How to Bet on March Madness Basketball
We sometimes find that newcomers to the lucrative world of Basketball betting are confused by the types of bets that can be placed so to help you out I will try to explain how simple the whole process really is.
Out of the four major sports to bet on it is commonly considered that betting on Basketball really is the easiest. If you are familiar with betting on football then you will find betting on Basketball extremely easy to pick up.
Point Spread
You will see that the most popular form of basketball betting revolves around the points spread which which is simply a handicap that the sportsbooks price up to make both teams equal when placing a bet. Here is an example of a point spread bet from :
This is a screenshot of a bet on a basketball game at BoDog. As you can see Massachusetts is -4.5 against St.Josephs. The negative sign(-) next to the number indicates the team is favored and the number is the amount they are favored to win by. A positive sign indicates the amount of points a team is given to cover the spread. So for you to bet against the spread you either pick Massachusetts to win by more than4.5 points (essentially to win by 5 more of baskets) or you can pick St. Josephs to cover the 4.5 points (either get within 4 baskets or win the game). Most sportsbooks take either a percent or flat fee for each bet, so you are not just betting $10 to win $10. It most likely will be 10%, so you bet $11 to win $10. Place a bet now at BoDog.com.
Over / Under
Another popular type of bet is known as the totals or under or overs and this is basically betting on the total amount of points that are scored in a game. A total is quoted by the sportsbook and you simply bet if you think the actual total will be either higher or lower than this quote, ie under or over.
Here is an example from BetUs:
In this game the total over under is 139.5 points. So you want to bet if the total scored combined by both teams is above or below 139.5 points. The -110 besides the over and under is the amount you will need to bet to win $100. So you would need to bet $11 to win $10, or $110 to win $100. As you can see this is how the sportsbook make their money by taking that 10% difference. Place a bet now at BetUS.
Money Line Wadgers
We then come on to Money Line Wagers. The two methods described above are by far the most popular types of Basketball bets but the Money Line Wagers are also proving to be a lucrative bet for the more knowledgeable Basketball bettor.
A basic description of this type of bet is simply if you place a bet on the underdog in a Basketball match, and that team wins, you will receive a larger return on the bet. If the favorite wins you will win less. This is because you will be placing the same amount of money on the bet but the money lines are based on the probable outcomes.
It was only a few years ago that the majority of bets were placed in this way but it was found that many people simply placed bets on the favorites and it was decided that alternative types of bets were required to make betting more attractive.
Here is an example of a moneyline bet at Sportsbook.com.
As you can see here you can pick the favorite (indicated by the negative sign) Georgetown -650 to win but will need to wager $65 to win $10, or $650 to win $100. Otherwise you can pick the underdog Rutgers to win and wager $10 to win $45. Bet now at Sportsbook.
Parlays/Teasers
We then come to the more speculative types of bet which are commonly known as parlays or teasers. These type of bets are considered to be more of a fun bet and consist of a bet on several results. For example you may choose to place a parlay on the outcomes of three basketball matches which is great if all three outcomes are correct but as often happens, if two selections win and the last selection loses your return will be zero. Parlays are usually high risk so I would avoid placing much money on them, although it is exciting when you can hit one.
I would highly advise that you take the time to look at the different types of Basketball bets which are offered by each sportsbook. Check out our recommended sportsbooks to bet March Madness and do not forget to check back often for free March Madness picks every round of the tournament.
