With each NBA club playing 82 games a season plus the playoffs and postseason tournament to take in, basketball bettors never have long to wait for a big fixture to wager on. The NBA ranks second only to the NFL as the foremost sports league in the US for gambling handle taken, so basketball betting is a big deal.
Supporting a favorite team is one thing but knowing how to wager on basketball to increase the chances of a profit brings a whole new depth to sports betting in New York and following the NBA. Knowing how to choose the top sportsbooks for NBA betting and picking up a few basketball wagering strategies is the best way to turn a slam dunk into a cash chunk and avoid a dagger move slashing your bankroll.
Whether you’re looking for the best NBA odds, the most comprehensive basketball coverage, or the biggest promos, NY sportsbooks have them all and then some.
Of all the top NY sportsbooks for NBA betting, FanDuel consistently pips its rivals when it comes to basketball pricing. Typically posting NBA markets with a lower overall edge than the other top books operating in New York State, step into the blue zone when shopping the lines.
FanDuel’s betting apps are some of the most responsive around for tweaking the odds on the biggest NBA games when you’re seeking value. Bet in-person with FanDuel with its round-the-clock retail sportsbook at the del Lago Resort Casino.
Enter the palace and check out Caesars for the best in NBA parlay betting. The iconic green and gold entertainment conglomerate have delivered one of North America’s leading sportsbooks. Caesars has gone big on same game parlays for the NBA, delivering as enthralling an experience as its NFL-football SGP offering.
While some of the other NY sportsbooks have a limited offering on same game parlays, you’ll find a smorgasbord of options for NBA bet building at Caesars. Add as many as 10 legs for the chance of a bonanza payout. Also, at three Caesars entertainment properties, you’ll find a sports betting lounge with kiosks and big screen action at Turning Stone, Point Place, and Yellow Brick Road casinos.
Some folk build their betting strategies around the NBA totals markets. In the free-scoring flurry that is basketball points tallies, the totals or over/under lines are some of the most exciting to wager on. BetMGM’s average pricing for totals consistently ranks among the best, which is a boon considering odds for over/unders don’t vary too much between sportsbooks.
You’ll find competitive NBA odds at BetMGM with totals figures that are a point or so lower than its rivals. When you’re sweating on a final basket to land for a bet to come in, that can make all the difference.
Slight variations on the odds for futures can return decent dollars if you can find a book with better pricing than the rest. Best known for its near-instantaneous live betting experience, DraftKings is also the sportsbook to check out for those who enjoy watching a wager unfold over the course of an NBA season.
Ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, DraftKings often had better average odds than both FanDuel and Caesars on who would be crowned the overall winner of the NBA Championship. For example, DK listed the Boston Celtics as favorites at +550 and the NY Knicks at +10,000. Over at FanDuel, those markets were at +500 for the Celtics and at Caesars, +7,500 for the Knicks. That could make quite the difference in payout if you’ve gone high on your annual NBA winner bet.
With its name, it would be a sin if PointsBet didn’t do NBA points spread bets well, and the innovative crowd pleaser certainly lives up to its title. What you’ll find enticing at Points Bet isn’t so much the lines at which they set the spread but the tweaked odds that’ll deliver a few extra dollars on winning bets.
Say you see the Brooklyn Nets as -4 favorites at most sportsbooks with standard odds of -110, it’s not usual to see the same line at PointsBet but at -105, powered by lower juice. And of course, you can tickle the lines at PointsBet by buying and selling points for even better odds with its patented Points Betting feature.
NBA Moneylines are, well, NBA moneylines. There’s usually little to differentiate between sportsbooks on these standard ‘to win bets’. WynnBet is the NY betting site that does all of the basics brilliantly and doesn’t feel the need to impress you much more. That’s patently true for NBA moneylines.
You’ll tend to find that WynnBet keeps their NBA moneyline markets very tight. That means where others might follow the money by constantly trying to keep balanced sides on both sides of the bet, WynnBet moneylines stay pretty true. The ‘to win’ bet windows stand firm as lines elsewhere change ahead of the biggest games so you can bet the NBA moneyline with confidence that you’ve received a fair price.
Resorts World Bet doesn’t do too much that’s flash, but its NBA lightning bets are a standout feature. These rapidly changing minute-by-minute live bets are a head spinner in the fast-paced nature of basketball games and they’re also hugely exciting.
