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How to read NBA Las Vegas Odds

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Vegas Odds is not associated with any professional or collegiate sports affiliations, bodies or teams and all information contained on this site is strictly for entertainment purposes only. We take responsible gambling very seriously and never encourage those underage to participate. In Vegas odds, this would be given as 1to1. One chance for compared to one chance against. When expressed as chance, it would be 1in2, that is, one chance in two of winning. A table of more Vegas odds and probabilities can be found here at the UCLA report site. NFL Spread, Moneyline and Over/Under Bets. Spread and moneyline bets are for. NHL: Thursday's Best Bets VI Expert on Fire NCAA BK: Ohio State vs. Iowa Picks NCAA BK: Minnesota vs. Rutgers Picks Last 7 Day Money Leader NBA: Nuggets vs. Lakers Predictions NBA: Warriors vs. Mavs Predictions NFL: SB 55 Novelty Prop Predictions NBA: Hoop Trends - Thursday PODCAST: Super Bowl Analysis NFL: Super Bowl 55 Betting Update NFL: Super Bowl 55 MVP Best Bets Sports Betting. Vegas is the sports betting capital in the United States so when it comes to betting scores and odds, Vegas lines are the best in the country as well. How to Read Vegas Odds If you’ve ever been to a sportsbook in Vegas and see the Las Vegas betting odds board then you know it can be a bit overwhelming at times.

The point-spread was developed to provide a balance for both teams involved in a contest to attract bettors to potentially back the weaker team and receive points. The two squads in a game are listed with a title, either a favorite or an underdog. The favorite is usually the perceived better team in the game, as backing them means giving up several points.

The favorite is always listed with a minus (-) sign before the point-spread while the underdog is labeled with a plus (+) label.

Ex. Favorite -10, Underdog +10

On the VegasInsider.com odds page, there is another number associated with the favorite and its listed as -10. This number is simply defined as “vig” or what many in the sports betting industry call vigorish. Another common term is called “juice” and it’s technically the price the bettor has to pay on a straight wager.

Ex. Bet $110 to win $100 (10% juice)
Ex. Bet $100 to win $91.91 (10% juice)

It's not uncommon to see other values posted other than -10. Examples seen on the NBA Vegas Odds pages could include -08, -12, -15 and -20. The -10 price is the most common value in the industry while many books offer reduced 'juice odds' and that would fall into the -08 category.

The lower-juice sportsbooks are normally found outside of the state of Nevada. If you are in a state where sports betting is legal, please check out our online sportsbook directory to find the best and most secure places to make NBA bets.

Another number that’s posted on the NBA Las Vegas is the total or ‘over/under’ for the specific matchup. If the favorite is designated as the home team, then the total will be listed above and vice versa if the visitors are favorites.

All of the above numbers are listed next to the teams, and before each matchup is a Rotation number. The NBA Las Vegas Odds are listed in order of rotation and those numbers are generated and produced by the sportsbooks. Above each matchup and rotation is the Time of the game, which is subject to change. All game times are Eastern Standard Time.

NBA Open Line

One of the best features on the NBA Vegas Odds is the Open Line. This numbers consists of the first betting line received from one of our Las Vegas or Global Sportsbooks. The opening line varies depending on the sportsbook but it provides a clear-cut rating that the oddsmakers use. If you’re betting on the NBA or any other sport, it’s a great idea to view the open line first.

VI Consensus NBA Line

The VegasInsider.com Consensus NBA Line is just as important as the Open Line and also a key resource on odds platform. The Consensus column could be called a “Median Line” since it shows the most consistent number provided by the sportsbooks on VegasInsider.com. The consensus line will be the same as the open line but once the wagers start coming in, this number is often different than the openers.

Betting on NBA Games

Where can I bet on NBA games?

Cached

There are several legal sportsbook options in the United States. Visit our sportsbook directory to find online sportsbooks where you can bet on the NBA.

Who are the experts picking to win?

Vegas Bets Today

Our experts offer picks on all the big NBA games. Check out our 2020 NBA Playoff Predictions or our NBA game picks to see what our handicappers are saying.

