How does basketball handicapping work?

Many people are new to the idea of wagering on basketball or understand exactly how basketball handicapping works. This article will teach you some basic ideas behind basketball handicapping so that you can start playing right away. If you already have an understanding of how basketball handicapping works then we suggest learning more about our basketball predictions.

The first important concept to learn is the point spread of the basketball game. This information has been around for a long time in the sports section of the newspaper and now all over the Internet. Usually the point spread will be listed to the team that is favored but could be next to either team. The point spread used in basketball is decided through basketball handicapping to make the point spread attractive to both teams. The line should be accurate but it will be moved to where Vegas feels they will receive equal bets on both teams. The reason this is done is so that they will be able to collect a percentage of all losing bets.

For example, if the Lakers were playing the Celtics and you saw a “-5” next to the Lakers team name this would mean that the Lakers are favored to win by five points. Using this basketball handicapping method as an example, if you were to wager on the Lakers they would have to win by 6 or more for you to cover your bet. If you were to take the Celtics, then they could lose by 4 or less for you to cover your bet. This is the easiest and most commonly used basketball handicapping system since it is easy to understand.

Another form of basketball handicapping is to play what is called the moneyline. Using the same example as above, the amount of money that you place on the basketball game would dictate how much you are paid depending on who wins the game. In this form of basketball handicapping, the point spread does not matter. If you were to place a wager on the Lakers (who are the favorites) and they win the game, then you might make 200 but would have to bet 220 to win that amount. If you were to take the Celtics, you can place a wager of 200 and win 220 since they are the underdogs.

The last common example of basketball handicapping is known as the Over / Under. A line is set for the predicted total amount of points scored by both teams during a game. For example if the Over / Under for our example is set at 180, then you can either bet that the total amount of points for the game is over or under the 180 point total. If you were to place a wager on the over, the teams would need to score at least 181 points for you to win and if you took the under then the teams would have to combine for 179 points of less.

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