Basketball Betting Guide - How To Bet On Basketball
Updated July 22, 2026
From a betting standpoint, basketball is quite similar to football and if you have the basics of football betting down, you can easily make the transition to both pro and college basketball. The basic bets are exactly the same; one of the few differences between the two sports is the number of points you lay or take with teasers and pleasers. Here, we go over all of the basketball betting options that are available and some other things to remember when wagering on this sport.
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With basketball being as popular as it is around the world, it is no surprise that there are tons of betting markets to choose from in this sport. Below are the main options to choose from when betting on hoops and what you should know before placing your bets on the hardwood for each of them.
As with football, the most common method of betting on basketball involves the point spread. With this market, it is up to bettors to select which team will have the higher score after the point spread is applied. When betting on a favorite, that team will have points deducted from their final score, while underdogs will have points added to their score if you bet on them. Also similarly, bettors are asked to lay -110 odds in most cases when betting on point spreads.
The second most popular method of wagering on basketball, a total (or over/under) is the predicted combined score of the two teams playing. For example, a sportsbook might set a total between two teams at 211.5 points, with it being up to bettors to decide whether they think those teams will combine to go over or stay under that amount of scoring. As with the point spread, bettors typically lay -110 odds, risking $110 to win $100 (or a proportional amount) on totals.
The point spread and totals make up the vast majority of basketball wagers, but just like football, bettors have the moneyline option available to them as well. The moneyline is a bet on the winner without the spread, with odds that are more heavily juiced for favorites or at plus prices for underdogs in most cases.
You’ll find moneyline betting on the majority of college basketball games, but with the talent disparity as great as it is, many times it’ll be tough to find moneylines on prohibitive favorites, especially in the early part of the season when the big conference teams are playing weaker non-conference opponents to pad their records.
Basketball bettors have their choice of the point spread, moneyline, totals, and prop bets when betting parlays, in which all the selected picks must win for you to win your bet. Parlays consisting of point spreads and totals are paid out at largely fixed odds since those options at -110 odds theoretically make all picks a 50-50 proposition. Payouts vary among sportsbooks, but they will resemble the following:
2 teams 13-to-5
3 teams 6-to-1
4 teams 11-to-1
5 teams 22-to-1
6 teams 40-to-1
7 teams 80-to-1
8 teams 150-to-1
9 teams 300-to-1
10 teams 600-to-1
Moneyline parlays are calculated using the odds of each team in the parlay. Fortunately, you can get a glimpse into what the payout for these parlays will be before you confirm your bet, as sportsbooks will show you those numbers so that you can decide whether or not to finalize your wager. For payout purposes, point spread teams in your parlay are calculated at -110 odds.
Another popular form of parlay is the Same Game Parlay at legal US sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook. With a Same Game Parlay (SGP), bettors can build a parlay using multiple facets of a single game, including the spread, total, moneyline, and player props. These are not always the best bets, as sportsbooks hold a huge percentage of these wagers relative to straight bets, but they are popular nonetheless.
Basketball teasers work exactly the same way as football teasers, although bettors receive fewer points in which they can move the line. As with parlays, all teams in your teaser must win or the entire bet is declared a loss.
The typical odds for basketball teasers are as follows:
4-point Teasers:
Two teams = 10/11
Three teams = 9/5
Four teams = 3/1
Five teams = 9/2
Six teams = 15/2
4.5-point Teasers:
Two teams = 10/12
Three teams = 8/5
Four teams = 5/2
Five teams = 4/1
Six teams = 7/1
5-point Teasers:
Two teams = 10/13
Three teams = 7/5
Four teams = 2/1
Five teams = 7/2
Six teams = 13/2
Basketball teasers pay off just as they do in football: the first number listed is the amount you stand to win, while the second number is the amount you risk. A three-team 5-point basketball teaser pays off at 7/5, which means you win $7 for every $5 you wager.
However, it should be noted that basketball teasers are not as impactful as they are in football. This boils down to the number of possessions in a game of basketball, which is much higher than the number of possessions in a football game. That can render an extra four or five points meaningless in many instances.
Basketball pleasers follow the same principles as they do in football. You can move the point spread against the team you’re betting on in exchange for a much larger payout. The payouts between sportsbooks vary more with pleasers than traditional bets. As a general rule, bettors have to move the point spread a minimum of 5.5 point for NBA sides, 6 points for college basketball sides, and 7 points for totals. A two-team pleaser involving two NBA sides moved 5.5 will return +600, while a two-team pleaser involving two totals moved 7 points will return the same.
Most sportsbooks limit the number of teams in a pleaser to six, as a six-team pleaser consisting of a combination of 5.5-point moves in the NBA, 6-point moves in college basketball or 7-point moves in basketball totals will return 350-to-1.
First-half lines are posted on all NBA games and the majority of college basketball games, meaning the bets are decided on the score at halftime. These bets tend to be close to half the full-game point spread and total for the NBA, although large favorites of 10 or more points are generally favored a little more than half the full-game spread.
Heavy college basketball favorites are also favored by more than half the total spread, typically a bit more so than in the NBA, but college totals are a different story, as college games are expected to have more scoring in the second half than the first. This is because college teams are more prone to foul than they are in the NBA in the final two minutes, which stops the clock and allows one team to shoot free throws. It isn’t unusual to see 15 or more points in the final minute of a relatively close college basketball game and the oddsmakers are aware of this.
A general guideline is that between 9 and 10 more points are scored in the second half of a college basketball game than in the first, so if the total on a game is 140, the first-half total will typically be between 65 and 66.
Halftime bets are made during the break, when the sportsbooks release point spreads and totals for the second half. All NBA and most of the major-conference college basketball games will have halftime lines. If the game happens to go to overtime, points scored during overtime count toward a halftime bet.
Futures bets are another fun way to wager on basketball. With these bets, you can essentially place a wager on who you think will win a division, conference, or league championship well ahead of time. Injuries can play a huge role in deciding outcomes in basketball, thanks to the relatively small rosters, but if the team you bet on has good injury luck, futures wagers can be a great way to cash a ticket a longer odds than most single-game bets.
There is basketball action available around the clock during the season, from games in the United States to matchups taking place around the world. Below are some of the most noteworthy basketball leagues to wager on and what makes them unique.
When it comes to basketball wagering, it does not get better than NBA betting. The NBA features the best basketball on the planet, with all-time great talents taking the floor on most nights during the season. Each team plays 82 regular season games, while the top teams take part in the playoffs, where legacies are defined and pressure is ramped up to an extremely high level. From a betting perspective, any team can win on any given night given the high level of talent across the league.
College basketball betting is the perfect sport for those who enjoy wagering at higher volumes. There are well over 300 Division I college basketball teams, with odds available on just about every game on the schedule. While March Madness is the marquee event of the college basketball season each year, there are thousands and thousands of games to bet on during each collegiate season, making every night of the season an exciting one.
Something that is rapidly growing in popularity is WNBA betting. Women's basketball is finally starting to get the respect it deserves, with fans starting to invest in the quality of play and emerging star power in the league. Bettors can wager on this league, which is starting to expand, from the first day of the season through the end of the playoffs.
Betting on basketball is not limited to games that are taking place on American soil. There are so many great international competitions to bet on as well. At the top of the list are international competitions like the Olympics and FIBA World Cup. There are also great club competitions in other countries, like the Euroleague and domestic leagues in nations like Spain and Italy that feature plenty of quality, and some familiar faces from here in the states.