or even more.

You may decide to bet at various books. That’s fine. In order to do so, you’ll need to set up and fund accounts at each. Joining an online book is fairly easy. It involves visiting the website, filling out a form with some personal information and depositing money into your account.

It does not take a lot of time to do this, but it’s best to do it sooner than later. If you don’t already have an eWallet, it can take a few days to set one up or if you’re planning on funding your account via wire transfer that can also take a few days. By the way, once you start betting you want to make sure that your account is fully funded for the weekend since at that time there’s a large slate of games on which you can bet.

Once you’ve joined the site and have funded your account, it’s time to check out the latest NBA betting odds on the site and start making some choices. Each site is different. Some demand that bettors do some extra navigating when going from making basic spread and totals bets to props.

If you’re in Vegas and you decide to go to a sportsbook, you’ll find that the overall process of wagering is the same as it is online. However, the fact that you’re placing your bet with a live person and there are many sports bettors around you makes the task a bit different. The fact is you don’t want to look like a beginner around other bettors and that means you have to be able to navigate the book with ease.

If you don’t know what the rotation number is, how to read the spread, line or totals or what a prop bet is, then you need to do your homework and learn what all of these things are and how they work. At a land-based book you need to be able to make your bet without wasting the time of other bettors or the sportsbook personnel.

Before placing your bet, it is essential that you understand the process. When placing your wager use the rotation number and not the team name; you’ll also need to acknowledge what type of bet you’re making and for how much. Know all of this before going to the window to bet so that you’re not holding up those people behind you waiting to wager or wasting the bookie’s time.

By the way, whether you win or lose, you need to exhibit good sportsmanship and follow some etiquette. If you win and the lines maker gave you solid advice on the bet, then it’s common practice to tip him 1-2%. Thus, if you win a substantial amount, such as $500, then tipping the bookmaker $5-$10 is the right thing to do.

It is bad manners to ask someone how they did, or to offer advice when not asked, and to brag about winning. All of these behaviors can really rub losers, winners and those who like privacy the wrong way. Whether you win or lose, don’t start acting like an expert, cocky or loud and obnoxious.

Use the guidelines in this article to help you determine what sportsbook you’d like to join. Finding a solid NBA book that offers all that you’d like (or as much as you can get) is important. Look past the site’s glitz and make sure it’s a great site on which to wager. Sites that offer value can really pay off in the end.

• Point Spread: Commonly called the line or spread, it is the number chosen by Las Vegas and overseas oddsmakers that they feel will get an equal number of people to wager on the underdog as on the favorite. The negative value (-10.5) means the team is favored by 10.5 points. The positive value (+10.5) indicates an underdog of 10.5 points. In this instance, the favored team must win by at least 11 points to cover the spread. The underdog team can lose by 10 points and still cover the spread.

• Total: Known as the over/under, common wisdom says it is how many points oddsmakers feel will be scored in an NBA game by both teams combined. If you wagered under 197.5, you want the combined score of both teams to less than 197 (example 100-96).

How To Bet On Nba Games In Vegas Sportsbook

• Money Line: Commonly used as a baseball and hockey wagering tool, basketball moneylines are popular for picking underdogs. There is no point spread linked to the moneyline. So the team you bet on only has to win the game, not win by a certain number of points. The negative value indicates the favorite, just like a point spread (-170) and the positive value means an underdog (+150). If you picture the number 100 sitting in the middle of these two values, moneylines are easier to comprehend.

How To Bet On Nba Games In Vegas World

• Futures: Betting on a future event (such as which team will win the NBA title) is called future betting. Oddsmakers will update future odds during the year, shortening the odds for good teams on hot streaks and lengthening odds for slumping teams with injury problems. Example: the NBA top team could be +170 to win the championship. This translates to a $100 wager paying out a $170 profit if that team wins. A lousy team might be +2000, making a $100 wager pay out a whopping $2,000 as a longshot.