How To Bet On The NBA Online

The National Basketball Association is one of the most popular sports leagues in the entire world, let alone the United States. With that fame has come an escalating interest in betting on the sport, which is currently reaching a fever pitch as legislative hurdles continue to fall and the industry has grown across the country.

Thanks to the advancement of online betting sites in US states where gambling is legal, the NBA gambling experience has been enhanced miles from where it used to be in the days of purely brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. The introduction of these mobile platforms has provided a convenient, easy-to-use service while sparking the evolution of additional markets and an ever-growing number of wagering options.

In this basketball betting guide, we’ll detail different betting types, tips, strategies, and other important information for how to bet NBA online.

Is It Legal To Bet On NBA Online?

It is legal to wager on professional basketball in the United States, so long as your physical location is inside a state with legislation passed to allow it. NBA betting online has been made legal in eight states as of October 2019 and they’re listed below:

• New Jersey Sports Betting
• Pennsylvania Sports Betting
• West Virginia Sports Betting
• Indiana Sports Betting
• Iowa Sports Betting

In 2019, the pool of states accepting sports wagers online grew with the addition of Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Iowa. Several other states are projected to join the fold in 2020 and beyond as the industry will only continue its rapid growth. As you are betting on the NBA don’t forget to bet on college basketball also.

Each territory that has opted to include gambling on sports and the NBA has produced significant revenue thanks to the current boom the industry is experiencing.

Best NBA Betting Sites

If you aren’t in a state with legal online sports betting, you can place legal sports picks at FendOff Sports. Read our FendOff Sports review for more information and get our exclusive welcome bonus below:

How To Pick NBA Betting Sites

Just because you’re looking to get in on the action and begin placing basketball bets, that doesn’t mean you mindlessly choose a site to sign up for. There are several factors to take into account before depositing your hard-earned money anywhere and choosing the platform that is right for you can enhance the overall betting experience plus the NBA bonus and promotions amounts. Consider the following advice before making up your mind on where to do your NBA betting online:

• Know What You’re Looking For

Putting together a list of your preferences can go a long way toward helping you decide on the best online betting sites for you. How you value welcome bonuses, promotions, the range of markets offered, and the quality of the betting lines among other things can dictate where you sign up.

All online sports betting sites all serve the same function but don’t all do so in the same exact ways. Once you know what you like, these subtle differences will help you narrow down your options.

• Compare Bonuses and Promotions

When it comes to that list of preferences mentioned above, it usually starts with bonuses and promotions. A generous welcome bonus immediately puts you ahead of the curve and a consistent flow of promotions always provides a great incentive to continue using the platform. Compare these offers from various NBA betting sites to find which suits you best.

• Use Multiple Sportsbooks

Going with the theme of weighing your options, we’d highly recommend signing up for multiple sites at one time. That’s double the bonuses, promotions, and betting markets to shop around and get a feel for. The layout of the site, the helpdesk support options, and wagering options will vary a little, but using more than one will make narrowing it down to the best online betting sites a little easier.

• Ratings and Review Sites

For an all-encompassing look at what each platform offers, sites like BonusSeeker are a valuable resource. We are aware of the best characteristics of each brand and what they have to offer. Looking through a few review pages will provide you with a starting point on what amenities are offered at each site.

Popular NBA Online Bets

As is the case with most sports, there are plenty of markets available when it comes to betting on basketball. So before placing any wagers, we want to help keep you informed about the popular NBA online bets available at all platforms.

Using an example from FanDuel Sportsbook that will help us break down several basketball bet types below.

NBA Moneyline Betting

NBA moneyline betting is simply a wager on which team will win the game, regardless of the point spread. The amount of money you must risk increases when betting favorites and potential profits increase when betting on underdogs.

To properly understand all aspects of the game line, moneylines should be looked at relative to the number 100, which represents ‘even money’ in sports betting. Favorites will have a negative (-) symbol adjacent to their line while the underdog will have a positive (+) sign accompanying its odds. The further away from the 100 these odds go, the bigger the favorite or underdog.

Using our above example, the Nets (-410) are favorites while the Knicks (+310) are underdogs. In the case of moneylines, the odds are directly correlated to the risk and payouts of the wager.

Taking the Nets’ moneyline means laying down $410 to win $100, risking over quadruple what you can profit in the end. On the other side, a $100 wager on the Knicks pays out $310 because bettors need them to win outright and don’t have the nine-point spread as a safety blanket.

NBA Spread Betting

Gambling on the spread is not merely a selection of which team will win, but which will ‘cover’ a predetermined point spread provided by sportsbooks. Not all teams are equal, so the point spread is oddsmakers’ way of evening out the game for betting purposes.

Just like moneylines, favorites come with a negative symbol and underdogs have a positive sign. The favorite must win by a certain number of points and the underdog needs to either win outright or lose by fewer points than noted in the spread.

Using our example, the spread is nine points. The Nets (-9) cover the spread if they win by 10 or more points and the Knicks (+9) cover if they lose by eight or less. In the event the Nets win by the exact spread of nine, the wager is called a ‘push’ and the original investment on both sides is returned.

While the moneyline determines how much you wager and the payouts, things work differently here. Every spread is accompanied by the odds for selecting that side. Notice the Nets are -9 (-110)? This means the odds for that bet are -110 and we’d have to wager $110 to win $100.

