So you've been winning office pools for years and cleaning up on fantasy sports and you've finally gotten around to taking your talents to the sportsbooks. You may know the NBA like Blake Griffin knows dunks, but you still need to know the ins and outs of betting. Here's a primer on all the NBA bets you'll encounter online . . .
Pointspreads
Wagering on the spread is the most common NBA bet made at any sportsbook. The book picks a favorite in a game and assigns that team a pointspread they must beat. If you bet on them to cover the spread and they win their game by more points than the spread, you win. Here's where some new bettors get lost, though. A pointspread usually looks like this:
Cleveland +17.5
Miami -17.5
Do you know what the plus and the minus both mean? Don't worry if you don't, because novice bettors are often lost when they see it for the first time. The -17.5 means that Miami is favored by 17.5 points. The +17.5 means that Cleveland is a 17.5-point underdog. So, if the Heat win by 18 points or more they're a winning pick. However, if Cleveland loses by less than 18 points then the Cavaliers would pay off.
Totals
Totals are also sometimes called betting the OVER or the UNDER because that's basically what you're doing. The sportsbook will set a total for the game and you must decide whether the combined final score will go OVER or UNDER that number.
Here's an example. In the same game as above, Cleveland at Miami, the book set the total at 198.5 points. The final score was Miami 117 – Cleveland 90. When you combine those point totals you get 207, which is OVER 198.5. This means anyone that bet on the OVER gets paid. One last note on totals - if the total for the game had been set at 207 it would be a PUSH and you would get your wager back.
Halftimes
When halftime arrives in any NBA game you should head to your favorite sportsbook and get in on their halftime lines. Some bettors don't even know that the books post a new line at halftime that is applicable to the second half of the game. This line can sometimes look a whole lot different than the opening line depending on what happened in the first half. Think about how different a line on a Lakers game would look if Kobe Bryant got hurt in the second quarter and wasn't expected to return. That's the value and fun of halftime betting.
Moneylines
Betting the moneyline can be one of the more confusing betting methods for new bettors. What you're doing is quite simple – you're betting on the outright winner of a game. However, the way it's presented by the books can be challenging to new bettors. Check out this example:
Dallas +120
San Antonio -140
Here the Spurs are the favorite on the moneyline at -140; this means to win $100 you must wager $140. The Mavericks are the underdog at +120, and since they're the underdog you have to risk less to win more and betting $100 would win you $120. The more risk involved in the bet, the more money you can potentially win.