How to Bet on NBA Basketball

46 March 15, 2021

NBA Basketball Spread Betting
Spread betting is the traditional way to wager on college basketball games. In most cases, the betting line will look something like this:

  • Phoenix -6
  • Miami +6

What this means is that if you like Phoenix you lay 6 points at -110. For every $110 that you invest, you’re potential profit is $100 should Phoenix win by at least 7 points. If you like Miami, you take the 6 points. If Phoenix wins by only 5, you win your wager if you bet on Miami and lose if you bet on Phoenix.

Moneyline Betting
Moneyline betting simply means to put money on the team that you think will win the game straight up. For example, if the odds on Phoenix are -300 on the moneyline for every $300 that you wager, the potential profit will be $100. If the moneyline odds on Miami in our example are +250, then for every $100 you wager on Phoenix, your potential profit is $250.

NBA Basketball Totals
Betting on NBA Basketball Totals simply means to wager over or under a specific total points scored number. Let’s say that the total on Phoenix versus Miami is 198.5. If you bet over the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 19 or higher. If you bet under the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 198 or lower.

NBA Basketball Prop Betting
An NBA basketball prop bet is any wager that isn’t tied into who wins the game, like a moneyline wager, the total score, like an NBA Total wager, or a traditional against the spread wager. NBA Prop betting includes wagers like how many points a particular player will accumulate during the game or which coach will call the first time out.

Parlay Betting
Parlay betting is simply putting together two or more bets into a single wager so that the outcome of all bets is related to each other. An example is below:

  • San Antonio -6
  • Dallas +8
  • Over Total San Antonio vs. Miami 198.5

The above is a 3-Team(Wager) College Basketball Parlay Bet. You have to win all three bets to win the parlay. This is why parlay bets pay out more than individual bets.

Teaser Betting
NBA Basketball Teaser bets are wagers where one or more bets are directly related to each other, like a parlay bet, but teaser wagers give you the added benefit of moving the line. Let’s take the Parlay Betting example and illustrate a 6-Point NBA teaser:

  • San Antonio -6
  • Dallas +8
  • Over Total San Antonio vs. Miami 198.5

In our 6-Point College Basketball Teaser bet San Antonio “gets” 6 points. San Antonio’s line changes to even, 6-6 = 0. Dallas gets 6 points. Dallas’s line changes to +14. The Total in the San Antonio vs. Miami game is 198.5. We liked the over. In our 6-Point NBA Basketball Teaser Bet, the line changes from 198.5 to 192.5, 198.5 – 6 = 192.5. Teaser bets will never pay out more than parlay wagers because you always change the line.