Basketball Betting

Betting on Basketball is very simple. If you aren’t familiar with sports betting terms please refer to the football betting page on this site to become acquainted with different terms used in betting on all major sports.

Basketball betting uses the same concepts of wagering as football – a point spread and a total. An example of a basketball point spread and over / under (total) is below:

Los Angeles Lakers – 3 vs. Orlando Magic Total = 198.5

Sports Betting at the Sportsbook

So, the Lakers would need to win by four points to cover the point spread and be a winning basketball wager. Likewise, the point total of both teams is added together and a result is formed on the 198.5 total.

 

Basketball betting usually heats up around March Madness, when the NCAA tournament starts and the 64 (well, modified now for 68 when you count the play-in games) teams battle in a bracket style tournament that ends with what is called “the Final Four.” The Final Four is a huge time for basketball betting, as many people travel to Las Vegas and start gambling on games at the start of the tournament and carry on throughout the two week tournament. This is an exciting time for schools large and small, and it’s always interesting to see which team will emerge as the “Cinderella story.” This term is used to identify the team that starts as a lesser known underdog but through upsetting higher seeded teams carries on winning games they were not expected to win.

Many basketball games end up covering – or not covering – the point spread in the final seconds. Often times free throws are the result of personal fouls committed in an effort to stop the clock and hope the opposing team does not convert their free throws into points scored. Basketball is a game of possessions and ultimately the team that shoots the basketball with the higher percentage from the field and the free throw line usually wins the game.

Basketball betting is available at most online sportsbooks that accept USA players and is among the top five sports that players wager on in the USA. It’s also becoming more common to see lines listed for European league basketball, which is becoming more popular.