Basketball is another popular sport throughout Europe. In fact almost every country has its own team that participates in various leagues and competitions throughout the continent.
These leagues include:
Since the mid 1990s, top European basketball players have gravitated to the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States because the NBA is widely considered as the premier basketball league in the whole world. These European standouts include Croatians Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc, Serbian Vlade Divac, Lithuanians Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis and German Detlef Schrempf.
Today, German Dirk Nowitzki, Pao Gasol of Spain, Peja Stojakovic of Yugoslavia (now of Serbia) and Linas Kleiza of Lithuania are just some of the names that highlight Europe's presence in Basketball's biggest stage.
Despite the move of these top basketball stars, European Basketball continues to flourish and so does betting on the sport.
There are generally two ways to bet on basketball, these are:
Outright Basketball Winner - a bet on which team will be the outright winner of a basketball competition (e.g. bet on this year's EuroBasket Champion). A bet on the outright winner is also called a Long-Term bet since you have to wait for the end of a competition to determine the winner.
Basketball Matchups - a bet on the winner of individual games or matches (e.g. bet on the winner of the game between Bizkaia Bilbao Basket vs. Olympiacos Piraeus or Zalgiris Kaunas vs CSKA Moscow).
In a bet on the outright winner of a Basketball competition, online sports betting sites list the participating teams with their corresponding odds, just like the following:
| Outright Winner | |
|---|---|
| Regal FC Barcelona | 5/2 |
| CSKA Moscow | 4/1 |
| Maccabi Electra | 5/1 |
| Panathinaikos | 7/1 |
| Montepaschi Siena | 10/1 |
| Real Madrid | 12/1 |
| Fenerbahce Ulker | 20/1 |
| Anadolu Efes | 25/1 |
| Olympiakos Piraeus | 26/1 |
| Caja Laboral | 33/1 |
You just have to bet on your favorite Basketball team or any other team which you believe will win the championship. For example, you picked Regal FC Barcelona and placed a €10.00 bet. At odds of 5/2, if Regal FC Barcelona wins the championship, your €10.00 bet will win €25.00 for a total payout of €35.00 (your original bet plus your winnings).
If you bet €20.00 on Caja Laboral, and the team wins the championship, at odds of 33/1, your total play out will be €680.00 (€20.00 original bet plus your €660.00 winnings).
Meanwhile, in a Basketball Matchup or Fixture bet, you just have to pick the winner of a particular Basketball game. Sports betting sites list the matchup of the teams with their corresponding odds, just like the following:
| Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 5/6 | Olympiacos Piraeus 5/6 |
| Zalgiris Kaunas 5/6 | CSKA Moscow 5/6 |
| Brose Baskets 5/6 | Montepaschi Siena 5/6 |
Let's say you placed a €10.00 bet on Bizkaia Bilbao Basket. If Bizkaia Bilbao Basket wins the match against Olympiacos Piraeus, at odds of 5/6, your €10.00 bet will win €8.33 for a total payout of €18.33.
Other sites provide a handicap or a Point Spread to even out the chances of the two competing teams. Odds for this Basketball bet look like:
| Fenerbahce Ulkerspor (+3.5) 10/11 | Panathinaikos (-3.5) 10/11 |
| Unicaja Malaga (+3.5) 10/11 | KK Zagreb (-3.5) 10/11 |
| Union Olympija Ljubljana (+3.5) 10/11 | Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv (-3.5) 10/11 |
The Handicap or Point Spread, for betting purposes, is the number of points added to or subtracted from a team's actual score. Favorites are marked with a "-" (minus sign), while underdogs are marked with "+" a (plus sign).
This means that 3.5 points will be subtracted from the total points of Panathinaikos, while 3.5 points will be added to Fenerbahce Ulkerspor.
Let's say you placed a €10.00 bet on Panathinaikos. If Panathinaikos wins the match against Fenerbahce Ulkerspor by three points or less, you lose the bet. Why? Panathinaikos, being the favorite, needs to cover the 3.5 handicap or spread.
However, if Panathinaikos wins the match by at least four points, you win the bet. At odds of 10/11 your €10.00 will win €9.09 for a total payout of €19.09.
Meanwhile, other sites also offer a bet on whether the total score of a Basketball game, half or quarter will go over or under a specified total. Odds for Totals Bets look like:
| Fenerbahce Ulkerspor vs Panathinaikos |
Over (152.5) 5/6 |
| Under (152.5) 5/6 | |
| Unicaja Malaga vs KK Zagreb |
Over (146.5) 5/6 |
| Under (146.5) 5/6 | |
| Union Olympija Ljubljana vs Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv |
Over (130.5) 5/6 |
| Under (130.5) 5/6 |
Let's say you placed a €10.00 bet on the Total Score of the Unicaja Malaga vs KK Zagreb game to go Over 146.5 points. If the total score of the game is less than 146 points, you lose the bet. But if the If the total score of the game is more than 147 points, your €10.00 bet (at odds of 5/6) will win €8.33 for a total payout of €18.33.
Truly, there are lots of ways to bet on Basketball games. The key is to carefully study the chances of winning of each team whether on specific matches or the whole tournament.
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