Even though the NFL still remains the top choice for bettors in the United States, the NBA is narrowing the gap. According to Statista, around 24% of all participants said that they had placed a bet on an NBA game, which is a significant increase over the last couple of years.
Determining your betting strategy is crucial when it comes to sports betting. In order to bet safely on NBA, you have to acknowledge all factors and analyze stats before matches.
This will not change the outcome of the game, but it will help you manage your risks better. In other words, by following few simple steps you can improve your winning chances and become more profitable.
Let’s go through some of the tips that can make your whole betting experience safer.
Is Online Betting Safe?
When it comes to security, you have to understand that many websites are made to steal personal information or money, which is why you need to be extra careful when choosing your bookmaker.
There are few things you need to consider before placing a bet on NBA, such as:
- Ensure that the gambling site is reputable by doing a background check on the internet. Just go for those ones that have the highest rating from trusted sources.
- Make sure you fully understand the rules of the type of gambling or betting you are taking part in.
- Read and understand the terms and conditions before opening an account.
- Make sure that the website has all the necessary gambling and betting licenses.
- Use strong passwords and never reveal them to other people.
- Make sure that the website is encrypted (has an SSL certificate) before putting your financial information or credit cards.
- Bet only what you are willing to lose.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s focus on NBA betting strategies.
How to Manage Risks Better When Betting
Know Your NBA History
Before investing your hard-earned money into NBA betting, take a moment to look around in the NBA league and check out previous head-to-head matchups. The National Basketball Association is constantly changing, which means that a winning team from the past can be at the bottom of the league table the next year.
Keeping up with all the latest NBA news is crucial for improving your winning chances. You can check out statistics from previous matches and try to analyze them. But, be careful about looking back too far. There are a lot of factors that impact every NBA game and if you look too far, the results won’t be very accurate in the present.
You can find the most underrated players in NBA worth placing your bet here in this list from TwinSpires Edge: https://edge.twinspires.com/nba/the-nbas-most-underrated-players/
Consider the NBA Schedule
One of the most important things when betting on the NBA is the schedule. The National Basketball Association has done its best to minimize the effect of player fatigue by reducing the number of back-to-back games and eliminating multiple games in a row.
However, the 82 games are still a tough schedule, and teams still average 14.4 back-to-back games from October to April.
If you want to bet safely on NBA matches, you need to manage risks. For example, teams playing the second game of back-to-back have an average winning rate of only 44%.
This proves the fact that the NBA schedule is very important, so even the best teams in the NBA league can lose from the underdogs if they have a busy schedule.
Geo-location is Important
Most bettors don’t pay attention to the distance that an NBA team must travel before the game and how many time zones it passes. Players who travel less are way more rested and have more energy for the match. That extra freshness can impact the final result in the game.
Teams like The Golden State Warriors or Portland Trail Blazers achieve the highest travel distance in the league, and the Cleveland Cavaliers have the lowest travel distance in the league.
Home Court Advantage Matters
Obviously, all athletes not just in the NBA prefer to play at home. Home court advantage is very important and can make a big difference in the outcome of the game. That’s why bookmakers usually put higher odds on the visiting team if they are both leveled in terms of skill.
According to a study done by ESPN, an impressive 61.2% out of all NBA games since 1974 are won by the home team. New studies show that this percentage is dropping, but home advantage still plays an important role in the league.
Player Injury
When it comes to NBA betting, you have to pick the right moment to place a wager. Most teams won’t come out with information about injured players until 1-2 days before the match and sometimes it might be hours.
This can have a huge impact on the game and the betting odds will significantly drop or increase. That’s why you have to keep a close eye on the starting team and all the teams update before the match.
For example, the 2019-20 season showed us how the Golden State Warriors fall from five-straight NBA Final appearances to the last place just because of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s injury.
Choose The Best Sportsbooks
Not all betting companies have equal sportsbooks. You’ve may have noticed that many offer different odds and point spreads for the same basketball game. This is where online betting comes in handy. A few years ago, bettors were limited to the odds from their local bookmakers, but now you can show for the best odds on the market.
You should also consider bonus offerings, the rage of betting lines, and safety. If it sounds too good to be true, you should leave the website. It is better to have lower odds than the risk of registering on a sketchy website.
Results are Your Best Friend
Anyone can place a bet on an NBA match and win some money, but turning this into a long-term profitable business is hard. Keeping track of all of your previous wagers can help you build a new winning strategy.
You should consider creating a spreadsheet, with a date, sportsbook, wager, odd, final score, and profit or loss. This will be a helpful tool that will tell you where are you in terms of your strategy, and if you need to change anything in the future.
