If you enjoy watching the NBA games, you can make your experience more enjoyable and, yes, profitable. By incorporating gambling into watching basketball, you can have fun and thrill like no other as you witness both your favorite team and your investment money prospering.
It is very likely that you already know how the game of basketball works if you have been a long-time fan of the National Basketball Association. However, when it comes to sports betting in NBA, you need to equip yourself with some basic knowledge in online wagering.
Lucky for you, we have listed the important things you need to learn in this business. Yes, business, and if you are really into sports betting, you will have to let your business grow through skill and method, and never by sheer luck.
Reading The Odds In An NBA Game
For starters, you need to learn about the odds in a basketball game. The odds will be expressed in numbers, either with a plus or a negative sign. The plus number pertains to the underdog, or the team who is likely to lose prior to the start of the game. The negative number pertains to the favorite, or the team that seems to be the clear winner. There are many ways you can tell whether the team is a favorite or an underdog in an NBA game, like the number of injured players or the players with great track record of wins.
The numbers assigned to a favorite or an underdog is the actual odds, which is based on the bettors making bets of $100. There is something we call the juice or vig, or simply the $10 collected by the sportsbook from each bet. As a beginner, do not be pressured to bet $100 right away, unless you feel really confident about the odds you are looking at. You can bet lower than that like $25 or $50. It is really up to you, but just remember to consider your means before making huge bets. Perhaps listening to music while making your bet can help you make better decisions.
All About Moneyline: Who Will Win SU?
In NBA betting, the moneyline (also called straight-up bet or SU) is a bet wherein the bettor chooses the team he thinks will be the winner. For an instance, if the Los Angeles Lakers are the favorite team in the finals game versus Miami Heat, you can bet on the Lakers for SU. The odds can be -260 for the Lakers, while +220 for the Heat. When a bettor places $40 on the Lakers and that team won, he would get a winning of $55.30, which is just the original $40 bet plus $15.30 that was won from this wager. However, if the bettor places his $40 on the Heat winning, the winning would be $128, which is the original $40 plus the $88 won from the wager. As you can see, betting on the underdog has bigger perks if the underdog manages to win.
But What About The Point Spreads?
As mentioned before, there are things that can tell the favorite and the underdog team apart. However, when it is clearly that the other team is too much disadvantaged due to players still suffering injuries from the previous game, there is something we call the point spread for the convenience of the sports bettors. In this case, bettors have an alternative to pick a team winning over the other. The odds of the underdog can be given an advantage before the game begins, while the favorite’s odd is given a disadvantage. You can see more examples of this when you try to play at gclub.
From the earlier example in a Lakers vs. Heat game, the favorite Lakers gets -17.5, while Heat gets +17.5. The purpose of the point spread in this case is that for the bettor to win or lose the wager, the Lakers must win the game by any final score, or lose the game by 17 points or less. The opposite applies for the Heat.