What type of bets can I make on NBA games?

Betting the point spread, straight up winner, and over/under point total are the three popular NBA bets. Sportsbooks also first half lines, live betting, and other betting angles.

Who's the favorite to win the NBA Championship?

For odds on where teams will finish in the NBA Playoffs, check out our NBA Futures page.

Can you place parlay bets on NBA games?

Most sportsbooks will allow you to parlay your baskteball bets, meaning you can bet on multiple odds and win a bigger payout if they all win. Check out our parlay calculator to see what your payout will be.


The ultimate resource to help you find the best bets each day in college basketball .

This page is divided into 3 simple sections.

The first section lists all of our premium member best bets for the day for College Basketball Picks. This section lists all the games for all sports, including NCAA basketball. If you don't have a membership at Doc's Sports you can test out our premium best bets risk free with a complimentary free $60 account here.

The second section lists one or two of our complimentary college basketball matchup reports. We write these daily for most NCAA basketball games. These articles are more for the do-it-yourself types that want to really dig in and also have the time do the extensive research required each day.

The third section ties into the second section where our experts give advice on what to do with the information and how to spot a best bet in College Basketball.

College Basketball Best Bets Tonight [Updated daily]

TODAY'S TOP PLAYS
DAILY PICKS AVAILABLE TO BUY AND VIEW UNTIL 1 A.M. EST

THIS WEEK'S FOOTBALL TOP PLAYS
All Plays Are Side Plays Unless Otherwise Noted

SUNDAY

DOC’S SPORTS – 7-Unit NFL Side (6:30 p.m.)
ALLEN EASTMAN – 7-Unit NFL 411 Side (6:30 p.m.)
STRIKE POINT SPORTS – 7-Unit NFL Side (6:30 p.m.)
ROBERT FERRINGO – 7-Unit NFL Prop Play (6:30 p.m.)
VERNON CROY – 7-Unit NFL First Half Side (6:30 p.m.)
SCOTT SPREITZER – 5-Unit NFL Side (6:30 p.m.)
DOUG UPSTONE – 5-Unit NFL Total (6:30 p.m.)

NOTE: Several handicappers have Kansas City. Several have Tampa Bay. If you use two or more handicappers some plays may conflict.

----- CBB - NBA - NHL - MLB - Soccer - Golf - MMA - Tennis - And Others Updated Daily -----

ALLEN EASTMAN is looking to score big before the Super Bowl! Eastman has a 7-Unit College Basketball Play (3 p.m.). Eastman is coming off a winning Saturday and this is a way to pad your bankroll before The Big Game! Click BUY NOW below and get this one.

Today

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Complimentary College games for today [Updated daily]

San Jose State Spartans vs San Diego State Aztecs Prediction, 2/8/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds
by Guy Bruhn - 2/7/2021

The San Jose State Spartans are set to meet the San Diego State Aztecs at Viejas Arena on Monday, February 8, 2021. San Jose State opens this contest as 26-point dogs. The O/U is set at 145.5. This games report has current odds, betting trends, and free picks against the spread. Read More >>

Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Kansas Jayhawks Prediction, 2/8/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds
by Tony Sink - 2/7/2021

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are set to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday, February 8, 2021. Kansas opens this game as 5-point favorites. The total is set at 140. This matchup report includes odds, betting trends and a free pick against the spread. Read More >>

What Makes a Best Bet in College Basketball? [Updated during the season]

NFL Las Vegas Odds - Live Pro Football Betting Lines

Here you will find a list of tips from our college basketball experts that will help you understand what makes up a NCAA basketball best bet and what you should be looking for in order to spot one on your own.

DOC'S SPORTS – I like to play on up-tempo teams at home. An example of this would be the Marshall Thundering Herd the last couple of years under Coach Don D'Antoni, the brother on NBA Coach Mike D'Antoni. His run-and-gun style is much more effective at home and numerous times over the last couple of years we have found great value with them. It seems like at some point in the game they will feed off the crowd energy and go on a double-digit run and put the game away against a lesser opponent. Playing on the road is a much different atmosphere and many of these up-tempo teams are not as effective so I look to avoid them.

