How does online basketball betting work?

You want to know about basketball betting.
That’s a tall order and you might feel like there’s a lot to learn.
But don’t worry,we’ll give you the skinny on how basketball betting works in no time!
When it comes to betting on basketball you need to know about two things:

1. What are basketball betting odds and how do they work?
2. What types of bets can you place on a basketball game or tournament?

What are basketball betting odds and how do they work in the NBA and other competitions?

What are basketball betting odds and how do odds work in basketball?

Basketball Betting Odds are used to tell us two things:

1. The odds setters use those odds to reflect the probability of an outcome.
2. Basketball Odds will also give you an idea of how much you’ll win if you win your basketball bet.

 To give you an idea of basketball odds work in the US we'll give you the run down on moneylines.

Basketball Moneylines

Basketball betting odds look like this on online sportsbooks in the US:

These are usually known as moneyline odds but they can also be called basketball Vegas Odds or basketball betting lines.

Are you wondering what do moneyline odds mean?
The moneyline bet gives you the odds of each teams chances of winning the game.

The team with the + sign before their numbers is the underdog.
In this case +245, is the amount of money that you would win if you staked $100.
So, if you bet 100 bucks on the Pistons you would win $245 plus your $100 if the Pistons win and pull off an upset!

The Hawks, with their - sign, are the favorites and those odds of -305 tell you how much you need to bet to win $100.
In this case, a stake of $305 wins you $100 if the Hawks win the game.

You don’t need to bet $100 every time.
We used that number to help you understand the odds better.
You can bet any amount between the minimum and maximum bet amounts on Unibet.

Those Moneyline odds also show you the probability of either team winning.
The Hawks may have ranked much higher than the Pistons and it’s easy for any of us to work out that they should be favorites to win.

In terms of how likely that win should be, we like to leave that to the geniuses who set the odds.

A higher-ranking team might be going through a losing streak.
They might be overly reliant on one player and that player might get injured.

Our oddsetters look at many variables like this when they set their basketball moneylines.

Public Betting in Basketball

You may have heard of public betting in basketball but what does it mean?
The public bet is staked on the favorites.
In our case, the public betting option would be the Hawks.
Odds setters expect the public to get behind the favorites.

This is a major factor when it comes to calculating the odds.

You can get higher returns if you bet against the public and win.
The choice of whether or not to follow the crowd is down to you.
More on that later.

How to bet on a basketball moneyline

Basketball moneylines are the easiest bets.
All you need to do is to pick the winner and wait for the results!

Different types of basketball bets and basketball betting options

Here on Unibet we're all about choices.
Moneylines are probably the easiest bets to place. 
But there are a lot more options when it comes to basketball betting.
Let's check them out.

#1 Basketball point spreads

In a point spread bet in basetball you guess the margin of victory for the winning team.
This is what basketball spread looks like:

In our example, the Heat are the favorites for this one.
We expect the Heat to win the game by a margin of at least 14 points.
-13.5 means that Heat is starting with a disadvantage because we believe they’ll win by more than 13 points.
If the Heat win by at least 14 points they’ll cover the spread and you win the bet.

The Rockets are the underdogs
The +13.5 for the Rockets means that we are giving them a 13.5 point advantage.
If the Rockets pull off an upset and win the game, you win the bet.
If the Rockets lose by a margin of 13 points or less, you win this basketball spread bet.

Basketball teasers

See that green circle at the bottom of the image?
That’s a slider and you can click and slide up or down to create bigger or smaller spreads.
The odds will update as you slide so you can see exactly what you would receive if the bet wins.

#2 Over Under Basketball bets

Are you wondering what does an over under in Basketball betting?
An over under is a bet in basketball where you guess whether the total points during a game will be over or under a certain number.
Over under bets are also called total points bet in Basketball.
This is what a an over/under basketball bet looks like:

In our example the line for this over under bet is set at 227.5.
You can see the odds next to each outcome.

If you bet on over 227.5 at least 228 points need to be scored in the game for you to win this bet.
If you bet on under 227.5 you’ll win the bet if fewer than 228 points are scored in this basketball game.

Sometimes you may see a line as a whole number - let’s say it’s 227.
If the game finished with a total of exactly 227 points.
This would be declared as a ‘push’ and you get your money back.

#3 Prop Bets in Basketball 

‘Prop’ is short for proposition.
Props bets in basketball are side bets that could relate to many aspects of the game or tournament.
Think of a prop as a ‘what will happen bet’ which can be split into two clear categories.

Basketball game props

A game prop in basketball involves bets on what will happen during the game.
Check out some basketball props on Unibet:

• Which team will win each quarter
• Will the total number of points be odd or even

Basketball Player Props

Player props focus are bets on individual players.
Here are some examples of player porps in a basketball:

• Total Points Scored by a Specified Player
• Total Assists by a Named Player
• Total Rebounds by a Named Player

To find prop bets on Unibet, click on the match that you want to follow and scroll down to find Game and Player options.

#4 Basketball Parlays

A basketball parlay is a bet where you combine multiple bets into one big bet.
Each bet is called a leg.
For the parlay to pay out, you must win all your basketball bets (or legs).
You can Parlay bets across multiple basketball games or on a single game.
Here is an example of a 3 leg parlay we built on a basketball game:

Once you make your basketball betting picks for your parlay all you need to do is choose the amount of your bet.
We'll calculate your odds and your potential payout.

Multi Game basketball parlays

Here's an example of what a multi game parlay look like:

We bet on moneylines from three NBA games.
You can choose to parlay games during March Madness, the basketball world cup, or other leagues and tournaments from around the world.
Basketball Parlays can get you some big payouts.
But parlays can be risky because you must win all the legs in your basketball parlay.

Boost your basketball parlays with Unibet
At Unibet you can get a cash boost on your parlays by up to 50%!
You can choose to cash out your bets anytime during a parlay if you feel like you won't win the parlay.