NBA odds are pretty easy to understand as there is a pointspread, a total and a money line. Let’s look at each of these three choices in NBA betting odds. NBA odds will normally list all of three of these options. It will look something like this:
Houston Rockets 192 +130
Dallas Mavericks -3 -150
If you like Dallas you will be laying 3 points at the traditional $110 for $100. That means you are laying $110 to win $100 dollars on Dallas at -3. You can wager any amount you like within the limits from $2 to thousands of dollars or more at the same equivalent in NBA odds. The Mavericks must win the game by more than 3 points for you to win your bet against the NBA betting odds in this example. If you like Houston you are getting the 3 points at the same $110 for every $100 you want to win in NBA odds. The total listed of 192 is the total amount of points scored in the game. You can bet over or under that total. The risk is the same $110 for every $100 you want to win versus the NBA betting odds. To collect on the over, the game must reach a total of 193, and conversely if you bet the under you need less than 192 points to win the bet versus the NBA betting odds. If the game lands exactly on 192 points the bet is considered at tie, or what is called a push versus the NBA odds, and all money is refunded.
The numbers to the far right of the team’s names are the money line in NBA odds. If you like Dallas you will be risking $150 for every $100 dollars you want to win or the 15/10 equivalent in NBA odds. If you like Houston you will get $130 dollars for every $100 you risk or the 13/10 equivalent in NBA odds.
The difference that you see between the $110 and $100 or the $150 and $130 is called the vigorish and it is what makes the sportsbooks money when they post the NBA odds. You will see varying degrees of vigorish depending upon your wager. In the previous money line example you will notice that instead of the traditional 10-cent line the difference is 20-cents. That is quite common when dealing with money lines in NBA betting odds.
Those are the basics for looking at NBA odds and what you are likely to see when making a bet at a sportsbook.
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