Best NBA Money Lines Betting Guide Explained
The NBA has well over 100 games between the regular season (82 games) and the postseason (up to four best-of-seven series).
With that, there are ample opportunities to bet on NBA money lines and other betting markets.
Because you’re here, we’re assuming that you’re asking the question, “what does moneyline mean in basketball?”
Here, we’re not only going to answer that, but we’ll also go into deep detail about understanding the betting odds, important terms to know, and more.
What Is The Money Line In Basketball Betting?
In NBA betting, the moneyline is a wager type where you’re picking which team will win the game. This is the most straightforward wager you can make as it’s a true head-to-head selection without any frills or concessions.
How do NBA Moneyline Odds Work?
With moneyline odds, these could vary vastly depending on the teams playing. As mentioned, this is a true head-to-head bet, so the odds will reflect the superiority and inferiority of each team. Depending on the teams, you could see them both near -110 odds (a standard betting line for point spread bets, which are designed to make the teams even) or with one team as a massive favorite.
How To Read NBA Moneyline Odds
When betting on the moneyline, you can clearly see which team is favored and the other is the underdog. In sports betting, teams are notated by a “-” and a “+.”
Below, we’ll look at how to read the NBA odds for a favored and underdog team. We’ll also use examples for how much money you’d win on each bet by looking at wagering $100 and winning $100.
NBA Moneyline Odds: Favored
For moneyline wagers, any team with a “-” is the favored squad. With favored teams, the number associated with the “-” is how much you’ll need to wager to win $100. As you’ll see in the example below, the Oklahoma City Thunder are -148. In addition to being the favored team, you’ll win $100 when you wager $148.
At -148, the Thunder have an implied win probability of 59.68%.
| NBA | SPREAD | MONEY |
| Oklahoma Thunder | -3 (-110) | -148 |
| Indiana Pacers | +3 (-110) | +126 |
NBA Betting Money Line: Underdog
The underdog on a moneyline wager will have “+” odds. While “-” odds require you to wager the odds attached to win $100, with the underdog, you’ll win the amount attached to the odds when you wager $100.
The example below shows the Utah Jazz at +660. So, if you wager $100 and the bet is successful, you’ll win $660. However, with this bet, the win probability is quite low, at just 13.16%.
| Utah Jazz | +12.5 (-110) | +660 |
| Boston Celtics | -13.5 (-110) | -1000 |
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NBA Vegas Money Line: Important Terms To Know
- Juice/Vig: You can determine the juice/vig when you look at a favored team. Any number beyond -100 is treated as juice. For example, if a bet is -148, the -48 is considered the juice, which is essentially the fee you’re paying to bet on the favored squad.
- Parlay: A parlay is another betting market, but you can use it to wager on multiple moneyline bets at once. Using the examples above, you may be able to bet on the Jazz at +660 and Thunder at -148 individually, but with a parlay, you can bet on them together to receive +1173 odds. However, when you create and wager on a parlay, you need all games added to it to win for it to succeed. Using the same example, if the Thunder win and Jazz lose, the entire parlay will settle as a loss.
- Legs: For each game, you add to a parlay, these will be labeled as “legs.” It's basically the different events or bet types added to your slip.
- Units: A betting unit is an amount you’re most comfortable wagering, which is usually generated from a percentage of your bankroll. For example, if you have $500 and want to wager 10% per bet, your unit would be $50.
- Handle: The handle is used to describe the amount of money received on a bet. This can influence the odds on a moneyline.
- Reverse Line Movement: If you go to bet on a moneyline and notice that the line moves in the opposite way (for example, -148 to -140) even though the majority of the handle favors that team, this could be an indication that the sportsbook you’re playing at received a large volume of wagers from “sharp bettors.”
Where It’s Legal to Bet On NBA Money Lines
In May 2018, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned, opening the door for individual states to legalize sports betting. As of March 2023, the following states allow you to wager on NBA games—including moneylines—right now.
| Arizona | Arkansas | Colorado | Connecticut |
| Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas |
| Louisiana | Maine (pending) | Maryland | Massachusetts |
| Michigan | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey |
| New York | Ohio | Oregon | Pennsylvania |
| Rhode Island | Tennessee | Virginia | Washington D.C. |
| West Virginia | Wyoming | --- | --- |
Basketball Money Line Strategies
It goes without saying, but when betting on the moneyline, you’ll want to ensure that the team has their best players on the court or those solid depth pieces. Before making any final wagers, we strongly encourage you to review injury reports, as these will show you the availability of each player on the team.
With 82 regular season games, there will be plenty of times when teams play three games in a row or three games in four days. When this happens, given how physically demanding the sport is, this game following this stint of time could be a potential spot for the team to take a loss.
When betting the moneyline, getting all the value you can is vital, especially if you want to bet on the favorite. If you’re in a state with multiple online sportsbooks, you must review the bet you want to make at each of them to see where the best value is.
At some online sportsbooks, you’ll have access to information about how much money is wagered on each moneyline. If the general consensus is leaning one way, this could be an opportunity to lean the opposite way to get even better odds.
If you make a pregame moneyline wager, you can still bet the moneyline as the game is in progress. Using the Thunder and Indiana Pacers example above, if you bet $100 on the Thunder at -148 but find them losing in the fourth quarter, you could bet on the Pacers to hedge your original wager, which means limiting the losses. For example, if the Pacers had odds of -129 in the fourth quarter, you could bet $94.40 to lose just $26.83 as opposed to the full $100.
Getting Started On NBA Money Lines
- Please take a look at our online sportsbook reviews. When doing so, check to see if the site you’re looking into is available in your state.
- Once you pick where to play, head over to the desktop site or download the mobile app.
- Next, it’s time to create an account. Click “Register” or “Join Now” in the upper right-hand corner.
- You’ll need to provide personal information such as your name, date of birth, address, last four digits of your social security number, and more.
- After your account is created, make your first deposit.
- Before doing so, review your welcome bonus to see if any minimum deposit amount is required.
- After completing your deposit, head to the homepage, then navigate to the NBA page.
- Here, you’ll see a list of games with the moneyline odds attached.
- Pick what you want to bet on, load it into the betlsip, add the amount you want to wager, and wait for the final result.
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Conclusion on NBA Moneyline Odds
While the moneyline may be the most straightforward wager to understand in NBA betting, there’s still plenty of detail and information to learn.
In addition to describing this bet type, we hope you walked away with a new understanding of how to read the odds, how much money you need to wager to win a certain amount, some strategies to help improve your win rate, and more. Before making your next NBA moneyline odds wager, be sure to come and review this page to set yourself up for success.
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