This number is referred to as oftentimes as the ‘juice’ on the bet. Whatever that number is represents how much you must pay in order to win $100. Consider it a vig or commission fee imposed by bookmakers for sports bettors making a wager.

Most spreads start with standard -110 odds and move based on the action of the betting public. There is less variation in risk and reward than moneylines because the odds are evened out by the spread

NBA Totals Betting

Wagering on NBA totals simply means placing an over or under bet in regards to the total number of points that will be scored in a given basketball game. Factors like injuries, schedule, and pace of play can have a huge impact on whether a game goes above or below the projected total.

In our above example, oddsmakers set the total for the Knicks and Nets at 225.5. The over hits if the two teams combine for 226 or more, while 225 or fewer points would be an under. In both instances, it would take a $110 risk to win $100.

NBA Prop Bets Explained

A common question for people new to sports betting wonder what are prop bets? Props are essentially yes or no wagers on whether a given event will occur in a game. Rather than betting on moneylines, spreads, and totals, props are more unconventional markets that tend to focus on in-game events and player stats among other things.

Below are just some of the categories offered at most online sportsbooks for NBA games:

• • • Team Totals
    • Player Total Points, Rebounds or Assists
    • Player Points + Assists + Rebounds
    • Head-To-Head Player Points
    • Spread/Total Parlays and Moneyline/Total Parlays

These wagers may not be tied to the ultimate outcome of the game, though some of them are, and have erupted in popularity as more and more markets have been included for all sports including pro basketball.

NBA Parlay Bets

NBA parlay bets allow you to combine multiple sides (also referred to as legs) into one wager in exchange for a more favorable payout. Parlay bets are generally made up of money lines, spreads, and totals, although sportsbooks have evolved to include props and multi-event as parlay-eligible.

These wagers are a favorite among better because of its low-risk, high-reward nature in which a small investment can earn a large payout. When it comes to parlays, every side needs to win in order for the bet to hit and just one loss spoils the entire wager. Because of this, parlays are considered among the toughest bets to win when gambling on the NBA or sports in general.

Below we will look at a conventional example of an NBA parlay:

In the above parlay, three teams are parlayed together at the standard -110, which adds up to a +597 value on many platforms. The inclusion of underdogs and additional teams boosts the odds and potential payout but also increases the risk of losing.

The math with parlays is complicated, but these wagers have become more popular with the growth of the online sports betting sites, which can easily calculate the odds.

NBA Futures

NBA futures bets are exactly what they sound like: wagers on whether an event will or won’t take place at some point in the future. In the NBA, futures wagers are extremely popular with some of the following categories:

• • • Division Winners
    • Conference Champions
    • NBA Champion
    • Rookie Of The Year
    • MVP Winner
    • Defensive Player Of The Year
    • NBA Finals MVP
    • Playoff Series Winners

Most of these bets are placed prior to the season starting, but some markets do remain open as the regular season progresses. Futures bets are wildly popular because they can provide a rooting interest for a longer period of time and can come with generous payouts.

NBA Betting Strategies

Handicapping NBA games is not an easy thing to do so getting involved in the action without knowing what you’re doing is the easiest way to lose your money. Most of these lines are carefully crafted and meticulously poured over each day, so how do you help yourself make the right bets?

NBA Betting Tips

Here are some NBA betting tips to keep in mind when you’re checking out basketball lines throughout the regular season:

• Don’t Bet On Every Game
• Betting Percentages Can Help
• Trends Are Misleading
• Check The Game Notes
• Bankroll Management
• NBA Is Erratic Early In The Season

Aside from knowing how the various bet types of work, you should also be aware of some common NBA betting strategies to employ while hunting for your favorite lines.

NBA Betting Strategies

We did just go through some tips, so what’s the difference? Tips are mostly just things to keep in mind that can help you make an informed decision, whereas strategies are rules that bettors live by when placing wagers. Consider adopting one or several of the following practices:

• Fade The Public
• Reverse Line Movement
• Bet According To The Schedule
• Live Bet Games You’re Watching
• Bet On Totals & Props

Betting NBA Playoffs Online

The regular season is already a massive attraction for bettors, and things reach a whole new level in the postseason. NBA playoff betting dominates as spring turns into summer and accounts for much of the action sportsbooks see at this time of the year.

More casual bettors flood the market, which can have an impact on the odds. Because there are so many fewer games, each line and total is poured over closely by oddsmakers and professional handicappers as well. For that reason, lesser-used markets like props can hold even greater value than the regular season.

Belonging to an online sportsbook during the postseason comes with amenities as well. Players are oftentimes given an upper hand as NBA playoff promotions are introduced while additional markets are available for each game and series. Since the sports gambling industry is hitting the mainstream. If you want to take playoffs betting to the next level we recommend using our printable NBA Playoffs bracket to keep track of your teams.

Betting On The NBA Finals

The public’s interest in basketball only intensifies once all 2,460 regular-season games and 13 playoff matchups are through. The last series of the pro basketball season is one of the biggest annual spectacles in American sports, which makes NBA Finals betting is as popular as it’s ever been.

Due to the growth in the use of online sports betting apps it has become convenient for the casual gambler to enhance the game-watching experience by putting a few bucks down. Each game of The Finals has become its own mini Super Bowl of sorts, with tons of additional prop betting markets for each game and series.

As is the case throughout the postseason, bettors would be wise to take advantage of these markets because conventional odds are at greater risk of being hard to read due to an increase in betting action.