Bet Types Explained: Moneyline, Spread, Totals and More

Basketball and championship trophy on a neon basketball court

NBA sportsbooks offer a wide range of ways to bet on the same game, from a simple pick on the winner to a multi-leg parlay built around player stats.

This page breaks down every wager type Rexbet offers, moneyline, spread, totals, player props, parlays, futures and live wagering, in plain English, with a quick comparison table if you just want the short version. New to sports wagering entirely? Start with our NBA Betting Guide first.

Bet Type	What You’re Predicting	Outcomes	Settles When	Best For
Moneyline	Which team wins outright	2-way	Final score official, overtime included	First-timers
Spread	Which team beats the margin (e.g. a -6.5 favourite must win by 7+)	2-way	Final score vs. the line, overtime included	Anyone who cares about margin, not just the winner
Totals	Whether combined score is over/under a number	2-way	Full-game combined score, overtime included	Anyone who’d rather not pick a side
Player Props	Whether a player’s stat clears a number	2-way (usually)	Player’s actual recorded stat, overtime included (the player must appear in the game for it to have action)	Fans tracking one player
Parlays	Multiple selections on one ticket	Multi-way, all must win	Once every leg settles	Anyone chasing a bigger payout, more risk
Futures	A season-long or tournament-long outcome	Multi-way	Whenever the real outcome is decided	Anyone planning ahead of a season or the playoffs
Live and In-Play	Same markets, repriced during the game	2-way	Same as pre-game equivalent, at the buzzer	Anyone watching the game live

Moneyline

A moneyline bet is a straight pick on which team wins the game, nothing else factors in. The favourite and the underdog are priced separately to reflect how likely each side is to win, so backing the favourite pays less per dollar staked and backing the underdog pays more.

Take a Nuggets–Timberwolves game as an example: a moneyline pick on Denver wins if they win outright, whether by 1 point or by 30, the margin never comes into it. It settles the instant the final score is official, overtime included.

Prices here are shown in decimal, American or fractional format depending on what you’ve selected. Decimal vs American Odds Explained has the full breakdown of how they compare.

Spread

A point spread levels two unequal teams by adding or subtracting points before the final score is compared. Say Milwaukee is priced as a 6.5-point favourite over Miami: a spread bet on the Bucks needs them to win by 7 points or more to cover, while backing the Heat at +6.5 covers if they lose by 6 or fewer, or win outright.

Bucks -6.5 vs Heat +6.5 — where the final margin lands decides who covers. On a number line from 0 up past 6.5: a Heat win, or a Bucks win by 1-6, falls in the “Bucks side loses” zone; a Bucks win by 7 or more falls in the “Bucks side covers” zone.

Backing the Heat (+6.5) covers anywhere left of the dashed line: a loss by 6 or fewer, or a win outright. Backing the Bucks (-6.5), by contrast, only covers right of the dashed line: a win by 7 points or more.

Example only, not a live line. Illustrates how a point spread settles.

The line moves independently of the moneyline price, so a heavy favourite can carry a big spread and still show reasonable odds.

Totals

A totals bet, also called an over/under, is a pick on whether the two teams’ combined score finishes above or below a number set by the sportsbook, regardless of which team scores more. With a Thunder–Pacers total set at 231.5, the over needs the two teams to combine for 232 points or more, and the under needs 231 or fewer.

Thunder–Pacers Total: 231.5 — the combined score alone decides over or under, not who wins. Split at 231.5: 231 or fewer settles as “Under,” 232 or more settles as “Over.”

231.5 splits every possible combined score in half: land on 231 or fewer and it settles under, land on 232 or more and it settles over. Nothing else about the game factors in here, not which team led, not the final margin, just the two scores added together.

Example only, not a live line. Illustrates how a combined-score total settles.

It’s decided purely by pace and scoring across the whole game, with any overtime points counting the same as points scored in regulation.

Player Props

Player props are bets on an individual’s stat line for the game, points, rebounds, assists, three-pointers made, and dozens of other categories, rather than the team result.

Set a Grizzlies forward’s points prop at 24.5 and the over needs him at 25 or more, the under needs 24 or fewer, it comes down to his line alone, not the final score.

It settles on the number the player actually records, and he has to take the floor at all for the wager to have action; if he doesn’t play, it’s voided.

First-quarter player prop markets carry an extra condition on top of that: the player has to be part of the starting five, or entries on them are voided too. NBA Player Props Explained digs deeper into finding value in this market.

Parlays

A parlay combines two or more selections into a single ticket, and every leg has to win for the parlay to pay out at all, losing any one leg loses the whole ticket. Combine a Bucks moneyline with an over on a Thunder–Pacers total and you’ve got a two-leg parlay: both have to land for it to pay out.

That’s a modest step up in payout and risk over a single bet. Stretch the same idea to a six-leg parlay and the odds multiply across every leg, the payout climbs fast, but so does the chance that just one selection breaks the whole ticket.

Futures

A futures bet is a pick on a long-term outcome, a division winner, a conference champion, an MVP, rather than a single game. Back the Nuggets to win the Western Conference, and that stake is tied up until the conference is actually decided, however Denver looks on any given night in between. Futures reward patience more than any other market on this page.

Live and In-Play Betting

These markets cover the same moneyline, spread and total lines already on this page, just repriced continuously once the game is underway instead of fixed before tip-off. In a Cavaliers–Magic game, a scoring run midway through the third quarter can swing the live moneyline several points within seconds.

That’s why these markets reprice after almost every possession instead of on a fixed schedule.

A live bet settles exactly like its pre-game equivalent once the final buzzer sounds, the current score and time remaining are baked into the price at the moment you place it, not into how it settles. For more on how these markets specifically apply to NBA odds, see Basketball Odds Explained.

Bet Types, Answered

How to Place Your First Basketball Bets covers account setup, cashout rules, and what happens if a game is postponed.