Resorts World Bet’s stripped-back betting apps enable it to drop short-term props into in-play markets with ease. You’ll find them on player points, assists, rebounds, and lots of other as-it-happens action events. Resorts World’s Catskills casino location is the closest retail sportsbook to Manhattan and has a huge wall of screens for watching the big game while making an in-person bet.
Most of the biggest NY sportsbooks feature odds boosts on NBA matches, but fans of enhanced pricing will enjoy the assortment available at BallyBet most weeks. As well as win bets and spreads, check out BallyBet’s social feeds for additional odds boosts such as individual and combined player props, underdog pricing uplifts, totals across games packaged into parlays, and moneyline combos.
As the final entrant into the opening legalized NY sports betting tranche, BallyBet look set to continue their amplified odds throughout the NBA season.
You’re unlikely to find the best pricing for NBA favorites at BetRivers, but savvy bettors may well uncover an edge when shopping the lines on tightly matched basketball games. NBA underdogs have tended to dominate at times in recent seasons, both against the spread and straight up, so healthy returns are achievable when backing them.
BetRivers regularly shades the opposition when looking at teams that can topple favorites, so be sure to check them out on closely contested fixtures. The Rivers Casino Schenectady has a BetRivers-affiliated in-person betting space with self-service kiosks and sports showing on its 22 TV screens.
To mash up the famous words of legendary commentator George Will - baseball is only a game, sportsbooks only take bets on the game, but not all games or sportsbooks are created equal. And indeed, every sportsbook approaches their NBA betting offering in different ways so take the time to find the best one suited to how you’ll be placing baseball wagers.
Tick off the basics first - make sure the sportsbook you sign up to is legal and licensed in the state in which you’ll be making bets. Also, make sure the banking options you’ll be using most often are accepted.
Shop around for the best welcome bonuses. Pick the ones that most appeal. Sign up for a few sportsbooks to max out the new customer offers available. Consider staggering them across the season to make the most of big NBA event promos.
Check out a few betting site reviews and look out for the wager types you’ll be making and how good each sportsbook is rated at offering them. If you mainly bet spreads then you want a book with the best lines consistently. If it’s moneylines or futures, then know where to look for the highest odds.
Know the nature of the game. Basketball is fast and high scoring. Not all sportsbook apps can handle NBA games, especially in live betting, as neatly as the best ones. That lack of functionality can mean the difference between getting on a wager you want quickly, missing out altogether, or betting on a line that’s not as sharp as the rest.
Most of the top platforms welcome new customers with NY sportsbook promo codes and bonuses upon registering that can be used for NBA betting. Once you’re in, you’ll also find an assortment of NBA betting promos that both feature across the season and land ahead of big game days.
Risk-free bets work in different ways. Some will give new users bonus funds if their first wager is an unsuccessful one while others credit accounts whether a bet wins, loses or pushes.
Either way, the value of the free bet will be equivalent to the amount of the initial wager. So, whether you’re following the Nicks or Nets each week or betting on the NBA playoffs, these are the best risk-free bet offers currently:
NY Sportsbook | Risk-Free NBA Bonus |
Caesars | 🎁 New customers get a risk-free bet of up to $1,250 that can be used for NBA betting if their first wager is a losing one. |
FanDuel | 🎁 Get $200 in bonus bets when you bet $5 |
BetMGM | 🎁 Place a risk-free bet of up to $1,000 on the NBA and be refunded up to the value of your wager if it doesn’t hit. |
PointsBet | 🎁 Land five free bets of up to $100 each to use on the NBA if your first wager loses. |
WynnBet | 🎁 Place a $100 bet on the NBA and be credited with the same value whether your first cash wager wins or loses. |
Deposit match offers mean that a sportsbook will credit you with the value of a first deposit or with a bonus set at a certain percentage of the funds you put into a new account. If you’re looking for a new sportsbook and will be depositing funds, be sure to check out the best NY deposit match offers:
NY Sportsbook | Deposit Match NBA Bonus |
DraftKings | 🎁 20% deposit bonus up to a maximum of $1,000. To make the most of DraftKings' welcome offer you’d need to bet $5,000 to receive $1,000 but you have 90 days to use it with staggered funds released depending on how much you wager. |
Bet Rivers | 🎁 Up to $250 in free bets that can be used on the NBA matched to the value of a first deposit. |
Ongoing NBA sportsbook promos change regularly but some of the highlights currently on offer include:
NY Sportsbook | Existing Customer NBA Bonus |
FanDuel | 🎁 Bet $10 on a Tuesday same game parlay of three legs or more and get $10 in site credit. |
WynnBet | 🎁 Place a $20 NBA parlay with at least four legs at minimum odds of +400 on Thursday to Sunday games and receive a $10 free bet. |
Bet Rivers | 🎁 Get a 20$ profit boost on a maximum NBA bet of £25 every Tuesday that has minimum odds of -200. |
You’ll find the biggest NBA free bet offers and bonuses appearing ahead of the NBA Playoffs and Finals plus the season launch so keep checking back regularly to bag a basketball bonus.
