Are you ready to start making money by betting on NCAA basketball teams but feel uncertain about how to get started?
Even if you think you have what it takes to start making bets, it can be difficult to take the first steps. For starters, you need to understand the different betting options such as moneyline, point spread, and over/under totals. You also need to know what the best strategies are in order to make money.
Thankfully, it’s not as hard as you might think to get started. Read on and we’ll tell you about the most important strategies and techniques.
The Different Kinds of College Basketball Betting Lines
Even though there are many ways to bet on college basketball, there are several forms that are more important than others. Here are some of the most popular ways to make your bets.
Moneylines
The concept behind a moneyline bet is simple. All you need to do is choose the winner of an NCAA basketball game.
Oddsmakers establish moneyline odds after looking at each team’s probability that they will win. Since it is often the case that NCAA teams that compete against each other are not evenly matched, the moneyline odds will reflect the chances of each team’s loss or win.
Most sportsbooks will show moneyline odds in the hundreds. These odds will show the team that is the favorite by displaying a negative value and the team that is the underdog as the positive value.
For example, if oddsmakers favor one basketball team on the moneyline at -130, this means that you’d need to bet one hundred thirty dollars in order to make one hundred dollars. If the underdog were on the moneyline at +140, you’d have to bet one hundred dollars in order to make one hundred forty dollars.
If you’re looking for help to understand the latest odds for the NCAA basketball tournament, Dimers is a great place to go. They offer data-led probabilities in order to know the best odds in relation to your state’s sportsbooks. If you’re serious about betting, don’t forget to check it out.
Pointspread
Pointspreads are a great option for sports betters because they level the difference between two teams. Since it’s often the case that teams play each other are unevenly matched, pointspreads can be helpful for betters.
In order to create a pointspread for a game, oddsmakers assess various things. They usually take into account details such as a team’s strengths and shortcomings, injuries, and who has home-field advantage in order to come up with the point spread for a game.
In order to understand a pointspread, you need to realize that they will have negative values. In order for your bet to win money, the team you bet on needs to win the game by more than the spread.
For example, if one team is the point spread favorite at -3, this team would have to win by more than three points to cover the spread. If their opponent is the point underdog at +7, they would need to lose by less than seven points in order to cover their spread.
There are a second set of odds that run alongside them, which shows the cost of making a bet. People often refer to this number as the vig or the juice. The majority of point spreads have vig of -110. This mean that in order to win one hundred dollars, you need to wager one hundred ten dollars.
Over/Under
Over/Unders, also known as game totals, is one of the most popular ways of betting on college basketball. In order to set the over/under numbers for a college matchup, oddsmakers look at the offense and defense of each team. After doing this they will set a number that’s based on the total number of points between both teams for the game.
People will then place their bets on whether the final point total will be over or under the over/under total. For example, if oddsmakers place an over/under total of 126.5 points for an NCAA basketball game, betters would need to make a decision whether the final point total would go under or over this number.
You should also keep in mind that the vig for over/unders is usually set at -110.
Top Strategies for Betting on NCAA Basketball
Before you try to start betting, you should first try to narrow down your options. Three are well more than three hundred college basketball teams playing this season and it is nearly impossible to be able to track them all. This is why you should try to focus only on one or two conferences that you care about more than others.
One benefit of college basketball betting is that there are thirty-two different conferences and leagues while college football only has eleven. Since oddsmakers put most of their energy into analyzing and placing odds on the big-name conferences, it’s possible to have an advantage over the bookies if you are an expert at one of the lesser-known conferences.
There are more than three hundred college basketball games played per week. When oddsmakers place over/under totals onto the board, smart betters will quickly make their bets, which makes the numbers quickly adjust. If you can place your bet before these numbers adjust, you’re in a better situation to make money on your bets.
There Are Many Great Reasons to Bet on NCAA Basketball Games
College basketball is one of the best sports to bet on because there are so many teams that compete. If you can focus your energy to become an expert on the teams in one or several conferences, you put yourself in a position to make money when betting on NCAA basketball.
If you want to find out more about sports betting, don’t forget to check out the Games section of our website, where we publish many articles on this topic.