Best NBA Betting Sites & Apps

List of the Best NBA Bookmakers

You want to ensure you get the best when looking for an NBA bookmaker. Your sportsbook dictates many things: odds, betting options, and many more, so why won’t you get the best? You should look out for checking the odds and make sure it is favorable for you.

If you like the odds, the next thing is to ensure the bookie has a valid license. The license should also be from a reputable body in the industry like the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, or any other strict one. That way, you are sure that all their activities are regulated and your wins are safe. If the site doesn’t have a license, don’t think twice; go for another option.

Once these two key factors are sorted out, you can look for the sites that suit your personal preferences; maybe the payment method, live streaming for your favorite league matches, etc. Check out my list of the best online NBA betting sites below!

List of the Best NBA Betting Apps 📱

Betting on the NBA has never felt so good as now with all the diverse betting markets and props, but one major factor that affected our selection here at BetZillion is mobile optimization. I’ve considered only bookies with superb Android and iOS betting platforms to make the roster.

So, you can check out the bookmakers below for seamlessly placing your online bets via mobile devices.

The Best NBA Sportsbooks in the US 🇺🇸

Online betting is now legal in more than 30 US states, and a few more are on the waitlist to be approved for new betting legislation in the next year or two. So, I was glad to find out that there’s a massive choice of bookies legally offering NBA betting in those states.

To find the best US bookmakers, I considered market regulations since not all the betting platforms are approved in all the states. So, you have to be careful when picking the right site to join, and I’ve already counted that in the making of this guide. So, below, you will find some of the best betting sites for the NBA, in my opinion, when it comes to betting markets, fair odds, and incredible betting boosts.

You can also check out the list below for additional information on particular states where they legally operate.

7 Best NBA Bookies by Category

Considering how fast bookmakers for the NBA are developing in the US market, I had to keep up with the latest changes by going over the best sportsbooks by category. Since it’s challenging to find one platform with the best betting apps, odds, markets, and bonuses, I decided to do it by categories, announcing our favorite picks for each of them below.

bet365 is the Best Betting Site 💻

bet365 Website

If you’re looking for the best NBA betting site overall, bet365 has to make it to your shortlist. It’s a platform where you’ll get NBA futures ahead of time, including MVP bets and betting on the future Champion. Plus, the bookie offers lots of player props, including multiple margins for betting on points in a game or assists.

You can also grab a $25 free bet right off the bat and get frequently boosted odds for selected NBA events. Add to that the daily fantasy sports section where you can add NBA players to your DFS roster, and you’ve got a clear winner here.

William Hill Has the Best Bonuses 🎁

William Hill Website

Although it’s a UK bookie, William Hill quickly made a name for itself among US sportsbooks and bettors, and it’s largely due to a massive selection of betting bonuses. You can use anything from free bets to the impressive “Bet $50, Get $50” first deposit bonus.

All you have to do is download the app, and you’ll get all the offers, from odds boosts to deposit matches and free bets, at your fingertips. I especially liked the sheer convenience of using the app to get the bonuses, including the “Boosts” section with increased odds and the live betting panel with loads of NBA in-play specials.

DraftKings is the Best Betting App for NBA📱

DraftKings Website

If you’re looking for something local, DraftKings is, without a doubt, one of the best NBA sports betting sites in the US. It delivers an exceptional DFS selection, but it also provides real-money betting in some states. What caught our attention here was the mobile betting app, which works perfectly on both Android and iOS devices.

Plus, you get to use the $5 free bet boost along with massive free money betting offers which even include promotions like streaming subscriptions on events, so I advise you to keep an eye out for those.

Unibet is the Best Sportsbook for Live Betting 🔴

Unibet Website

UniBet not only offers the best live betting section for the NBA, but it also comes with exceptional streaming options. You can just click on the “In Play” category and head over to the “Streaming” section, where you’ll find live feeds from various games.

Of course, you need to be a registered member to use this option, but it pays off since you get to enjoy dozens of live betting markets coupled with great steaming qualities. On top of its live betting section, Unibet also offers Cashback, Bet Builder, and deposit bonuses.

ABCIslands is the Highest Payout Bookie 💰

ABCIslands Website

For those on the lookout for the best high-roller NBA bookie, ABC Islands offers the biggest payout margins. You can also use instant withdrawal options to receive large withdrawals within just a few hours at most, and that’s worth its weight in gold for high-limit bettors.

It allows you to make quick balance updates and get a 100% welcome betting bonus, which is also suitable for high-rollers since you can get up to $2,500 with a maximum deposit for NBA wagering.