It’s estimated that more people in the US play basketball than any other team sport, and the NBA finals have been amongst the most watched events in recent years. As well as betting on the NBA finals, there’s plenty for NBA fans to wager on during the course of the season.
There are as many ways to bet on the NBA as there are moves on the court and ways to shoot hoops. Some are the bulwarks of betting that cross many types of sport, while others are refined to the game of basketball itself.
Taking the moneyline bet for NBA games means picking which team will win and placing a bet on them. In almost every fixture, you’ll see a favorite at short odds and an underdog at a higher price - that is unless the two sides are incredibly closely matched. Depending on the caliber of the team you might see NBA moneyline odds ranging from +100 right up to +1,000.
Betting on a team within a futures market involves making a wager with an eye on the season's end. This might be which club will win their division or the team that will be crowned NBA Finals champion. A futures bet could also be on a player such as who will be the highest scorer or who will be the NBA MVP. NBA futures markets are usually available before the season starts right up to the final set of fixtures.
NBA live betting is a thrill and the rapid-fire nature of basketball makes it one of the most exciting sports for this type of wager. Live betting markets are offered as games are in play while the action unfolds. Odds can change quickly and significantly based on how the match is playing out, making for big opportunities to make a profit or for a wager to crash out within minutes of making it.
The most popular futures bet year on year is always who will win the NBA Finals and be crowned champions. Odds can be particularly healthy early in the season before tightening as the likeliest winners emerge.
Like football, baseball, and hockey, every NBA season will conclude with the ‘best’ individual being handed the MVP award - Most Valuable Player prize. The most popular player prop bet of the year, some stars are in the running for a place in the NBA Hall of Fame from the get-go while others emerge midway with a hot streak of form.
First-year players are always a big deal in the NBA. Right from the draft, fresh-faced individuals will be identified who could be awarded the rookie of the year gong. The race to be basketball’s best newcomer sees odds posted before the season and then refreshed game on game.
There are some 1,230 individual NBA games to bet on every season which is a stupendous selection of fixtures to bet on who will win each match. Some bettors devote every year to wagering on NBA matches each week, while others await the end of term finales or the annual All-Star game.
Each NBA game consists of four quarters lasting 12 minutes each. All of the best sportsbooks for NBA betting will offer bets on each quarter including which team will be leading, what the score will be after every 12 minutes of play and how many total points the sides will achieve. Betting on NBA quarters is one of the most popular forms of live betting due to the fast rate at which baskets are made.
Sports betting sites advertise a huge number of bets on how individual players will perform. One of the most common is how many points a power forward and guards will get as well as the number of assists a player will achieve and how many rebounds each center will nab.
The first number you’ll typically come across when browsing NBA betting markets is the spread. Alongside that will be the over/under odds for a given game. Both of these figures are often referred to as the ‘lines’.
On the spread, the favorite will have a negative number and the underdog a positive one. These are points handed to or taken away from either side. For example, if the Brooklyn Nets are listed as -4.5 favorites, then they must win by 5 points or more to ‘cover the spread’.
On the over/under line, the number is simply the combined points total that an oddsmaker believes will be scored in a game. For NBA fixtures, the total will often be between 200 and 240 points.
To read NBA betting lines, you need to understand how they are set. Some sportsbooks make their own lines and are often known as ‘line originators’ while some bookmakers take a look at the wider market and tend to follow the leaders. The originators use complex mathematical formulas plus a raft of game data and soft information to determine their lines and associated odds.
NBA betting markets, like those in all sports, are dynamic with lines and odds subject to frequent review and change. Oddsmakers always try to balance how much money is being taken on each side of a bet. For this reason, they will move lines and alter odds in a bid to encourage more money on one side or the other.
