The 2018-19 NBA basketball season started off in regular barnstorming fashion. LeBron James has made his impact in LA and the Warriors are not what they used to be. There is now a wide-open field in the Western Conference and once again, the Eastern Conference is up for grabs.

The key to winning basketball is handicapping or finding a reliable handicapping service. Find a game adviser site that can lead the way and give clear direction on which side to bet.

The game itself is 48 minutes long with four quarters split into 12 minutes. The game goes by very quickly, thus making it fun to watch. An MLB or an NFL game can take up to four hours to finish and sometime more. An NBA game usually takes around 2 ½ hours.

In the NBA there are a total of six timeouts allowed and one 20 second timeout allowed per half. The game is fast, smooth and easy to watch. In reality, the NBA was made for TV.

See all the NBA scores and odds

It’s always fun to attend an NBA game in person, however, watching it on TV is better in many ways. As a fan at home you get to see every instant replay, you see the movement and every pass. The score changes constantly and the point spreads can be very close. Most every night in the NBA is a nail biter and you won’t want to leave the action until half time.

There are many betting options for the NBA and a lot of them can be moneymakers if you know the game and play your cards right. Here, we will take a look at two of the more popular wagering options and how they work.

Point Spread Betting:

Point spread betting is by far the most popular way to bet the NBA simply because it’s cheaper than betting the moneyline. (We will get into moneyline wagering in a moment) Most all of the offshore bookmakers, along with the “superbooks” in Las Vegas, have a standard line set for NBA point spread.

When you play the point spread, there are standard odds set for each game, usually -110. This can vary depending on which bookie you are playing with, but not by much. What -110 means is that the bookie is charging .10 cents for every dollar you play. This is called Juice.

Example:

LA Lakers vs. Boston Celtics

Lakers +11.5 -110 | Celtics -11.5 -110

In this line the bookies are saying that the Celtics are 11.5 points better than the Lakers. If you choose to bet on the Celtics, they must win the game by 12 or more points. If you choose to bet on the Lakers, they cannot lose by more than 11 points or you would lose the bet. For every $1.10 that you spend, you win $1.00 or for every $110 that you spend, you win $100.

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Moneyline Betting:

For betting purposes in the NBA, most bookmakers set a moneyline on each NBA game every night. This type of bet does not involve any kind of point spread. All that needs to happen in order for you to win the bet, is to pick a winner straight up.

You are betting one side or the other, one team to win outright. The moneyline bet is much different in that prices can be much higher than the standard point spread bet. The point spread is standard because as the bettor, you are trying to beat the bookies set points amount for the game. In this case you simply need an outright winner.

The oddsmakers, AKA lines movers, set a moneyline number on each game each night. Note: most bookies do not set a money line on any game that has a point spread higher than 9.5.

Example:

New York Knicks vs. Golden State Warriors

Knicks + 450 | Warriors -950

What this means is that if you like the Knicks chances to win the game, for every $100 that you wager, you win $450 plus your $100 back.

If you like the Warriors to win the game, you must wager $950 in order to win $100 plus your $950 back.

As you can see, the numbers are very slanted and the Warriors come with a very high price tag. The reason for this is simple; the Warriors are that much better than the Knicks and the bet is close to a guarantee. In this case, you love the Warriors but hate the high priced moneyline, you can always bet the point spread on the Warriors. In this case it would be somewhere around -9.5 or -10 points. There would be a lot of points to cover but it may be a safer bet and a much easier way to make some real money.

Moneylines and point spreads can differ slightly from sportsbook to sportsbook, and at the end of the year, shopping for better betting lines will help your bottomline.

Note: The above example explains one very bad team playing maybe the best team in the NBA. Most moneyline wagers will require much less money on the favorite for the simple fact that the games are much closer in competition worthiness.

The good news when it comes to betting either the NBA or NCAA College Basketball is, the seasons are long, there is practically some form of basketball all year long. If the NBA and NCAA are not in season, there will always be options offshore, including the WNBA.

Make sure your favorite online bookie offers the WNBA and check that league out. The betting options and principles are exactly the same. Good luck.