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Who is the public betting in NBA basketball? What is public betting?
The wagering public is known as a casual fan that may wager every day or semi-regularly just to add some excitement to the game, as well as have the opportunity to cash a bet.
While sometimes savvy, the average “public” NBA bettor is more likely to back favorites and wager on the OVER.
The public will often support top-tier win-loss teams in the NBA, such as the Golden State Warriors. The additional thinking is that the public doesn’t like a slower-paced game and will wager on the OVER in anticipation of more excitement.
Often, this perception can lead to small advantages for sharp players, who are inclined to wager on underdogs and the UNDER.
This is not a steadfast scenario, but often, one of the first considerations when setting out to place a wager is gauging the public perception of the team’s possible performance outcome.
While you might consider high-profile teams to be more frequently backed by the general public than you are right a vast majority of the time. However, often a quick check of the public betting percentages at online sportsbooks can lead to a clearer view of which side or total is truly being supported by the number of tickets placed and the amount of money.
Many sports betting information websites offer comingled ticket and money percentages as a public service. While there are skeptics of these statistics that will claim that betting apps are making up these figures, most industry experts agree that the free sites do a reasonable job of aggregating public bets and money percentages.
There are also a few professional market tracking products that partner in real-time with sportsbooks both in the United States and internationally in “off-shore” markets to give an accurate portrayal of who the betting public is actually on.
This gives market readers the opportunity to detect possible sharp movement in a betting line that could indicate where successful bettors are getting out “ahead of the market” and wagering on a side or total that oddsmakers have yet to react to.
In general, the public is generally thought to be a steady loser at the betting window. And interestingly, the stronger the public action, it is believed the less likely a given side or total is expected to win or cover.
While not a hard-fast rule, many sports betting experts claim that fading the public is a long-term winning strategy.
Devin is a diehard New York sports fan and betting expert. He supplies a wealth of knowledge about everything online gambling, providing readers with up-to-date tracking on the latest trends, industry news, and betting offers.