For example, if a sportsbook opens an NBA betting market on a NY Knicks game with the points spread advertised at -3 which attracts lots of wagers, it might drop the line to -2.5, then -2 and repeat the process until it is satisfied that the number has settled and bettors are staking relatively evenly on both sides of the bet.
It’s also important to understand that the main bet types offered - the moneyline, points spread and totals - influence the markets and odds offered for other forms of NBA wagers. These derivative bet types include first-half and first-quarter spreads and totals.
Like all top sports, basketball and NBA games are chock full of trends, nuances, and certain elements that can be predicted or forecast. A starting point for NBA betting strategies should always be to shop the lines, that is to browse the odds on different markets at a sportsbook to identify value and also compare prices at a variety of betting sites.
As you follow a favorite NBA team or take in the season as a whole, build up a picture of how the campaign is panning out. Every year the NBA is filled with back-to-back fixtures between teams meaning the previous game will give a good indication of how the one following shortly will take shape. Long road trips are common which can drain a team’s energy and morale yet underdogs typically triumph in 30 to 40% of games.
That said, if you’re perusing the futures markets for who will win the championship, top-seeded sides consistently reign supreme come the season's end. Look out for player narratives too. The NBA is a star-laden league with big-name players attracting masses of column inches. The end-of-term player awards are voted for by industry insiders who will often make their choice based on the journey an individual has taken during a campaign and favor the most chaptered story.
Keep up to date with the latest NBA news to help guide your betting decisions.
New York sports fans are a passionate crowd and have an intimate knowledge of the Nets’ and Nicks’ fortunes. Neither team has set the NBA alight in recent editions though, with injuries and a rotating line-up hindering the Knicks and the Nets from living up to preseason hopes.
The Knickerbockers may have reached eight NBA Finals but the NY team has only won the title twice in its history. The most recent of those came way back in 1973 and the MSG-based team has lurched between consecutive losing streaks and the occasional run of postseason qualification. Sharing a cross-town rivalry with the Brooklyn Nets and further afield grudges against Miami Heat, the Baltimore Bullets, and Chicago Bulls, Knicks fans are an optimistic crowd but there’s a heap of pressure on their team to improve sooner rather than later.
The Nets are supposed to have romped to an NBA title for a while now but have ultimately failed to deliver basketball’s greatest prizes for what seems a lifetime. The Brooklyn boys have enjoyed recent playoff trips but without success. With several key departures, whether the Nets' new-look lineup is championship caliber remains to be seen. There is always their impressive recent head-to-head record against the Knicks for Nets fans to savor though, and they don’t like the Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors much either when they come to town.
As well as a ton of smaller venues in which to watch amateur basketball teams, street courts for hanging out with fellow ballers, and parks where families throng to shoot hoops, New York has two main stadiums for watching the pro games in the NBA.
New York’s most famous venue, Madison Square Garden hosts a multitude of sporting, musical and cultural shows every year. MSG is where the New York Knicks play their home games in front of nearly 20,000 fans. The thronged spectators bundled into the tight stands of the legendary space make for an intimate and electric atmosphere with a wall of sound that’s unique in the NBA.
Home to the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA and New York Liberty of the WNBA, the Barclays Center is a marquee venue at which to watch basketball. With impressive sightlines, first-class facilities, a spectacular sound system, and giant video boards, the Barclays Center houses nearly 18,000 fans on game days who raise its famous green slanted roof.
In addition to the retail sportsbooks listed that you’ll find operated by the biggest NY gambling companies, there are three additional in-person betting sports lounges in the Buffalo area. The trio of Seneca Casino tribal venues each has 24/7 sports betting kiosks amid their casino layouts. Seneca Allegany, Seneca Buffalo Creek, and Seneca Niagara each have a unique atmosphere with big-screen sports, dining, and drinking.
