Basketball Betting

Basketball is one of the most popular major league sports in the US, and it’s also growing in popularity in Europe and beyond. 

With fast-paced action and a significant onus on technical ability, basketball features many skilled athletes. This also makes it a fun sport to bet on, so it’s no surprise we have a deep choice of online basketball betting markets available at Parimatch. 

Below, we’ll explore the most popular basketball betting markets, the biggest basketball leagues and tournaments to bet on and some pointers when placing a bet on basketball for the first time.

There are many markets to choose from for basketball bettors. If you’re looking at basketball betting lines for the first time, here are some of the easiest bet types to grasp: 

Moneyline bets 

A moneyline bet is one of the easiest bets to place on a basketball match. All you need to do is correctly predict which team will win an upcoming game. Let’s say the Los Angeles Lakers were due to play the Golden State Warriors. If you bet on the Lakers on the moneyline, they need to win by any margin for a moneyline bet to win. 

Handicap/Point spread bets 

Point spread betting is also common among online basketball betting experts who attempt to find value basketball odds involving games between superior and inferior teams. If Team A is the clear pre-game favourite, you might be able to get better odds on them to win by a certain points margin. 

For instance, you might be able to bet on the Chicago Bulls (-9.5) against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This means the Bulls must win by ten clear points for your bet to beat the point spread.  

Similarly, you might prefer to use point spread bets to wager on unfancied underdogs. Using the same example, if you think the Timberwolves will put up stiffer resistance than many believe, you could back them at +9.5. Even if they lose to the Bulls by nine points or less, your bet still wins. 

Over/Under points bets 

You can also bet on aggregate points totals in major basketball matches. Most bookmakers will set a point total benchmark pre-game. This uses the average points scored by each team and other variables like form, injuries and head-to-head records.  

It’s your job to decide whether to bet ‘over’ or ‘under’ this points total. If you think it’ll be a high-scoring affair, you’d take the over bet, and if you think it’ll be a tight, nervy encounter, you might take the under odds. 

Winner margin bets 

Another option for betting on pre-game favourites in basketball is to bet on the winning margin. For example, get better value odds on a pre-game favourite to win by ten clear points. It’s a similar bet type to the points spread, except this is solely for winning margins. 

Outright bets 

If you prefer to play the long game, outright bets are always an option in the basketball betting markets. For example, you might have an inkling which team is going to win the NBA Finals this season, in which case you might back them early in the season before their odds shorten. 

First and foremost, you need a betting account with Parimatch. Sign up and deposit funds into your account, ready to place your first basketball bets. 

Head to the Parimatch website and click on ‘Sport A-Z’ in the left-hand navigation menu. Click Basketball to load up all available basketball betting markets. These will be sorted by competition, allowing you to wager on upcoming international matches as well as games in the biggest domestic leagues like the NBA, the NCAAB, the Italian Lega 1 and the Greek A1. 

You can also click ‘Upcoming Matches’ to look for matches happening in the next 48 hours. 

Once you’ve found your bet selection, click the odds displayed to add them to your betslip. Enter your stake size to view the potential returns before hitting the green ‘Bet now’ button. 

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the biggest basketball leagues and tournaments you can bet on right here as a Parimatch member: 

NBA 

NBA is comfortably the biggest basketball league on the planet. NBA basketball betting markets are the most popular in the sport as a result. You’ll usually get access to all the common bet types like basketball spread betting and moneylines and a host of prop bets ideal for NBA betting enthusiasts. 

There’s also the fast-emerging women’s NBA betting markets to keep an eye on the top female basketball talent in North America, too. 

NCAA College Basketball 

In North America, college basketball is almost as popular as the NBA. In fact, NCAA basketball betting markets are regularly used by basketball bettors with a keen eye on up-and-coming talent ahead of the next NBA Draft. 

Much like the NCAA football betting markets, as gridiron fans look ahead to the next NFL Draft. This includes women’s NCAA basketball, with many NCAA women’s basketball betting lines on offer at Parimatch. 

EuroLeague 

The EuroLeague is considered the premier basketball league in Europe. Containing the continent’s biggest men’s basketball teams, it’s another elite-level basketball competition. Basketball teams originate from Spain, Turkey, Germany, Serbia, Italy, France, Israel, Greece and Lithuania. 

Keep tabs on your betting bankroll. Set yourself a budget for your basketball betting and stick to it. Consider splitting your bankroll into multiple units. The best in the business will split their bank into 100 units and only risk a single unit per bet. Also, check out our Safer Gambling Portal for more information about betting responsibly. 

Monitor the latest injury news. The last thing you want is to blindly back a team to win and find out their match-winning centre is sidelined for several weeks. 

If you bet on outright basketball markets, remember that the odds can rise and fall over time. If you believe a team currently represents good value, take the current odds in case they fall and don’t ever return to their previous odds. 

At Parimatch Sportsbook, we’re an online bookmaker that lives and breathes sports. Whether it’s Premier League betting, American football betting, MLB baseball betting or Ryder Cup golf betting, we’re home to some of the most competitive odds in the UK. 

Don’t forget to take advantage of our welcome bonuses as a first-time Parimatch member, giving you more bang for your buck on the latest EuroLeague odds and live basketball bets.