ROBERT FERRINGO – One of the reasons that I love college basketball and have had so much success in this sport over the past decade is that there are so many angles to play. There are letdowns and look aheads. There are revenge games. There are under-the-radar injuries. There are games involving odd travel schedules. But for a best bet there are several things that I really hone in on. And here is one of them: take experience and cohesion over talent. If I am looking at a best bet I would rather have a less talented team that has seniors, veterans, and guys that have played together for a while against a team that maybe has more overall talent, but it's young and inexperienced talent. Last year my nonconference games of the year was Oklahoma State over Connecticut in Maui. Connecticut was looking at starting three freshmen against a Cowboys team that was hungry, and veteran laden. It was a blowout from start to finish. I used the same angle on Dec. 4 when I took Gonzaga – which was one of the oldest and most experienced teams in the country – over Arizona, another team whose best players were freshmen. Basketball is a game of chemistry and coordination. Veteran teams and players are a little more predictable in their efforts. And they tend to be a big more reliable in marquee games against younger, more hyped-up opponents.

RAPHAEL ESPARZA – I said a couple years ago that handicapping small conference schools means big money in the wallet. Just like in college football, you want to look at the small schools. It's no secret that in college basketball home-court advantage is huge, especially early in conference play. But lack of action on those smaller schools can give you outstanding betting value and if you are a totals better like myself then betting totals in smaller conference is a big moneymaker. Bettors always tend to bet the TV games and smaller conferences don't always get televised. The best times to bet the smaller schools are on Wednesdays and Saturdays because those are the bigger days in college basketball, and trust me the oddsmakers are looking at the 'key games', not the smaller schools, so soft action can produce big winners.

STRIKE POINT SPORTS – Conference schedules can seem like a big portion of the year, but a lot of hidden value is lost amongst the weekly shuffle of so many games. Bet on teams looking to avoid or capitalize on half-week sweeps. For instance, with the Pac 12 you'll have a team like Arizona play both its road games in a region over the long weekend. They will play Thursday at Oregon State and Saturday at Oregon. If they lose that first game, getting on them to avoid the 'sweep' in the second game can offer value. The same goes with momentum. A middle of the road team like Virginia Tech coming off a big home win against Duke earlier in the week and having the chance to finish the week with another big win at home (say against Notre Dame) can be a good spot. Momentum is key, and looking for the hidden value in a given week from back-to-back games is a good trend to identify.

INDIAN COWBOY – College Basketball might be the sport that has the greatest value in any given season. There are just so many games and many smaller teams have incredible value on them, as the oddsmakers simply do not have time to focus on them when so much action is the bigger conference games. In the opening two games last year for we took two 'Overs'. They were 'Over' 149 Tennessee vs. Chattanooga and 'Over' 149 Wofford vs. LSU. They were both winners. What we are looking for there is mid-major teams who step up to play bigger schools who have senior leadership. In those two contests, you had a Chattanooga team who had tons of veteran leadership going into Tennessee and gave them a great ballgame and ended up winning outright by a score of 82-69. Hence, we predicted an active underdog because Chattanooga will undoubtedly get up to face a big named school like Tennessee with such veteran leadership and Tennessee would still have to get their kinks worked out with so many moving parts in their system. We also took the 'Over' in the Wofford-LSU game for the same reason. So, look for mid-major teams who have senior leadership, who have been looking forward to face certain big named teams all year, working on their game plans accordingly and will push the Power-5 team to more of an offensive performance.

ALLEN EASTMAN – The two things that I look for in college basketball are turnovers and points in the paint. You need to score to win. So if teams have a high turnover percentage that means that they are at a disadvantage in overall possession. And that usually means an advantage betting against the spread. When I have a team that turns the ball over a lot facing a team that scores a lot of points in the paint, meaning they get a lot of easy baskets, I like to go with the top play because the team that scores a lot in the paint will be able to best take advantage of all the turnovers.

