Since sports betting was made legal in 38 states, the number of Americans who have taken to betting on sports continues to increase. A Seton Hall Sports Poll found that in 2024 alone, 37% of respondents said they’d participated in sports betting. This reflects an upward trajectory, considering that 2023 recorded 34% and 2022 saw 28%.
Credit: Gobierno CDMX under License CC0 1.0 Universal. No changes were made to the image.
Nowadays, while it’s possible to bet on practically any sporting event, many favor basketball. According to a recent Statista analysis, nearly 53% said that basketball was their preferred sport to place wagers on. Naturally, the majority of these basketball bets are focused on the NBA.
As the most successful professional basketball league in the world, the NBA pulls in an average yearly revenue of over $13 billion. For sports bettors, such a lucrative and well-established organization means that there are usually more betting markets to enjoy and higher payouts to look forward to.
That said, because of how busy the NBA sports betting sector is, there also remains a lot of risk for unprepared bettors. In order to prevent painful losses while also improving your chances of success, here are a few ways that you can make the most of your betting odds:
Try betting with cryptocurrencies instead
As a decentralized digital currency, cryptocurrencies provide significant perks for sports bettors. If you look at the crypto betting platform Thunderpick’s NBA betting odds, you can see that it’s possible to study and place wagers on live games as well as future fixtures. While regular fiat currencies can work just fine for these, the speed and cost-efficiency that crypto offers ensure that bettors can make more timely and agile movements, no matter how quickly odds change. At the same time, since you can use a variety of tokens, like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Tether, and Ethereum, you have more options to customize your betting strategy in light of shifting odds. Overall, this level of flexibility will help you react better to time-sensitive odds without compromising your long-term betting strategy.
Optimize team and player data
Doing additional research past the info that sportsbooks offer can provide more context around betting odds. This ensures that you’re seeing the bigger picture rather than just what looks good for this one wager. Depending on what you’re betting on, it helps to study patterns among players, managers, and teams. For instance, if a new player’s betting odds have piqued your curiosity, looking into their NBA draft history may help paint a better picture of their performance. Just this 2024, on the first day of the draft, which was split into two days for the first time ever, four ACC players called. With this data, it’ll then be easier to determine if the odds you’re seeing are a fluke or if they’re more likely to pan out favorably.
Calculate your potential losses
It might sound counterintuitive, but calculating losses means you have a better grasp of your bankroll. As any experienced sports bettor will tell you, your bankroll should be the disposable income you can afford to lose. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for bettors to overlook this fact when faced with tempting odds. This is especially true when the odds are in favor of a favored team or player. For example, when the Utah Jazz defeated the Dallas Mavericks to nab their 3rd win, you can bet that diehard fans were only too happy to bet in their favor. This is despite the fact that the team has struggled with injuries and inconsistent efforts. If you’re unsure how to compute potential losses manually, the online casino BetMGM offers a digital betting odds calculator that can compute them for you. With these numbers, it’ll be easier for you to weigh in on NBA betting odds with a level head.
Cross-reference with your past strategies
Although there are well-known betting approaches, like the positive progression or martingale system, no two bettors tackle this activity exactly the same. This is usually indicative of how comfortable you are with risks, how sizable your bankroll is, and even how deeply invested you are with NBA sports betting. In order to stay in the game longer, understanding the strategy that works best for you is thus essential. So, if certain betting odds align with what you’ve already found to work well in the past, then chances are it’s worth buying into. Additionally, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge of how to interpret said odds so that you can make the right calls without risking your own cash. This is a valuable step to take, which is why AI systems like BetBuddy are now available to tailor betting suggestions. This uses machine learning, so the betting odds it recommends are well within your comfort zone.
.jpg){kind=link}