Sportbet.one is the Best Crypto Sportsbook 🪙

Sportbet.one Website

I’m aware that NBA betting is also appealing for crypto bettors, so that’s why we bring you Sportbet.one. The platform is the best crypto betting option for US punters thanks to a 50% early release option up to $500, as well as a $1,000 sign-up offer worth in crypto.

However, it’s the chance to make anonymous and secure deposits and withdrawals in large sums that drew our attention here. If you’re a crypto high-roller, it offers some very similar traits as ABC Islands does for regular fiat bettors. Plus, you can get risk-free bets.

PIWI247 is the Best Betting Exchange 🤝

PIWI247 Website

With PIWI247, you get a completely decentralized betting experience with Web3 elements which are yet to burst into action here. Based on my findings, you’ll soon be able to enjoy the first VR betting experience in the US, but until now, the 30% crypto deposit bonus of up to $300 should do the trick.

The site also has lots of different NBA betting markets, and it closely follows the previous pick in terms of crypto betting options, even offering some coins that you won’t find at Sportbet.one.

Comparison Table ⚖️

Well, now you’ve got all the best picks for betting on the NBA in 2024, and the only thing left for you to decide is which one you should join. Don’t worry — I’ll help you with that one as well by giving you a direct comparison of the top bookies for NBA by categories below. Here’s just one final piece of advice — always consider the betting markets and bonuses first since the more options you have, the better your results will be.

Casinos

In Play Mode

Live Streaming

Cash Out

Mobile Application

Bookmaker Payout

Min Deposit

Min Bet

Max Profit

Min Withdrawal

Withdrawal Time

Rating

94%

£5

£0.10

£2000000

£5

Up to 10 working days

4.8

94%

£5

£0.10

Unlimited

£5

Up to 5 working days

4.9

93%

$5

$1

Unlimited

$1

Up to 8 working days

4.7

97%

$50

$1

Unlimited

$100

Up to 24 hours

4.2

95%

₿0.00005

m₿0.01

Unlimited

m₿0.1

Instant

4.2

97%

€10

€6

Unlimited

€10

Up to 24 hours

4.2

Offers and Promotions 🎁

I also like to look at whether the bookmakers have NBA related promotions and offers. My findings show there aren’t many exclusive offers for specific sports in online bookies. On the bright side, they give bonuses and promotions, which you can use to make wagers.

The sites should have a welcome bonus to offer the new sign-ups. Bonuses enable you to try out a bookie’s services with little or none of your money on the line; that is why they are important. For example, FanDuel has a welcome bonus of $500 in the form of risk-free bets; DraftKings offers a $1000 deposit bonus.

Check out my list of the best betting bonuses.

Odds for Upcoming Matches 🎲

It might be challenging to read the current odds, but it is not as difficult as it seems if you start. You may also be curious about how each bookmaker comes up with its unique odds, yet they still look similar compared to each other.

A lot of calculations go into the odds generation. They first consider the teams’ forms in recent matches. Have they been losing? Have they had a good winning run? The opponent’s history is also taken into consideration. They also consider match analysis and forecasts. In the end, they come up with something unique.

If we talk about the American format, you see either a plus (+) or minus (-) sign in front of each team’s odds. The one with the minus is the favorite for a win, while the one with the plus is more or less considered an underdog. More times than often, you want to bet on the favorite. The odds of yesterday are never the same as today.

Check out my comparison table of the best odds for upcoming NBA matches.

How to Bet on the NBA

1. To begin with, start simple. As a new bettor, you shouldn’t be jumping on parlays. More times than often, it won’t work out. Start from moneyline bets. The point spread is good enough if you are unsatisfied with the odds.
2. Also, you need to note that it is not necessary to bet every day that games are in action. My advice is to be selective with the matches you choose to wager on; pick only the high probability games. Randomizing your bets daily won’t help with more wins in most cases. Big teams give better odds; check out the Golden State Warriors or the Cleveland Cavaliers odds.
3. If possible, avoid betting on the team you are supporting. Don’t get me wrong. I am not stopping you from gambling on your favorite team; the only problem is that betting on a team you support can allow emotions to influence your decisions, even if your team is playing against a stronger opponent. On the other hand, if you feel you can avoid being biased, then feel free to bet on your team!
4. I would add one last piece of advice: before you make your choice on a particular bookmaker, you should do a good research. At the beginning of the article I told you what you should pay attention to when choosing a bookmaker for the NBA. The most important thing is the betting lines. Compare and contrast the available options and choose the best ones. The bookmaker’s odds have a significant impact on your winnings.