JASON SHARPE – College basketball best bets for me involve taking advantage of the hundreds of teams that one can bet. With so many teams in college it's nearly impossible for the bookmakers to keep a handle on all of them. So I will usually focus my efforts on the areas that the books don't and that's in the smaller leagues like the Ohio Valley Conference or the Big Sky. Spending most of my time and energy on studying up and following these teams closely gives me a tremendous edge. I had a big 7-Unit totals winner last January involving the 'under' between Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State. I had noticed that TSU had started playing a much bigger player a lot more minutes of late and he had considerably helped their team defense overall. On the other side of things EKU had lost it's top scorer a few games earlier and without him they had started playing a lot slower paced and were scoring less points. These things weren't easy for the books to notice unless they were paying extra close attention to these two teams which they won't be doing. I was able to use that valuable information to make and easily win a 7 unit 'under' selection.

ALAN HARRIS – It's not uncommon, especially in the nonconference season to see point spreads in the double digits and sometimes into the 20's and even 30's. Some handicappers will throw these games out. But a closer look at the game could show some value, whether it's on the favorite or the underdog. When looking at the favorite, ask yourself, 'does this line make sense?' There are times that a big number is warranted. It could be due to injury, scheduling, talent level, other factors or any combination of things. We had a spot like this last year where BYU was laying 16 points in a neutral site game in Vegas. We immediately jumped on the Cougars after knowing that they had a much more talented roster than St. Louis. We also factored in that this was going to be like a home game for BYU as they always travel well to Vegas. The Cougars led by seven at the half before pulling away for a 30-point victory. One of the things to look at when you see an underdog you like is to see what the favorite has going on with their schedule. Check and see if they have a big game up next as they will be looking ahead and not really playing up to their ability against the lesser team.

VERNON CROY – When it comes to making a big play in college basketball I use my systems, trends, stats and strength of schedule to my advantage. I also look for certain situations where I have a team winning by 10+ points and yet the line is off by at least six or more points. This process starts well before the season starts as I study and make note of certain under the radar teams that shoot the ball extremely well, play good defensively, and have a quality coach. Since there are so many college basketball games being played every week it is not hard to find games where the line is off by six or more points. In the NBA I find extreme value with certain teams in the next game after their star player goes down to injury, however it is the complete opposite in college basketball since most teams are not good enough to step up in the absence of their star player.

DOUG UPSTONE – When it comes to best bets in college basketball, I go strictly by the numbers. It starts with shooting percentages, both offense and defense, and 3-point percentages are viewed separately. Next, I look for elements regarding large differentials between the teams in things like rebounding, turnovers, free-throw shooting and pace of play. The latter two are meaningful depending on close spreads and variance between fast or slow playing opponents. Then I move too situational handicapping and look at how have teams performed in their last five games, being home or away, and whom they played (tougher or easier foes.) Next is possible motivation and coaching. I weigh all these components, then look for useful trends that could match the situation and low and behold have a possible 6-unit or higher best bet!

TONY GEORGE – This college basketball tip refers to March Madness and the NIT Tournaments. There are numerous teams in the NIT every year that you can argue should have made it to the Big Dance field of 64. If you look closely at the schedule of those teams you will no doubt see a horrific road record, which is what kept them out. The NIT tournament, until it reaches New York for the Final Four, is not on neutral floors and teams have home games. In many cases a team with a bad road record plays a team in the same boat. However that team is at home where they went 13-2 on the year. I always look for bad road teams against good home teams in the NIT and if the price is right they are worth fading in that game no matter who they are.

SCOTT SPREITZER - Returning point-guards, assists-to-turnover ratios, and points in the paint are three of six key categories I use when handicapping college basketball. And the best thing about those keys is that they work in both nonconference action and when conference play begins later in the season. Add in our sought-after power ratings system, and we have enjoyed betting college basketball longer than any sport we wager on, going back nearly 30 years. It also may be the sport that offers more depth of value than any other, thanks to the volume of games and the smaller conferences where we the bettor can gain the advantage over the books. I've been a huge proponent of wagering on the Missouri Valley for 20+ years, and there's nothing better than finding value, week-after-week, on under the radar tilts.

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