Outright Betting Markets for Basketball

There are many markets available in basketball betting - here we tell you the most common and popular bets and what they mean. The outright market bets are generally made before the season starts or when the season has just started. As the season progresses the markets will change and the odds available will also change.

The NBA format, like the Baseball, American Football and the Ice Hockey format in the USA means that the teams compete with each other in three different ways – each team is put into a division, and a division is put into a conference and the two conferences make the overall championship.

The Divisions

There are 6 divisions. They are “regional” (the area where they are from) these are Atlantic, Central, South East, North West, Pacific and South West. Each division contains five or six teams.

Division betting includes the following markets:

Outright Winner – You choose Team A to win the division e.g. Boston Celtics to win The Atlantic Division @ 2/1

This bet is a straight "Win" bet on the team that you think will win the Atlantic division. The odds are very short in this market because of the small number of teams on each division but you can also place parlays, accumulators and permutation bets in this market:

Because there are six divisions it is possible to gamble using doubles, triples or 4,5,6-fold accumulators –

e.g. Boston Celtics to Win The Atlantic Division @2/1 and Chicago Bulls to Win the Central division @12/1 DOUBLE - $50

A double bet means that the stake of $50 is one bet on TWO results so for this bet to WIN then both Boston Celtics AND Chicago Bulls must win their divisions. Double bets are attractive as they pay a lot more than if you place two separate “Single” bets:

$50 double on a 2/1 and a 12/1 = $1950

$50 x 2/1 + $50 (stake) = $150 x 12/1 = $1800 + $150 (stake) = $1950

The Conferences

There are two conferences, both conferences contain three divisions each - the Eastern Conference (The Atlantic, Central and South East) and the Western conference (The North West, The Pacific and The South West) and have 15 teams each.

Conference betting – like the division betting contains the following markets:

Outright Winner – You choose Team A to win the conference e.g. Boston Celtics to win The Eastern Conference @ 8/1

This bet is a straight "Win bet on the team or teams that you think will win either the Eastern or Western Conference. The odds here will be longer than the division winners but shorter than the Championship winner odds.

You can also play "Doubles" or "Parlay" bets so you could bet on one team to win the Eastern Conference and one team to win the Western conference in a single bet. e.g.

Detroit Pistons to Win the Eastern Conference @ 25/1 and Los Angeles Clippers to Win the Western Conference @ 20/1 DOUBLE - $10

Each Way – Because there are 15 teams in each conference it is also possible to place each way bets to Win or finish 2nd in the conference.

Team A to make the playoffs – You can choose which teams you think may not WIN the conference outright but may still reach the play offs.

The Championship

The championships are games played between the division winners and the conference winners.

Championship Winner - This bet is a straight "Win" Outright or Each Way bet on the team that you think will become the overall NBA Champions. Here you will find longer odds.

Other Ante-Post Bets

Who will be Rookie of the year? - This is a bet on the player that you think will be voted the best new player of the NBA season.

Who will be MVP? - This is a bet on the player that you think will be the most valuable (best) player of the NBA season - this result is decided by statistics such as Most points scored, most steals, most blocks, etc.