NBA Specials

NBA sports betting is not about wagering on the team you predict always to win. You should spice things up a bit at times. Besides, it guarantees higher odds, which means more pay when you try out some specials.

Apart from the regular bets on the winner, you can stake on players, managers, and more. Betting should not be one-way all the time. Let’s take a look at some of the specials. Special NBA events have worldwide recognition, even in the UK, Australia and Canada.

Playoffs

The NBA playoffs are an event with global recognition in the world of spectators; the same is true for the gambling universe. Every bettor looks up to the playoffs because it is good to place wagers and win more than usual.

The playoffs usually consist of the ‘big dogs in the game; you can tell the implication on the playoff betting odds. You don’t want to miss out on such. The NBA playoffs are an event that you want to bet on and watch simultaneously. It gives out that thrilling feeling. Betting on games in the event would feel rather satisfying.

Playoff odds especially are usually attractive. I have seen numerous people who started their careers in the gambling industry due to the playoffs. Remember, the higher the odds, the higher the risks and the greater your winnings.

Finals

The name says it all; the finals are a beauty in the NBA. It is also one of the most popular events. Moreover, it is also an annual event, meaning you only get chances like this once a year. This is why most bettors prefer to bet on the finals.

The finals always have big sponsors, so the same reflects your wins. Times of the year when finals are in progress is a time of extra offers from NBA online betting sites. You get daily odds to boost and several proposals that contribute to you getting more wins.

Teams

You’re probably familiar with the usual team bet, where you gamble on who will win a match. There is more to this than most bettors know. There are special options that you can use the teams for; you can place VIP bets on the competition’s actual performance.

For example, you can bet on the number of accurate passes a team would make. There are many other options like that. It is left for you to explore. Of course, the odds are above average and would guarantee you something worth your time.

Best Player (MVP)

In basketball betting, it is not all about teams. You can spice it up a bit with the MVP bet. It entails that you stake on a player that you speculate to be the best performer in the game. There are two ways to NBA MVP betting, depending on your preference.

The first way is to wager on the game’s best player, meaning the two teams’ best player. The odds are high, of course, because it is not so easy to win. Once you can win one of these, it brings in attractive returns.

The other way is to wager on the best player in only one of the two teams. So you pick a player to be the best on his team. Such a player doesn’t necessarily have to be the best in the match. Compared to the first variant, this one is relatively easier to win, so the odds are not as high as the former. Generally, the odds are still better than making regular bets.

6th Man of the Year

The typical NBA team has 5 players, with 7 substitutes. In a match, the coach may decide that any of these seven substitutes replace a player on the pitch. They informally refer to this replacement as the “6th Man.” Some players are frequently on the bench, meaning they are often the 6th Man in most matches. Surprisingly, some of these players display excellent performance consistently throughout the season. They may earn the “6th Man of the Year” award for this.

The NBA 6th Man of the Year is awarded to any of these substitutes who performs the best in a season. Factors determining the 6th Man award include a player’s goals, play efficiency, and contribution to team performance. Recent winners include Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves), Malcolm Brogdon (Boston Celtics), Tyler Herro (Miami Heat), Jordan Clarkson (Utah Jazz), and Montrezl Harrell (LA Clippers).

Several sportsbooks offer decent odds for this award. You should compare the NBA odds for 6th Man of the Year before selecting the NBA online betting website for your wager.

Coach of the Year

The Coach of the Year award is an annual prize for an outstanding coach of an NBA team during a season. The award isn’t necessarily for the team’s coach who won the NBA in a particular season. Instead, the coach must have helped their team achieve considerable feats during that season to be eligible for the prize. While there are no specific criteria for selecting the award winner, some factors that may influence the selection include the coach’s role in driving team performance and improvement, player development, tactical expertise, and impact on the NBA franchise’s success.

Popular names that have won the award multiple times include Don Nelson, Gregg Popovich, and Pat Riley.

You can also make an NBA Coach of the Year bet like other awards. As a future bet, you don’t get the outcome immediately but must wait for a while before it materializes. However, you can place your bets and modify them anytime during the season. Nonetheless, the odds will vary throughout the season, depending on each coach’s performance in the league. Despite this, note that when you place your bet, your odds for your specific bet are “locked in” and can’t change at any time during the season. Thus, placing the bet is important as it affects your odds.

The odds for this award can vary, so check the best NBA betting sites to pick the most favorable options.

