As a bettor, once you’ve learned how to gamble online, the chances are that you’ve tried daily fantasy sports for cash, but how about real sports betting? Basketball, for example.
In this basketball betting for beginners article, we plan to give you our best advice. Have no fear; you’ll know how to bet on basketball before too long.
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The Best Basketball Sports Betting Strategy
Basketball is a multibillion-dollar sport. The average NBA team has a worth of over 2 billion dollars. With such a high value, it must warrant a fair amount of attention.
As you can imagine, a valued sport that’s enjoyed globally also enjoys a wide variety of options for the serious bettor.
One of the primary aspects of basketball betting for beginners are the types of bets you can place. So that’ll be what we look at first.
Moneyline Bets
There are many different kinds of wager available where basketball is concerned, but as far as simplicity goes, money line bets are vital to your best basketball sports betting strategy.
A money line is more or less a straight-up bet. You pick who you think will win or lose, and you bet on that team. If your prediction is right, you double your wager. If not, try again next time.
Spread Betting
Spread-betting may not be the most straightforward form of betting. Yet, when it comes to basketball, it’s by far the most popular. It’s a type of handicap betting that’s also known as line betting or point spreads.
When bookmakers set up a spread, they put a handicap on one of the two teams to make them equal in betting terms.
This deems one of the teams a favorite, and one of them an underdog – but by the same amount of points. We’ll explain for those of you who are really after the basics of basketball betting for beginners.
The underdog is the team that’s expected to lose, and the favorite is self-explanatory.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that we have a 5 point spread on two teams. Team A is the underdog with -5, and team B is the favorite with + 5.
If you were to bet on team A, they’d have to win by six or more points for you to win the wager. If you were to bet on team B, they’d rather have to win the game or lose by 4 points or less for you to win.
Betting on Totals
Also known as over and under, it’s the second most popular type of betting on basketball. For beginners, it’s also relatively simple.
In this type of wagering, you place your bet on whether the combined scores of the two teams will be above or beneath a score set by the bookmakers.
Around the world, it’s now possible to bet on point totals for specific teams as well. In this case, you’ll not bet on the combined score of two sides but the total score of one team for a game.
Let’s take an example. Your bookmaker believes the combined total is 166.5 points scored between two teams. So, if you bet over, there’ll have to be a combined score of at least 167 for you to win. If you bet under, the combined score has to be 166 or less.
Parlay Bets
A parlay is a type of wager that lets you pick several teams that you think will win during a series or championship. Your picks are combined into a single bet.
The thing with parlay bets is that when you win, you win spectacularly, and when you lose, you lose phenomenally. If even one of the teams that you bet on in your parlay loses, then you lose the entire bet.
You can either wager on the point spreads of the matches, or even the money line. Either way, this isn’t a bet that we recommend if you’re just starting out. Since this is basketball betting for beginners, we won’t go into any more detail here.
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Now that we’ve had a closer look at the different options available, we’ll turn to the next topic for beginners’ basketball betting.
How do you choose a winning bet?
Even the best basketball sports betting strategy isn’t foolproof, but by taking a few things into account, you can still build a solid wager. Here are our five top tips to help you do that.
Work Your Way Up
If you’re new to the betting scene, it wouldn’t be wise to start with the most complicated kind of wager. Avoid the parlay bet, to begin with, and try out something more comfortable instead.
We’d suggest the money line bet or an over/under bet.
Look to the Past – it Heralds the Future
For your basketball sports betting strategy, one of the best things you can do is to study past performances of your chosen team. After all, betting is essentially a numbers game (with a fair amount of prediction and luck thrown in).
Now we’re not talking averages here. Unfortunately, one big score can throw out the average for the entire set. This is especially true when you’re looking at scores alone. One very low score and one very high score can change the general average significantly.
Rather look at the results of individual matches. Pay special attention to instances of your team going up against the team which they face in the match you’re betting on.
Past games against the same team will indicate what usually happens when the two sides meet.
As we said, the past often indicates the future. So make the past your friend, and use it as an indicator – but don’t let it dictate to you. Nothing is written in stone.
Go With the Best Odds
One of the main aspects of building the best basketball sports betting strategy is to remember that the odds aren’t the same at every bookmaker. So, this might go without saying, but we’ll mention it nonetheless.
Choose your bookmaker wisely. Find the best odds that you possibly can, with the best general offer when you sign up. We won’t discuss this in detail here, but feel free to look through our articles on how to choose a bookmaker.
Don’t Fall Into a Rut
For beginners, this basketball betting tip is essential, and it’s true for any kind of sport.
Only betting on a specific league or team limits your winning possibilities.
For example, if you confine yourself to say, only betting on the NBA, you might miss out on other significant opportunities. You may even find that you prefer European basketball once you’ve given it a try.
So, keep an open mind.
Know Yourself
When it comes to building the best basketball sports betting strategy, you can be your own worst enemy. Make sure you don’t bet based on emotions, and always make logical decisions.
What Other Betting/Casino Guides & Strategies Are Available?
Now that we’ve gone over basketball betting for beginners, perhaps you’d also like to explore other avenues.
At Wetten.com, your learning doesn’t have to end here. Besides our tips for the best basketball sports betting strategy, you can find useful information on other subjects, too.
Whatever you’d like to know, our experts have the answers. Why not browse our articles and see for yourself?
Conclusion
Even for beginners, basketball betting is easy once you understand the basics.
We trust you’ve enjoyed our guide, and you’re well on your way to building the best basketball sports betting strategy that you can.
We hope you’ll apply this knowledge and make some betting slam dunks. Remember to only place bets once you know the risks, and use the past to your advantage.
Keep in mind our top four takeaways:
Work your way up from the easiest bet (money lines), to the more intricate varieties.
Know yourself and never bet emotionally.
Don’t limit your wagering opportunities to a specific league or team.
Previous results can be indicative of how games play out in the future.
Shoot some hoops, and may the odds always be in your favor.
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