Understanding Online Basketball Bet Types
With over 100 markets offered to us to bet on, online basketball betting has become extremely popular to Canadian bettors at top sportsbooks, especially with the thrilling exploits of the Toronto Rapters. You can place bets throughout the game from the overall outcome to what happens during each quarter, and even how an individual player will perform. We will highlight a selection of these markets throughout this article.
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Most Popular Markets
The online basketball betting markets that are most popular with all bettors, from beginners to the most experienced, are listed below:
Moneyline – determining which team will win the game. Placing single bets on this market favours the underdogs because this is what will pay-out the most money. Placing moneyline wagers on favourites is less common because of the very low odds, but Canadian bettors like to choose a selection of favourites and add them into a parlay which will be discussed more later.
Point Spread – with the favourable odds offered on the point spread market, it is the most commonly used one with bettors. Your sportsbook will offer a plus or negative spread for each team in a match-up, shown in the example below:
Miami Heat -7.5 @ Orlando Magic +7.5.
Miami Heat are the favourites in this match-up, and if you place a bet on Heat -7.5, they will have to win the game by at least 8 points for your bet to win.
Orlando Magic are the underdogs and have the chance of losing the game by 7 points of less (and they can also win the game outright), for your bet to win.
Points Total – this market involves the total number of points scored by both teams. A sportsbook will offer an over / under total and you decide on whether the game will be above or below that figure.
Parlay Betting
As mentioned above, parlay betting is a great way of betting on a number of heavily favoured teams because this increases the odds of the bet and the overall pay-out if it wins. A parlay consists of betting on 2 or more outcomes, and each individual outcome has to win for your bet to be successful. if you a bit confused by any of the betting terms here, we recommend you refer to the beginner's guide to basketball betting.
Other Basketball Markets to Consider
Here we will delve into a number of markets on offer to Canadian bettors betting basketball online.
Quarter Betting - You have the option to bet on the moneyline, point spread and even points total for each individual quarter. If a team is known to start off hot, then betting them to win the 1st quarter can be fruitful.
Half Betting - Sportsbooks offer the same markets explained in the quarter betting section above, but for the 1st and 2nd half.
Proposition Betting - Proposition betting relies on specific outcomes happening during a game for an individual player and for the team as a whole.
Player proposition markets include the total number of points / rebounds / assists recorded by each player. You can also group two of these statistics together to create better opportunities and odds. For example, you could bet on over / under 14.5 points for Jamal Murray or even over / under 31.5 points and rebounds for Anthony Davis. There are lots of scenarios within these markets, so use your research carefully to decide if these markets will work for you.
Team proposition bets include the total number of points scored by one team. If you do not like the idea of betting on the overall points total because one team is unlikely to contribute enough points to hit the over, then look into each individual team points total market.
Double Result - If you think that one team is much better than their opponent, you could place a bet on them to be winning the game at half time, and still be winning the game at the end of the game. This market is known as double result. There are many other scenarios that you can bet on, so please look at what your sportsbook offers.
In-Play Betting
We are now at a point where we can place bets on games that are currently underway, like the NBA playoffs or the NCAA March Madness Tournament. This has become extremely popular with bettors because of the opportunities it provides.
If a game has started off slowly with a low number of points scored, the points total offered in-play will be a lot lower than before the game tipped off. If you still think the game will be around the pre-match total, then placing a bet live will give you a nice cushion.
This can also work to your advantage if one team has got off to a hot start and has a decent lead. If the losing team is much better on offence and defence, but they have started poorly, the moneyline odds for this team will have increased. You can now bet on them to win at much better odds that will increase the overall pay-out if they come back and win.
Future and Outright Betting Markets
We can place bets on outcomes that will occur in the future - at the end of the regular season / playoffs. A few are highlighted below:
Regular Season Win Totals – betting on the number of wins a team will get throughout the regular season.
Division / Conference Winner – which team will win their division / conference.
Championship Winner – who will be crowned champions for the entire season.
Series Winner – during the playoffs, each series is a best of 7 games. This market involves betting on the team that will win this series.
MVP – the player that has performed the best during the season.
Please remember to carry out extensive research into each game, as this will help you decide on which market to use when betting basketball online.
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