How Do NBA Player Props Work?
Not sure which team to bet on in the NBA on any given night? If so, you are not alone. Point spreads and totals for most NBA games are so tight that it's sometimes hard to find any bettable edges to exploit.
To combat this problem, many advantage bettors have decided to focus most of their time, attention, and resources on beating the NBA player prop market. Player props allow you to wager on a specific player's performance instead of a single team.
For example, instead of wagering on the Celtics +4, you can bet on Jayson Tatum to go Over or Under 30.5 points. This will allow you to capitalize when Tatum is in the midst of a hot or cold streak.
Tips for Betting NBA Player Props
There are a lot of strategies out there for betting NBA player props. Let's focus on a few basic rules:
- Never go by season-long stats alone.
- Pay attention to a player's current form.
- Set aside an ample amount of time for research.
- Don't limit yourself to only points props.
- Always check offensive and defensive matchups before betting.
- Be careful betting on players who are dealing with injuries.
- Look to bet more unders than overs!
How to Find Value in Player Props by Line Shopping
Did you know you can instantly find value in NBA player props just by shopping around for the best line? If that sounds too good to be true, hang with us. The only thing you need is a way to quickly scan all of the NBA player prop odds.
There are several websites out there that allow you to scroll through player prop odds for free. Find one and start studying the board.
As an example, let's say you notice that Trae Young's rebounding prop of 2.5 looks interesting. Four or five prominent online sportsbooks may be juicing the Over in the -175 to -190 range. However, let's say you find an outlier sportsbook that's offering -150.
That's a great opportunity to bet on the Over at the -150 odds. The four or 5 other sportsbooks are telling you that the line should be -180ish. Those multiple data points are much more reliable than just the one outlier sportsbook. In this case, we'd ounce on that rogue number!
