With basketball being one of the big major sports in Canada and the USA, it means that there is naturally a great deal of basketball betting interest knocking around. The center of focus in basketball is the NBA which of course boasts Canadian interests as well.
There is not only a long regular season for all teams, with the likes of the Toronto Raptors traveling far and wide for lengthy road trips as well as homestays, but the end of the regular season is also really only a beginning.
When the NBA playoffs begin the action goes to a whole new level. From the preseason NBA draft, through the pre-season, the regular season and then the postseason, basketball betting is a pretty big deal.
With online sports betting, there are a host of different basketball markets for any punter to take a deep dive into. But while there are long term NBA odds on futures like naming the next Champions, and props bets on an individual player’s performance in a match, the main focus for NBA odds is the simple money line and spread markets.
The money line is as straightforward as it gets for sports betting in Canada basketball markets. The money line is just the odds presented based on the likelihood of each team producing a win in the match. There will be a favorite and there will be an underdog.
The money line picks in NBA odds just means a punter swings either way on an outcome. Parlay bets are popular in basketball betting, which is collating a few money line picks put together in one bet.
Punters can quickly get online and place a pick on the outcome of the NBA Championship Series, Division Winners, Conference Winners and the Regular Season MVP as well. There is such a great variety of basketball markets available.
Live betting on basketball odds is another way to look at things. There are a lot of active markets in play when a match has started, from the To Win Quarter options to points races.
There is more to basketball than just the NBA of course. There are major international tournaments in which the Canada basketball teams for both men and women, get in on the action, such as during the Olympic Games events.
So that angle brings a bit of national pride into the mix. There are subtle differences between the Olympic matches and NBA matches. The courts are a little smaller in the Olympics and the quarters are over a shorter period as well.
There are major basketball leagues not only from the big North American markets of Canada and the USA but also in Europe and beyond. The EuroLeague Championship features the best teams of Europe battling it out for honors.
Basketball’s a global sport and that’s a great thing for punters. The balance of the timing of matches means that there is rarely a downtime away from some basketball matches happening somewhere.
Along with the money line on NBA odds and spreads bets, the Totals market in basketball betting is hugely popular. Instead of focusing on who will win a match, a punter can select an Over/Under option on how many points will be scored in a match (the tally of both teams’ points).
There are basically two options, depending on your territory. If you fancy a wager on some NBA odds, for example, you can either look at online betting which can be done via a reputable bookmaker, or you can visit the nearest physical sportsbook location.
At the end of a regular NBA season, there will be sixteen teams going forward to the NBA Playoffs. That’s eight from the Western Conference and eight from the Eastern Conference. The Conferences are on opposite sides of the bracket and it boils down to the champions of each Conference dueling for the NBA Championship.
The NBA dominates things in North America, but you can also find markets for College basketball, especially when March Madness rolls around. Other major leagues from around the world to look out for in a sportsbook include the EuroLeague, EuroCup, Turkey’s Super League, Spain’s Liga ACB and Italy’s Serie A.