Despite basketball being a relatively simple game, NBA betting is an entirely different beast; developing the knowledge and knowhow to get really good at NBA betting and winning some serious cash takes a lot of learning, time and effort.
Basketball is well known for being a sport which is more fast-paced and unpredictable than any other and the end-to-end games and style of playing make it an exciting game for both fans and punters alike. When it comes to basketball, the rules are pretty simple whereas NBA betting ranges from rules which are simple and more complex.
The National Basketball Association is widely recognised as the most elite professional basketball association anywhere in the world, but the rules of basketball are universal and can be applied to all leagues, whether in the UK, USA or Japan. In basketball, two teams of five players compete against each other in a game of basketball, trying to outscore each other through dribbling and passing the ball up to their part of the court and shooting to score.
Points are then scored by shooting the ball through the hoop – the team with the highest score wins, simple.
In NBA betting and basketball betting in general, there are a number of different bet types.
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The money line bet
The main type of NBA betting is called money line betting and is the most common and simplest market for a punter to understand. Money line betting is super easy – all you do is place your bet on a particular team to win.
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The handicap bet
The next most common type is called handicap betting. When you start to understand how NBA betting works, betting on the becomes valuable when one team is more favoured over another.
With handicap betting, bookies offer a handicap to ‘level out’ the playing field and make the game more fair. The handicap number will be displayed as a positive or negative value (+2.5 or -3.0) and is factored into the game’s final score to work out the game’s outcome. So, if you bet on a result and the handicap changes the final score to match your bet, you will win.
If you bet on a score of 95, for example, and the final score is (-5.0) 100.00, you will win because the handicap brings the score to 95.
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The totals bet
The third most popular bet type is called totals and is very simple – you simply bet on whether the combined score is going to be above or below a certain number.
When you get your head around the game itself, NBA betting is a game worth wagering your money on. Its fast-paced nature and unpredictable games make it something which is enjoyed all around the world. Although it may seem a bit confusing at first, NBA betting is something you can only get better at over time and we recommend both learning about basketball and NBA betting whilst you also place bets – this consolidates your learning and allows you to develop knowledge and understanding quicker.