Basketball is one of the most popular sports in American history, with millions and millions of fans tuning in to watch games every week.
This lucrative sport, just like any other, has become a mecca for gambling. But how can you understand the odds?
You might have seen various teams on betting websites with numbers with plus or minus symbols beside them. Well, what do this mean?
Understanidng the plus or minus points system is how you can crack basketball betting.
Well, we’ll give you a brief guide to understanding basketball betting odds, so you won’t feel so daunted when you are trying to put down money on this game.
Once you understand what is going on, you’ll get more confident with your bets.
Understanding The +/- Points System In Basketball
If you have looked at the betting odds for a basketball game, you will see the various team names with a number beside them, followed by a plus or a minus sign.
For example, if Team A had +10 odds, then this is the number of points that will be added to the end score.
Your team will need to beat the spread to win. If it is +10, then your team will need to score more within 10 points either side of the final score.
However, if you have Team B and they have odds of -10, then this means that will need to score more than this 10-point margin for you to collect your wager.
If Team A is against Team B and the final score is 100-105 to Team B, then Team A will be the more lucrative bet as the added 10 points will put them in the lead over team B.
These plus or minus odds can change depending on certain variables. Injuries and absent players will determine the final odds of a game.
These can change as the game gets closer, that’s why it is more of a risk to bet further in advance, although the rewards will be greater.
What Are The NBS Best Picks?
This is the strategy that you employ to pick the teams that are either the most likely to win or the combination of teams that are likely to get the same final score.
Usually, these best pick bets will come in the form of moneyline bets, handicaps and over/unders.
The best method of determining best picks is looking at previous games.
By looking at the history of two teams that have played each other multiple times, then you can calculate the average score and use this to predict the next score.
Another method of determining the outcome of your game is to look at the list of injured players and star players that are likely to be absent.
If you are going to be betting an over/under, then this is the number of points that will be over or under the final score of your game.
This score will be determined by the sportsbook that you are working with.
You can also make prop bets on basketball games. This is betting on individual elements of a game, but not the final score.
This could be the number of points a certain player scores, the number of total rim shots or which player is most likely to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
Websites such as Draftkings give you good odds on what player is going to be selected for the MVP as well as odds on single and accumulated bets.
What Are College Basketball Best Bets?
This type of basketball league is a lot less reliable than the professional leagues, as young players can be a lot more inconsistent and a lot more volatile than pro players.
However, this can make the betting a lot more exciting and dynamic.
In college basketball, the team functions more of a unit as star players have yet to emerge at this level. This makes moneyline and spread betting a lot more lucrative in the college leagues.
This means that you’ll have to value the team as a whole rather than the attributes of one single player.
This is a great entry-level field to get into, so if you are new to betting, you might want to start with college basketball.
You can get players who have winning streaks where they might be the high point scorer across a few matches.
This is what is called ‘Hot Hands’ and it is when a player starts by scoring a few points in a game, which leads them to score more points across multiple games.
There are some people who think this is a fallacy and there are others who swear that when they have betted on a player going through Hot Hands that they have made a lot of money.
How Can You Calculate Pro And College Basketball Betting Lines?
When you are calculating the implied probabilities of whether or not a certain team will win a game, then you’ll have to do a little bit of reverse engineering.
You’ll be able to do this by converting bedding odds back into percentages.
This will all depend on the sportsbook margins that have been set for a particular game.
There are three different methods of calculating the odds for professional and college basketball:
American Odds
The equation for American odds goes like this:
Negative odds/(Negative odds + 100) x 100 = implied probability
This means that if your negative odds are 150, then the final probability will look like this:
300/(300+100) x 100 = 75%
This means the team with odds of 300- will have a 75% of winning that game.
Decimal Odds
The equation for Decimal Odds looks like this:
(1/decimal odds) x 100 = implied probability
If you are betting on a team with 4.50 odds, then the equation will look like this:
(1/4.5) x 100 = 22.3%
Fractional Odds
This is the equation for calculating the fractional odds of a basketball game:
The denominator/(the denominator + the numerator) x 100 = implied probability
So if you has a basketball team with fractional odds of 4/3, then the equation would go:
3/(4+3) x 100 = 42.9%
Popular Types Of Betting For Basketball
The most popular types of betting are low risk, low reward bets such as moneyline and spread bets.
The great thing about basketball is that it is a very fast-paced game, with the odds changing just as quickly as the rate of play.
This makes it a great sport for live betting. The game can switch, leading to dramatic highs and lows that some bettors thrive on.
Also, prop bets are great for basketball, especially at the professional level.
This will allow you to hone in on star players, focusing on their attributes and placing high-winning bets on their scoring history and whether or not they’ll get the NVP for that season.
Conclusion
We hope that our guide to how to predict basketball games has helped you to determine how best to approach your basketball betting strategy.
We would recommend that you start easy with moneyline and spread betting and then develop your knowledge to move on to accumulated and parlay betting.
A favorite of mine is golf gambling. Such a relaxing game can win you big when you bet on the right people. Plus, betting makes watching it much more fun, too!
If you’re looking for a new hobby, gambling can sound like a risky venture. But it doesn’t have to be. Stick with my knowledge of the business and I’ll help you navigate the tricky waters that are gambling online sites.
- Which Bet Type Is The Best? Breakdown Of Betting Types - November 25, 2022
- Bet Without Losing: Sounds Too Good To Be True? Zero-Risk Betting Strategies - November 25, 2022
- What Is The Best Way To Bet On Basketball? (Basketball Betting Strategy) - November 24, 2022