Basketball is not only a hugely popular American sport, but one that’s loved the world over. Indeed, in the last ten years the proliferation of the game has been striking, with numerous countries now embracing the game with two hoops and a ball.
Such a surge in popularity means that betting opportunities are available at almost every online sports book and casino like Unibet across the world. From a game’s top scorer to the result of a match, basketball betting is now big business for both punters and bookies.
With so many options available to you as a punter there are a number of ways for you to make a healthy profit from basketball betting. One of the best ways to improve your overall ability is to take on the role of the bookie. Indeed, in order to beat the enemy you must become the enemy and learn how they think, act and operate.
Predicting your own odds before each game is a great way to improve your basketball betting prowess. Choose a selection of teams, do your own research and then set fictional odds for each game before it starts. Once you’ve done this you’ll be able to compare them with the actual odds offered by the major sportsbooks and ascertain whether or not your knowledge is on point. Indeed, by having the ability to correctly predict the market you’ll be more proactive when it comes to spotting value bets as they occur.
Another tip for basketball betting success is to take advantage of in-game betting. Because a game of basketball is divided into four quarters there are a number of opportunities to place bets during the game. In-game betting is great because you’ll often find more value then pre-game betting simply because the bookmakers are calculating odds quickly. This leaves them vulnerable to mistakes and if you’re able to capitalise on them before they are corrected you can find yourself making a lot of money very quickly.
Becoming a basketball betting balla requires a combination of knowledge, skill and timing. If you can learn all there is to know about the game and seize opportunities as they arise then you’ll find the game offers a wealth of opportunities to make money.
Betting in basketball matches can be entertaining if a person is skilled in it. Betting raises confidence from within and also provides enthusiasm. It also helps the losing team to improve their skills as they will suffer from inferiority complex. They will try to prove themselves better than the winning team. And in a way they will be improving their own talent in playing basketball.
With the help of few basketball betting strategies, a third person can judge which team can go for international matches. There was a betting on Eurovision where the opponent suffered a huge loss. For gaining the professional betting position in basketball, one must win almost 97% to 100% of the bets. Number of victories for every single team has to be brought into account while betting.
A particular team has to be at the top in the list in terms of score. Also other teams taking part in the team has to be followed. If a team defeats another team whom none had defeated, it is a matter of concern. It means that the winning team is really prepared to play high level matches. The performances of individual players should also be seen. It can be observed from a bet that which player is doing well in all the matches.
Also it can be checked whether that player in consistent in his performance or comes up with abnormal change in skill. It must be remembered that it is not a wise act to bet in all the matches. There are many matches where profit is very meager, but the risk percentage is too high. This strategy also helps in leading a team to achieve professional betting status.
This is just a foolish job to run for a small sum of money. As seen in the betting on basketball, the opponent ran for money and suffered. Though betting becomes addictive at times, still it must be seen that a team does not participates in random betting. These things only raise the tensions in teams with least profit. Betting strategies should be utilized very wisely otherwise chances of losing is quite high.
Being based in the UK, it would be fair to say that I receive much less exposure to basketball than anyone in the US. The sport plays second fiddle to hoards of others and most people would struggle to name three professional outfits - so much is the obscurity of the game in the UK.
Nevertheless, I have taken a keen interest in basketball over the years. There’s no getting away from the fact that football (soccer, to you Yanks), is my main love, but sport in general is the thing that makes me tick and basketball has always intrigued me. Usually, I’ll stick to the US game, and this means that I have been able to watch some of the greats over recent times.
Following on from the above, it should be mentioned that not everyone will agree with my list. I’d say it contains three of the biggest legends the NBA has ever seen - but bear in mind that this is being written from across the pond, i.e. a UK perspective.
Shaquille O’Neal
My first memories of O’Neal happen to be from a life-size poster. It stretched from floor to ceiling and had pictures on all of the top players from the era, with O’Neal absolutely dwarfing all of the other players. If that didn’t make an impression, his performances on the court certainly did with the player using his size to dominate the sport. He made a total of 15 All-Star teams and after becoming something of a legend for the Lakers and Miami in particular, O’Neal must surely be on anyone’s top three list.
Michael Jordan
If O’Neal doesn’t make your list, then I’m more than certain that Michael Jordan will. Many dub him as the greatest ever man to don the basketball court, with Jordan breaking records and being the general face of the sport. Not only was he a master of the court, but he was arguably one of the first men in professional sport who started to create a commercial image. Such an image came off some incredible scoring statistics, with Jordan taking a total of 32,292 points during his illustrious career. Due to the lack of live US basketball coverage in the UK (especially back in the Jordan days), I was unfortunately able to view very few of those points from a live perspective. Nevertheless, even with the lack of coverage, it was easy to see the appeal of Jordan from any location in the world.
Kobe Bryant
This could be one player that some may disagree with as while Bryant may be regarded as one of the best players currently in the game, it could be suggested that he still has a way to go before matching that legendary status. One of my personal early memories of Bryant is his infamous feud with Shaquille O’Neal, which caused Shaq to leave the Lakers. Still, there was plenty of evidence at that point that Bryant had the potential to become one of the best, after forming such a dynamic partnership with O’Neal. Since those days, the 34-year-old has gone from strength-to-strength and is in my mind the most exciting player in the modern game. His points scoring ability is second to none, while the fact he has been named in the All-Star team fifteen times speaks volumes about his reputation. Furthermore, there is the small matter of his gigantic salary, which makes him one of the highest paid athletes on the planet at the moment.
About the author
This article was written by Liam from bonusbetting.org.uk. Liam is an avid sports writer and regularly publishes his opinion on the latest happenings across basketball, baseball and soccer.
