What Is Handicap In Basketball
Despite basketball’s simplicity, developing advanced NBA betting knowledge and getting an edge over the bookmaker takes time and effort. This article explains the basic rules of basketball, the different types of bets you can place and outlines what you should consider if you want to make money from NBA betting. Read on to learn how to bet on the NBA.
- Chapter 12: How to Handicap a NCAA Basketball Game. Chapter 13: NCAA Basketball: Rating the Conferences. Chapter 14: College Basketball: Out-of-Conference Play. Chapter 15: NCAA Basketball: Teams and Conference Play to Bet On. Chapter 16: Betting on College Basketball Conference Tournaments. Chapter 17: Offense Versus Defense in NCAA Basketball.
- European Handicap. Handicap betting applies a pre-match advantage (or disadvantage) to one of the competing teams or players. In such a way, the bet is determined to be won or lost only after adding the handicap to the final result of the event. Here is an example, as applied to.
Basketball handicapping is the best way to tilt the balances in your favor, especially if you don't have time to watch all the games.
Basketball is renowned for being one of the most fast-paced professional team sports. An end-to-end style of play and high scoring games make basketball exciting for both fans and bettors. The rules of the sport are fairly straightforward, while the betting markets range from the simple to more complex.
NBA betting: Understanding the rules
The NBA is considered to be the elite of professional basketball around the world, but the rules of basketball are universal in all leagues (whether it’s club level Liga ACB and Greek Basketball League or international competitions like FIBA’s EuroBasket).
Two teams of five players compete in a game of basketball on a 28.7m x 15.2m (NBA) or 28m x 15m (FIBA) court. The two teams try to outscore each other by dribbling and passing their way up the court to shoot (offence) and dispossessing their opponents or blocking scoring attempts (defence).
The volume of games each team play also means the impact of road games (games played away from home) is arguably bigger than in other sports.
Points are scored by shooting the ball through a hoop 46cm in diameter, raised 3.05m off the ground. Points come in the form of field goals (two points for scoring within the three-point line and three points for scoring outside the three-point line) or free throws (awarded after a rule violation and worth one point).
A game is either split into halves or quarters - in the NBA it is 12-minute quarters. Unlike soccer, games cannot end in a draw and OT (overtime) will be used to determine a winner.
The NBA consists of 30 teams split into the East and West conference with three divisions in each. Teams play 82 games throughout the regular season (an equal split of home and away). The eight teams with the best win-loss record in each conference progress to the knockout format playoffs with the winner of the final winning the NBA Championship.
How to bet on the NBA: Basic bet types
Money Line
The Money Line in NBA betting is the same as the Money Line in NFL betting and baseball betting - the sports may be different but it is just a bet on who will win the game.
Handicap
Handicap betting in basketball is slightly more advanced than Money Line betting as teams are given a positive or negative point handicap to counter the perceived difference in ability.
This means if a team is a heavy favourite they will have a negative handicap to overcome, while the underdog will have a positive handicap that acts as a head start.
Totals
It doesn’t matter which team wins the game when it comes to Totals in NBA betting - it is simply betting on whether the total number of points scored by both sides will be over or under a figure set by the bookmaker.
More advanced NBA betting markets
While the majority of bet types apply to what happens throughout the game as a whole, some markets focus on the outcome of an individual quarter, the first half or even the season as a whole.
Quarter and half betting
In addition to betting on the more basic markets mentioned above, bettors can also choose to bet on the first quarter or first half of an NBA game. The options - Money Line, Handicap and Totals - are the same but the time period for which the bet relates to is just reduced.
If a team starts quickly but then tails off towards the end of the game, betting on them to win the first quarter or first half might make sense. Similarly, if both teams tend to rack up points early on, a bet on the over for first quarter or first half totals might be a popular choice.
Outright markets
Betting on individual games leaves little margin for error and instances of randomness and luck will likely influence the result. Outright markets, however, are bets that typically cover a longer period of time - this could be the 82-game regular season in the NBA or even longer.
The outright winner of the NBA Championship, Eastern and Western Conference winners, total season wins for individual teams and the winner of the MVP (most valuable player) award are just a few examples of outright NBA betting markets available at Pinnacle.
NBA betting: Important things to consider
Experienced bettors will know that betting isn’t about finding an in-form team coming up against a team that has struggled to win of late because it should be a “sure thing.” There are various factors that should be considered in every sport, before converting odds into probability, compare it to the available odds and only bet when you have positive expected value.
Injuries and rotation
Experienced basketball bettors will know there are various factors that should be considered in order to help get an edge in NBA betting. Due to the speed and intensity at which games are played and sheer volume of games in a season, injuries frequently occur and squad rotation is common practice in the NBA.
Due to the fact that teams will often change their starting lineup and sometimes rest their star players ahead of big games, reacting to team news and injury updates is one way to get an edge in NBA betting. Sometimes social media platforms like Twitter can prove to be a useful source of this kind of information.
- Read: The best NBA Twitter accounts for basketball betting.
If an integral player misses a game (be it the coach’s decision or enforced through injury) the odds for that team’s opponent winning the game could dramatically change. If bettors are the first to react to this, they will benefit from higher odds and be rewarded with more potential profit.
Team schedule
While all teams play the same number of games in the regular season (and play each team at least once), the NBA has an asymmetrical structure that means individual team schedules can vary greatly in terms of the strength of opponent.
Even if teams score a lot of threes, they need to achieve a balance in terms of where their scoring shots are taken from in order to succeed.
The volume of games each team play also means the impact of road games (games played away from home) is arguably bigger than in other sport. A longer schedule introduced ahead of the 2017/18 season means teams no longer have to play the dreaded “four in five” (four road games in five nights) but can still play four road games in a row, all in different time zones.
