NBA Betting Sites 2024 & Expert Guide
Welcome to our guide to the world of NBA online betting. Here, you’ll find everything you need to know to enjoy NBA betting, from reviews of online sportsbooks to guides on the kinds of wagers you can make on basketball games. Our team of industry experts has put together a list of the best NBA sportsbooks, so if you’re ready to get started, claim your bonus below and start betting today.
Best Sites to Bet on Basketball
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MORE ABOUT SPORTS BETTINGHow to Bet on the NBA
NBA betting comes in many shapes and forms. You can bet on who will win a game of course, but that’s only the beginning. There are also bets that let you predict how many points will be scored, who will win the NBA Championship, or even how a particular player will perform on a given night.
No matter what kinds of bets you want to try, however, there are a few basic concepts you should know first. To begin with, NBA betting odds are usually expressed in the American format. In this odds format, positive numbers show you how much you stand to win on a $100 bet.
For instance, +320 odds mean that if you bet $100, you will win $320 if that bet wins. On the other hand, negative numbers show you how much you would have to bet to make $100 in profit. For instance, -200 odds mean that you would have to bet $200 in order to try to win $100.
Knowing how NBA odds work will make it easier to understand what you stand to gain or lose when you make the various types of bets we’ll be discussing in the next section.
Common NBA Bets
NBA online betting gives you the opportunity to make a wide range of wagers. Let’s take a closer look at how each bet type works.
Spread Betting
Spread betting is the most common form of NBA betting today. This type of wager uses NBA betting lines to give one team a handicap. Your goal is to pick who will come out on top after that handicap is applied. For instance, you might see the following at a sportsbook:
- Houston Rockets -7.5 (-110)
- Minnesota Timberwolves +7.5 (-110)
In this case, if you bet on the Rockets, Houston would have to win by at least eight points to cover the spread and win your bet. Meanwhile, a bet on Minnesota would payout if the Timberwolves won, or if they lost by seven points or less.
NBA lines can vary tremendously depending on how evenly matched the two teams are. This is a popular form of NBA betting because you’ll get nearly even money odds on either side: in our example above, you would have to bet $110 to win $100 on either team.
Money Line Betting
If you simply want to predict who will win an individual game, money line wagering is for you. There’s no handicap – you just have to pick the winner. A money line market would look something like this:
- Milwaukee Bucks (-250)
- New York Knicks (+220)
In this example, the Bucks are the favorite, and you would have to bet $250 to win $100 on Milwaukee. On the other hand, a bet of just $100 would earn you $220 if the Knicks were victorious.
Over/Under Betting
NBA betting goes far beyond predicting which team will win a game. In over/under or totals betting, you don’t care who comes out on top. Instead, you’ll be betting on the total number of points scored in a game. For instance, you might see the following over/under market:
- Over 237.5 (-110)
- Under 237.5 (-110)
In this case, the over would win if the two teams combined for at least 238 points, while the under would win if the total score came in at 237 or less.
Futures
Futures are offered throughout the season at NBA online betting sites and allow you to make predictions across many months or even the season.
You can choose who will win the NBA championship, which team will win each conference, who will be named NBA MVP, or other long-term bets. A futures market on the NBA Championship winners might look like this:
- Los Angeles Lakers (+280)
- Los Angeles Clippers (+300)
- Toronto Raptors (+400)
- Houston Rockets (+600)
- Philadelphia 76ers (+1000)
You can bet on any team or any player who you think might win the market in question. During the season, you’ll see the odds on these markets fluctuate constantly depending on how teams are doing, or other events like trades and injuries.
Parlays
If you want the potential to win a lot of money with very little investment, then parlays are for you. This NBA betting format allows you to combine several wagers into one, though you’ll only win if every individual bet goes your way.
Parlays can be as small as two bets, or as large as 12, 15, or 20, with different sportsbooks offering different limits. The more NBA betting picks you make into a single parlay, the higher the payout – though, of course, it’s much less likely that you’ll win every single bet.
NBA Betting Online at Legal Sites
NBA online betting is legal and fully regulated in a growing number of states across the USA. Well over a dozen states already feature some form of legal sports betting, with most of them offering online betting as a part of their sportsbook landscape.
