Even newbies in the sports betting sector are aware of the Plus and Minus signs. However, do you know what do the “Plus” and “Minus” signs mean when it comes to basketball betting odds? What’s the proper way to take advantage of them? We are going to answer these questions in more detail in the following guide.
What are Betting Markets?
The markets and odds are set by the online bookmaker. The bookmaker thus lays the foundation for the betting offer and the bettors can either choose to accept the offer or reject it. The offer expresses the approximate probability that a certain result will happen. For instance, betting on the favorite comes with lower odds. On the other hand, backing the outsider leads to much bigger odds.
To simplify things, imagine the following scenario. You have Team A and Team B playing against each other. You decide to bet that Team B will win the game even though they are the weaker side. The bookmaker gives you 2.5 odds for Team B to win the game. This means that if you bet $10 and Team B wins, you will get $25. With the stake being $10, your profit will be $15.
Basketball Betting Markets
As an extremely popular sport, basketball markets are offered at almost every bookmaker in the world. Besides the classic 1×2 or Moneyline markets, players often look at a handicap, over/under totals, player totals, etc. All the totals markets and handicap markets are handled by the “Plus” and “Minus” signs which is why we are explaining them in this guide.
What do Plus and Minus mean in basketball betting odds – Basketball Markets
The most basic +/- market is the Asian Handicap one. These signs help you increase the odds so you can bet on the favorite which usually comes with extremely low odds. For instance, let us assume that two teams are playing and one of them is a strong favorite. The odds for that team winning will be extremely low and it won’t be worth it to bet on them. However, we can increase the odds by using the above mentioned odds. When we want to increase the odds for the favorite, we use the “Minus” sign.
So, if we add a -7.5 points to the favorite, the odds for that market will increase drastically. This would mean that we subtract 7.5 points from the final score of the team that’s considered favorite. If they won by 8 or more points, you will win the bet. On the other hand, the same could be done with the “Plus” sign. However, we use that one to boost the chances of the underdog. We can add +7.5 points to the score of the weaker side. So, if they lose by 7 or less points, you will win the bet.
Totals Betting – Plus and Minus
Additionally, the “plus” and “minus” signs are used for totals betting as well. For instance, you could bet that in a certain game more than 220.5 points will be scored. The bet would look like this: + 220.5 points. The same could be done if you believe that a lower amount of points will be scored in a certain game. In that case, you use the minus sign and the bet would look like this: – 212.5 points.
Keep in mind that the markets don’t have to be on the whole game. There are plus/minus odds for points scored in a single quarter, total points scored by a certain team, etc. You can even bet on the number of points, assists, rebounds, and blocks a certain player will make in a game. However, more about that below.
Player Totals – Plus and Minus
As we mentioned above, +/- signs can be used for player totals as well. This is very popular with NBA markets as players there tend to score a lot points, among other things. As a bettor, all you need to do is pick the player. Most bookmakers will have markets for the most popular or most important players. You can count on them having markets for at least 5-6 players from every team. Based on that, you can bet on a certain player to score + or – points from the average that’s offered by the bookmaker.
The odds will be similar or even the same in most cases, whether you decide to go with + or -. The same applies for assists, rebounds, and blocks done by a player in a single game. Some bookmakers even offer a combination of all parameters. For instance a player will score, assist, rebound, and block a certain amount. All you have to do as a player is to chose “Plus” or “Minus”. The plus means that he will do better than the given average while the minus means that he will perform worse than the bookmaker’s average.
The “Plus” and “Minus” signs are very important when it comes to over/under betting. Experienced bettors will always look for the best value before placing their odds. Value bets are the type of bets where the value exceeds the risk.
Knowing The Markets
It’s important to know at least the basics, before placing any bets. Even a little bit of knowledge can help you create better bet slips. Only those who can “read” and fully understand the markets offered by bookmakers will successfully place their betting slips in the long term.
It is important to always look for the odds that offer the best value. It is recommended that you register accounts on three to five bookies at the same time. This will help you find the best available odds for the markets you want to bet on. We suggest checking our blog posts for more information on these topics.