DraftKings Sportsbook at Del Lago Casino Resort
1133 New York 414, Waterloo, NY 13165, United States
+1 315-946-1777
Sportsbook 360 at Resorts World Catskills
888 Resorts World Drive, Monticello, NY 12701
+1 833-586-9358
Rivers Sportsbook at Rivers Casino & Resort
1 Rush St, Schenectady, NY 12305
+1 518-579-8800
FanDuel Sportsbook at Tioga Downs Casino
2384 W River Rd, Nichols, NY 13812, United States
+1 607-414-1129
Lounge With Caesars at Point Place Casino
450 452, NY-31, Bridgeport, NY 13030
315-366-9610
Lounge With Caesars at Turning Stone Resort & Casino
5218 Patrick Rd, Verona, NY 13478
800-771-7711
Lounge With Caesars at Yellow Brick Road Casino
800 W Genesee St, Chittenango, NY 13037
315-366-9400
Sticks Sports Book at Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort
873 NY-37, Hogansburg, NY 13655
518-358-2222
Sports Lounge at Seneca Allegany Casino
777 Seneca Allegany Blvd, Salamanca, NY 14779
888-913-3377
Sports Lounge at Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino
1 Fulton St, Buffalo, NY 14204
877-873-6322
Sports Lounge at Seneca Niagara Casino
310 4th St, Niagara Falls, NY 14303
877-873-6322
Any watering hole in New York becomes a sports bar on big NBA game days. Some bars have aligned themselves with a NY team to become a regular meeting point for Knicks and Nets supporters while others are a free-for-all, welcoming basketball fans from in and out of town.
Blondies - Upper West Side
212 W 79th St, New York, NY 10024
+1 212-362-3311
Unashamedly a solid dive bar with lots of TVs for watching the game while devouring its famous wings and waffle fries, Blondies is a favorite with New York sports fans. The atmosphere is lively and fun with regulars who will welcome all interlopers cheering on the ‘right’ team. Blondies opens mid-afternoon during the week and at noon on weekends, staying open ‘till 11 pm.
Blue Haven - Kips Bay, Manhattan
493 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016
+1 646-678-4200
One of NYC’s most beloved sports bars, Blue Haven is a vast space that still manages to get packed on busy days. A bar that bills itself as blurring the lines between big game draught beer pub and upscale city hangout, Blue Haven has a multitude of big screens for watching the NBA action alongside a solid selection of craft ales and way above-average sports bar food. Blue Haven opens at 11 am every day and waves off the last of its weary patrons at 4 am.
Yard House - Times Square
575 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018
+1 646-434-2448
Boasting the self-proclaimed title of ‘the world’s largest selection of draught beers’, Yard House is a sprawling sports bar that has been partially claimed by NY Knicks fans but is fully bagged on game days by the blue and orange legion. TVs above every booth and big screens dotted around the place show sport all day long with oversize bar bites for refueling at halftime.
Bleachers Sports Bar & Grill - Brooklyn
240 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
+1 718-857-1111
Firmly in Nets territory, Bleachers is the ‘official sports bar’ for the Brooklyn team. With a capacity for 200 seated sports fans, drinkers, and diners, Bleachers is just a block away from the Barclays Center and has a lively game day atmosphere, closing at 10 pm each day.
Sports betting is legal in New York but only at the nine licensed sportsbooks that are registered with the state gambling commission.
You need to be at least 21 years old to legally bet on the NBA in New York.
To bet on NBA games, sign up with a legal sportsbook, make a deposit and choose your wager before entering a stake amount. Then review your selection then hit confirm and your bet will be placed.
The highlights of the NBA calendar include the season launch in October, the All-Star exhibition weekend every February, and the final day of the regular campaign in early April followed by the Play-In Tournament a few days later and then the NBA Playoffs in the middle of the month. The NBA Finals take place in June.
In NBA betting, the spread is a margin that theoretically handicaps the favorite team while handing the underdog a points advantage. The sportsbook oddsmakers predict that the stronger team will win by a certain number of points.
As with placing a wager on all sports, to bet on the NBA Playoffs you’ll need to register an account at a sportsbook, make a deposit and choose a bet to place.
To bet on the NBA Finals pick the best sportsbook, open an account and make a deposit. Odds for the NBA Finals are usually released by the bookmakers months in advance and then change regularly as the event nears.
NBA players are prevented from betting on themselves or indeed any other player or team by the constitution of the competition’s governing body.
NBA games always finish with a winner and if two teams are tied at the end of normal time a period of overtime is played. That means overtime counts for the most popular bet types such as moneylines, totals, and spreads. Overtime obviously won’t apply to wagers relating to halves or quarters in a game.
Live betting is available at all of the legal NY sportsbooks with markets and odds offered as a game is played.
Gambling winnings on any sport and any competition, including the NBA, are taxable in New York. Winnings from betting are counted as income by the state and federal authorities, and you can use our gambling tax calculator to work out how much tax you’ll need to pay.