Fatigue and lack of sleep are more prevalent when it comes to home advantage in NBA betting - if a team is at home and playing a team at the end of an arduous four road game stretch, their chances of winning will differ greatly to if they had come up against that team at the start of their road game stretch.
Statistics that will inform your betting
As with any sport, analysing statistics will improve your knowledge and can help bettors make more informed decisions when it comes to NBA betting. There is a wealth of team and player performance data available, as well as betting specific statistics that will benefit bettors.
Teams’ ATS (against the spread) record will show how often they have beaten the handicap mark set by the bookmaker. Over/Under records can be used to analyse how often teams have featured in games that have been over or under the totals figure.
A longer schedule introduced ahead of the 2017/18 season means teams no longer have to play the dreaded “four in five” (four road games in five nights).
Bettors can also look at how often teams win or lose when they are the favourite or underdog and track odds movement ahead of individual games to try and identify betting patterns. Stats like these can also be used to assess how accurate the bookmaker’s estimation of each team’s performance is.
Points in the paint - points scored within the key or from the free throw line - is an important team performance statistic as it is the most efficient way to score in basketball. Even if teams score a lot of threes, they need to achieve a balance in terms of where their scoring shots are taken from in order to succeed.
If a team has an above average ratio of three-pointers compared to points in the paint, bettors should look at how efficient the opponent is at defending against three-point shooters. This is just one example of something that will help identify teams’ strengths and weaknesses, find unbalanced matchups and take advantage of discrepancies in the bookmakers’ odds in NBA betting.
Handicap basketball betting betting typically adds points to one team before the start of the game. This is done to try and level the playing field between a favourite team and an underdog team.
Handicap Basketball Betting Explained
Handicap betting is a valuable tool for punters when one team is highly favored over the other team. To balance the alleged bias in strength, bookmakers offer a handicap to even the playing field.
The Handicap basketball betting number often displayed as either – or + a figure, such as -6.5 or +6.5 points is factored into the final results to determine the match’s results for the purpose of the wager. This means that the handicap outcome is at times different from the true result.
For instance, look at these two handicap wagers:
Warriors: (+6.5) 2.0
Indiana: (-6.5) 1.8
If Indiana won the match (100-96), wagers on their handicap would lose. This is because for the purpose of this wager they started the match with -6.5 points, and therefore the bookmakers would have to subtract 6.5 from the final results.
This makes the event outcome 93.5-96 in the Warrior’s favour.
If Indiana won 105-95, the adjusted handicap outcome will be 98.5- 95, which means the Indiana still win.
Basketball Betting Rules
For bets to stand at least 35 minutes of play must have elapsed.
Betting on the game handicap, money line or total points (under or over) include any overtime scoring unless otherwise stated. Overtime only counts to determine the game handicap, money line, and total points (under or over) and not a two game series outcome.
Overtime will not count to fourth quarter betting.
Half Time/Full Time- Overtime does not count towards the half time/full time result.
Unless stated before a competition, all matches must be played on the stipulated date and at the planned location to have action.
Matches/events must be played on the stipulated dates for the wagers to be valid. For re-scheduled matches played on the same day at a different time, the wagers will be valid. However, if a match is re-scheduled for a different date, all wagers will be void.
Basketball Betting Systems
Few sports are better suited to bet on than Handicap basketball betting. It is a simple sport for even the most casual sports fan to grasp. There’re a variety of ways to gamble on basketball, all of which are very easy to understand. Possibly the most common basketball wager involves betting a point spread. You don’t necessarily have to predict the winner, you are just wagering on how many points your favourite team will win or lose by.
Another well-known basketball wager is under/over, or total. Here the bookmaker sets a total number of points that both teams are believed to score in a match. The punter either bets the teams will score under or over the predicted total.
Money Line wager
The money line is probably the simplest wager. Here the punter is required to predict the winning team. Favourite teams usually pay less than the underdogs in Handicap basketball betting.
As long as basketball wagering has been around, punters have been developing systems to improve on the odds. A good basketball betting system allows punters to place a good number of bets without investing a lot of time researching on the games. It also enables punters to exploit current trends for immediate proceeds.
There’re almost limitless numbers of basketball betting systems. Some involve fairly complex math. For instance, a punter might create a formula from statistics variables such as the winning probabilities of both teams.
What Is Handicap In Basketball Player
A punter might also choose to bet against a team at the end of a road trip, when psychological or physical weariness could have serious effect on players. This strategy could also be used for a smart under/over wager.
Another strategy involves finding a match where bookmakers have set the total evenly. If the teams play each other less frequently, or are from rival leagues, betting the over can be a winning strategy.
Basketball Spread Betting
When you play the spread, you are not wagering whether your favourite team will lose or win the game, you are wagering how many points they may lose or win by.
Spread betting can make the most uneven event interesting. You can gamble on the expansion team to rise to the occasion and not lose by 20, or bet that your favourite team will win in a blowout. You can also wager that the underdog team will keep it close against the defending champion playing on home court.
How to calculate the probability of betting odds & payout
Basketball spread betting lines are recognizable by the use of the – or + symbols. When a team has a spread line with a + sign, it indicates that the team should lose the match by fewer number of points that what is stipulated in the line or win the match outright. The – sign indicates that the team must win the match by a greater number of points than what is stipulated in the line.
We have touched on many aspects of basketball betting including the rules, systems and strategies along with using the spread to place wagers on basketball. Hopefully you will now have a better understanding of handicap betting on basketball and can utilise these insights to become a profitable player when pitted against the bookmakers.
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What Is A Handicap In Basketball
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