This means that for a growing number of Americans, NBA betting is fully legal in their own states – and many more can quickly travel to a neighboring state to enjoy NBA sports betting.
All of our recommended NBA betting sites are regulated and legal, meaning you can feel comfortable playing at these trusted, safe sportsbooks. If you’re not sure whether sports betting is legal in your state, find the latest news and status in our map.
NBA Betting Apps and Live Betting
Each of our recommended NBA sportsbooks also offers mobile betting. These days, betting with smartphones is the most popular way for people to enjoy NBA online betting. Some sportsbooks offer mobile-friendly sites, while others allow you to download dedicated betting apps that will let you check NBA lines anytime you like and place bets with just a couple clicks.
One of the best reasons to bet by phone is live betting. Live or in-play betting allows you to put money down on a game that’s already in progress. You might want to take advantage of the change in odds after one team takes an early lead, hedge an earlier bet, or just quickly get some extra action on the outcome of the next quarter. NBA odds are constantly being updated at our recommended sportsbooks, with dozens of live betting markets offered on each and every game.
How We Found the Best NBA Betting Sites
Our expert team evaluates each and every NBA betting site they come across, rating them on a variety of different factors. Only when a site impresses our team in all areas will it be included on our recommended list.
While our team is instructed to look at every aspect of an NBA sports betting site, there are a few key criteria that they are especially focused on. Here’s a quick look at the factors that play the biggest roles in determining our recommendations.
Bonuses
Whether you’re an experienced sports bettor or you’re trying NBA online betting for the first time, you’ll want to get the best bonus possible when you sign up for a new site.
These bonuses add value to your deposits and play on a site, and the more bonus money you can get, the better. We also take a look at ongoing bonuses and promotions that will give you additional value, like free bets and special deals throughout the NBA season.
Security and Reputation
There is nothing more important to a good online sportsbook than ensuring that the site is trustworthy and reliable. Even if you’re getting the best NBA betting odds possible, that’s not worth anything if you’re not sure a site is safe or that it will pay you when you win. That’s why all of our recommended NBA betting sites are well regulated and have a track record of quality service for bettors.
Payouts and Banking
Our team looks for sites that offer a wide range of banking methods for our players. From credit cards to bank transfers, e-wallets, prepaid options and more, we want to see that a site makes it easy for our readers to get money into and out of their account.
We also look for NBA betting sites that offer quick payouts to players who win, because we think you deserve to enjoy your earnings as quickly as possible.
The Best NBA Betting Odds
Finally, we’re always on the lookout for sites that offer the best NBA odds possible. That means that we’re always interested in sportsbooks that offer extra juice on NBA lines and higher payouts on futures markets.
Many of our recommended sites also set their NBA betting lines independently from each other, meaning that if you sign up for more than one, you’ll be able to shop around for the best odds possible each time you want to make a bet.
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FAQS
Where can I bet on the NBA?
Today, you can enjoy legal NBA betting in numerous states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Oregon Rhode Island. All NBA betting sites recommended by our experts are fully regulated, legal, and trustworthy.
How do you bet on basketball?
There are a number of different ways to bet on basketball games. You can bet on single games by looking at NBA lines and making either spread bets or money line bets. Other popular bets include over/under and futures.
What does ATS mean in betting?
ATS is short for “against the spread.” This statistic tells you how a particular team has done over the course of the season (or in recent games) when compared to NBA betting lines. A team with a good ATS record has generally done better than the lines have suggested, while a bad ATS record shows that the team has fallen below oddsmakers’ expectations.
How do you bet the money line in basketball?
In order to bet the money line, you simply have to pick a team to win a game. If the team wins, you win your bet. Money lines are the simplest form of NBA betting so good for beginners.
What is a parlay bet in basketball?
A parlay bet is when several different wagers are combined into a single bet. If all of those individual bets are winners, then the parlay wins as well. However, a single loss typically means that the parlay is a loser.
Ed Scimia
Ed Scimia is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the gaming industry. He graduated from Syracuse University in 2003 with degrees in Magazine Journalism and Political Science. Ed is also the author of So Bad, It’s Good, a book on great movies for bad movie nights. In his free time, Ed is a competitive curler who coaches the Yale curling team.