Winner

This one is straightforward, and it mostly applies to contests and long term betting. Apart from betting on the winner of games, do you know you can predict the League winner ahead of time? Perhaps you are too occupied to wager on individual matches; you can speculate the contest’s overall winner and place your bet.

It works fine to do that once in a while. The advantage is that you can still carry on with your normal betting activities while you have such a wager in the background.  Looking at the odds, is it worth it? Of course, it is; after waiting so long to let your bet come through, don’t you expect something big to wait for you at the end? That is the same case here. Your wins are worth the patience, in my opinion.

Popular Bets

There are several betting options, such as prop bet, that you can use. Let me review some of them.

Match Result (Moneyline)

The match result wager, popularly known as moneyline, is arguably the simplest you can ever use. Placing a moneyline wager means betting on who will win the game. For the newbies and those still trying to figure out what betting entails, I recommend starting with the match result. Although the odds are not so high, it is a good starting point.

Point Spread

The point spread is a little more advanced than the former, also called spread betting. You are betting on a potentially winning team in both options, but you have some small additions in the point spread. There is usually a plus (+) or minus (-) sign in front of the two teams. Note that they have to carry opposite signs.

The team carrying the minus (-) is what the bookies deem as the favorite to win the match. More times than often, a large percentage of the betting universe has its stakes on the favorite. The so-called underdogs are the other team that carries the plus (+) sign.

Fewer people are willing to stake on the underdog because they supposedly have lower odds of winning. You should also bear in mind that the underdog usually has higher odds. So if you have solid and analytical reasons to believe the supposed underdog will win, you stand a chance to win bigger.

So the format for the NBA spread betting for the favorite can be –70. It implies that the favorite has to win the game by at least 70 points or above. It is where beginners get confused. If the favorite wins but their winning point is not up to 70, it is a loss for such a bettor.

As for the underdog, the line can be +70. It implies that for you to win your wager, such a team has to lose by points less than 70 or, better still, win the game. So the team can lose the game; not being up to 70 points loss, you can even win your stake.

Total Points

From the name of this betting option, you should have a hint of what it entails. It is also a smart betting option; why is that so? It is an option whose result is independent of the match-winner. All along, all we talk about is staking on a winning side; the total point does otherwise. That is one reason why most gamblers prefer it.

So how does this seemingly special option work? In an NBA game, both teams score to earn points. With this betting option, you will try to predict the total number of points that both teams will rack by the end of the game. Note that you are not expecting from one team, but both of them.

Sounds a little difficult, doesn’t it? It sounds impossible to accurately predict the sum of what the two teams’ scores would be at the end of the game. It is where this option differs. You don’t need to predict the accurate number; rather, you predict whether it would be over or under a certain number.

You could predict that the total point would be over 150. At the end of the match, if both teams score together equal to any number above 150, that is a win. If your prediction is under 150, the sum of both teams’ scores at the end of the game should be any number less than 150 for it to be a win. That is where the other name for the option comes from; over/under betting.

If you feel you can do it more accurately, you can choose to pick a range of numbers for the sum. Rather than over/under, you can estimate the sum to be between 150 and 175. Of course, this variant is harder to win as it demands more accuracy. The odds are equally higher. This option also comes in the variant of first half or second half totals.

Parlay

Next up is the common parlay bet. This option is for those with little more gambling experience because it is unlike the others. Every other feature I listed only deals with one outcome. How about a betting option that speculates more than one result? How is it possible?

That is where the parlay bet comes into play. A parlay involves the combination of two or more wagering options. If you wish to place a point spread and a total points bet, you don’t have to stake both options separately, as it would cost you more money.

Parlay bet allows you to combine two options without the need to stake them multiple times in different places with more cash. It is highly advantageous, and I recommend you try it if you have been into NBA betting for a while. It attracts higher odds in total and higher wins as it is not a single option.

Futures

Want to spice it up a little more? Then you should add the futures bet. As the name suggests, it is more of a long-term wager. In my opinion, I feel that this option is only for patient gamblers. If you can’t wait a while, it might not suit you.

You are wagering on the competition’s winner in advance for the futures bet. Competition here does not refer to only one game. It could be the league or a cup. A typical example of this is betting on the champion of the NBA playoffs from matchday one. It means you’d have to wait till your team wins the playoff before you claim your win.

The advantage is that you can still carry on with your regular one match wagers while you place the futures bet. It does not affect the future stake in any way. As you may expect, the NBA futures lines in terms of odds are high. After waiting an extended period, you would expect your wins to be worth it, and it truly delivers.