NBA betting guide for 2023 in Ontario

How NBA Betting Odds Work

It is crucial to get a good understanding of how NBA odds work before you start gambling. If you are a new player, this example is important for you. This example is an easy one;

Steph Curry to win MVP @ + 400

On the above wager, you will get $500 if you make a bet of $100. You might be wondering how the math works, and it’s simply your $100 + $400 more. The American odds format works this way; favourites are listed with a minus sign (-). So, a bet with -400 odds will pay an extra $25 if won. This would make your total win to be $125.

You will find that bets more likely to be successful with a 50% probability are listed with a plus sign. The following number will be the amount added to the money you wager.

The odds work similarly for other bets. You can also use point spread odds. Here a +7.5 odd means that a team should win or lose by seven points or less. This is mostly used to express an underdog. Players can line shop in the market to find the best odds. A player is exposed to competitive lines that pay better by line shopping.

NBA Best Bets & Betting Options

To enjoy the best value, you must know what to bet on. If you are a basketball fan, you must have studied the market and know how the game goes. You must have a basic understanding of the odds as well. Since our goal is to make your gambling process easier, we will elaborate on the best bets and finest gambling options for NBA betting Ontario players who want to bet on the NBA. This will help you make better decisions and choose finer odds that will result in better outcomes.

Moneyline bets

Moneyline wagers are simple. It’s all about gambling on who will win a match. Point spreads have no significance here, nor does any other factor influence the bet. It’s all about who wins the game. If you place a bet on the Chicago Bulls and they win a game by 50 or 1 point, it does not matter; what matters is the win. And if they are down 1 or 50 points, it doesn’t matter if you lose the bet.

You might be wondering how on earth sportsbooks make moneyline bets fair. Usually, the favourite will have smaller odds of winning, and the underdog will take the bigger odds.

Let’s take an example;

• Toronto Raptors +170

• Denver Nuggets -155

The team with the plus sign are the underdogs; in this case, Toronto Raptors are playing against Denver Nuggets. You will win more if you make a $100 wager on the Toronto Raptors to win the game. You will win $170 more if you bet on Denver Nuggets. To win, you will only be making an extra $64.52. So, all is fair and square, you see.

Point Spreads

Here there is more flexibility than the moneyline. Point spreads are wagers made to predict the margin by which a team will win or lose. It is only in the point spread bets that you can wager on a team to lose. If the scores fall within the spread predicted, you win the wager. The idea of the favourite and underdog still comes into play in the point spread.

When you wager on the favourite, you bet they will win with certain points. If you are wagering on the underdogs, you are gambling that they will not lose by many points. If the underdog emerges victorious, then the bet is won as well. If there is a match between Boston Celtics and LA Lakers and Celtics have +3 spreads and the Lakers have -3 spreads, you need the favourites to win by 4 points, and you need the Boston Celtics to lose the match by 1 or 2 points. If the Celtics win the game, then the bet pays as well. If the favourites win by exactly 3 points, the wager is refunded.

Over/under Bets

This is, by far, one of the most popular bet types in the NBA market behind point spread. In over/under bets, you are predicting if the total points scored in a match will be close to a certain number. This market doesn’t concern any underdog and favourite. The under/over score sums up all the scores in the match. This means that when you are making an under or over bet, you are gambling on the total points scored by both teams.

This wager is easy to make, but it can be technical if you don’t understand the stats of both teams. To make a good under/over bet, you should study all the games played by the teams you want to bet on. Understanding past clashes will give you a better chance to speculate possible outcomes. If the Chicago Bulls are playing the LA Lakers and you make a wager of over 211, then the game has to end at 212 or above to win the bet.

Props Bets

These bets are just cool. A prop bet is usually a bet on an event that does not directly influence the outcome of the game. Most prop bets revolve around individual players. This means that you will be gambling on the achievements of an individual player or an unlikely event in the match.

You will discover from the nature of this market that there are many bet options. It is almost impossible for us to count all the possible prop bets. Examples of prop bets include

• Andrew Wiggins: Dunk (+2000)

• Andrew Wiggins: free throw (+2600)

• Khem Birch: layup (+10000)

You will find many more prop bets available in the market, and the interesting thing is that the odds on these props are above +2000 most of the time. This is because the likelihood of the event happening is very low. You can also wager on how many points a player can make. For these bets, you will find (-) on the odds.

NBA Futures Bets

Patience is a good virtue, and some players are patient. So patient that they could boil a stone till it was soft. These players choose to bet on events that will happen in the future. Both novice and professional players enjoy this type of bet type. Players can bet on a team winning a championship. Favourite teams will have odds with a minus sign (-); if you wager on them, the payout is not always too big. The underdogs have odds with plus signs (+), and they pay bigger.

Parlay betting

A parlay bet is a wager that marries two or more bets; the bet is won if all bets win. Parlays go by different names on different platforms; some bookmakers call them accumulators or combos. Some gambling platforms call it Multis, every wager made in the parlay is termed a leg. If one leg loses, then the bet is lost. This means that every leg must be an accurate prediction for the bet to be won.

If all legs win, you stand to enjoy increased and boosted odds that payout big. You can have a three-team parlay that works this way. If you tie Celtics and Lakers in a moneyline and Knicks in an over/under in a parlay, you will require every match to play as predicted to be able to win. So if Celtics and Lakers deliver on the moneyline and the Under/over cuts, the whole bet is lost. This is a technical kind of gambling that most players have accepted.

Live betting

Gambling on live games is becoming more popular. This NBA gambling type allows bettors to make wagers even after a game has begun. This is contrary to the usual pregame gambling. NBA live betting odds change as the game goes on. If one side is on the attack and is applying pressure, they get the minus odds which means that gambling on them will pay you less. The side on the receiving end will have the plus odds, indicating that they will pay more.

Best NBA Teams to Bet On

Some of the best NBA teams to bet on in Ontario include:

• Toronto Raptors: This professional Canadian NBA team is a sure option to bet on. The team has made a name for itself. Toronto Raptors are among the few Canadian Teams in the NBA. Since 1995 when the team was founded, they have snatched 6 division titles. They have made about 11 playoffs as well. This team was once the winner of the NBA championship.

• Boston Celtics: This American Basketball team has a long history in the NBA. The team has won 17 NBA titles in total. The team has some of the best players in the league and never fails to deliver. When the Celtics play, there are always big points.

• Los Angeles Lakers: Like the Celtics, LA Lakers are always on fire. The NBA team has 17 trophies on its shelf. They have numerous Conference titles and so on.

• Chicago Bulls: you surely want to gamble on the Bulls. The team has 6 conference titles, 9 division titles and 6 championships.

• Miami Heat: This team is always coming in hot. The professional NBA team has 3 championships, 6 conferences and 15 division titles. When you gamble on the Miami Heat, you have a good chance of walking away with something.