Speculate on Basketball

Despite the retirement of Yao Ming (former Houston Rockets center and NBA star), Basketball continues to be immensely popular in China. In fact, the country will host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) is often regarded as the top men's professional basketball league in Asia.

A handful of Chinese players who competed in the CBA in the early stages of their careers — including Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bateer, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Zhou Qi, and Wang Zhelin — have transitioned into the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Meanwhile, a number of former NBA stars played as import in the CBA. This includes All-Stars such as Gilbert Arenas, Steve Francis, Al Harrington, Stephon Marbury, Tracy McGrady, and Metta World Peace. NBA mainstays who had stellar CBA careers include Michael Beasley, Aaron Brooks, Lester Hudson, Kenyon Martin, Shavlik Randolph, and J.R. Smith.

As of 2016, the CBA has two divisions with 10 teams each. Each team plays a total of 38 regular season games. The top eight teams then move to the Quarterfinal round where the top seed battles the eight-seed (2nd-seed battles the 7th-seed, etc.) in a best-of-5 series. Winners of their respective brackets advance to the best-of-5 Semifinal series. After which, the advancing two teams battle in a best-of-seven Finals series.

The Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Bayi Rockets are traditional powerhouses of the CBA. Both teams are like the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics or San Antonio Spurs of the NBA, dynasties in their own right with each team appearing in the Finals 8 times.

Types of Basketball Markets

There are four common basketball markets that you can speculate on, these are:

Point Spread Basketball Markets
The team wagered on must win by the given point spread at the time the bet is placed. The point spread may vary from the time the initial line comes out to just before tipoff. Bookmakers may move the spread because of betting trends, player injuries or other circumstances that may affect the game's outcome. A typical point spread looks like:

Guangdong Southern Tigers	-8.5
Bayi Rockets	+8.5

The favorite is marked by the "-" sign while the underdog in marked by the "+" sign. If you bet on the Guangdong Southern Tigers, they have to win by 9 points or more for you to win the bet. If the Guangdong Southern Tigers win, but they don't cover the spread (win by 8 points or less), you lose the bet.

Money Line Markets
The team wagered on just has to win the game. The amount that bettors lay or take for each game may vary. The money line that is read at the time of the bet is the money line kept regardless of any line movement.

A typical money line looks like:

Guangdong Southern Tigers	+145
Bayi Rockets	-110

Just like point spreads, the favorite is marked by the "-" sign while the underdog in marked by the "+" sign. If you bet $145 on the Guangdong Southern Tigers and they win the game, you win $100. On the other hand, if you bet $100 on the Bayi Rockets and they win the game, you win $110.

Totals Markets (Over / Under Markets)
Bettors must wager on whether the actual combined scores of the two teams will either be over or under a certain pre-determined number, called the Total, for the game. A typical Totals line looks like:

Over	231
Under	231

If you bet on Over 231, the combined scores of the two teams at the end of the game should be more than 231 points for you to win. If you bet on Under 231, the combined scores of the two teams at the end of the game should be less than 231 points for you to win.

Propositions
Also known as Props or Prop Bets, Propositions allow bettors to wager on the outcome of special events, like which team would win CBA Championship or who will be named the league's Domestic MVP. For example:

CBA Championship
Guangdong Southern Tigers	+7500
Bayi Rockets	+7500
Beijing Ducks	+7000
Shanghai Sharks	+6000
Sichuan Blue Whales	+6000
Liaoning Flying Leopards	+5000
Xinjiang Flying Tigers	+5000
Jiangsu Dragons	+4000
Shandong Golden Stars	+3000