NBA betting is growing year after year across the United States, and that also holds true in Florida, where betting on NBA games has become very popular. Florida is home to the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. The Heat made the NBA Finals two years ago, and are still considered contenders entering this season, while the Magic are also trending in the right direction with 2022 first overall pick, Paolo Banchero, winning rookie of the year in 2023 and the team making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2020. It’s a great time to be an NBA fan and bettor in Florida.
On this page I will recommend our top rated betting site for Florida residents, briefly touch on the legalities of betting from Florida, look at examples of the three most popular NBA bets, and finish up with a 3 step guide you can follow to get your NBA bets placed online quickly and easily.
Best Sportsbook for Florida Residents
| Sportsbook | Bonus | Visit |
|---|---|---|
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100% up to $250 | Visit |
Bovada.lv is our top rated betting site for Floridians looking to bet on the NBA online. Bovada is the most popular sportsbook serving the United States and has built a strong reputation as a safe and secure site for Florida players over the past decade.
Bovada offers early and competitive lines on every NBA game and includes a wide variety of prop betting options for each game as well.
Sports Betting in Florida
Sports betting is once again legal in Florida, but Hard Rock Bet has a monopoly on the regulated gaming market in Florida, as the only licensed operator.
Florida residents do also have the option to join and bet with offshore betting sites that are located, licensed and regulated outside of the United States. Bovada is licensed and regulated offshore by the Union of the Comoros, which allows them to accept players from Florida and the majority of other US States.
Check out our Florida sports betting section for a more in depth breakdown of the betting legalities in the state.
Popular NBA Bets
There are three NBA bets that take the vast majority of action. These include the point spread, money line (to win) and over/under (totals) odds.
Point Spread
The oddsmakers will set a “spread” that is meant to even the playing field between two teams. With the spread the underdog is basically spotted a certain number of points, which allows bets on either side of the spread to payout a basically equal amount.
The team expected to win the game (favorite) must win by more than the spread amount, while the underdog must either win the game outright or lose by fewer points than the spread.
Here’s an example from the Magic vs Heat game to open the 2024-25 season. The Hear are 2 point favorites at home. This means that the Heat must win by 3 or more for a spread bet on Miami to win. A spread bet on the Magic is the winner if the Magic either win the game outright, or the Heat win by 1 point. If the Heat win by exactly 2 points then the spread bets would push (be returned).
Money Line (To Win)
Another popular wager is known as the “money line”. This type of bet is simply betting on the winner of the game, no spread involved. The odds will be set based on each teams perceived chances of winning the game. Betting on the favorite will return less if they win, than betting on the underdog.
For example, a team perceived to have a 75% chance of winning the game will have money line odds of -300, which would mean you would have to risk $300 to win $100 betting on that team. On the flip side, a team with a 25% chance of winning a game would have odds of +300, meaning a $100 bet would win $300 if they pulled off the upset.
In the Magic vs Heat example the Heat are -130 favorites to win the game. This means you would have to bet $130 to win $100 (payout of $230) wagering on the Heat to win. The Magic are +110 underdogs so a $100 bet would win $110 (payout of $210) if they pulled off the small upset. Check out our American odds page to learn how to the odds work.
Over/Under (Totals)
The last of the three popular bets on an NBA game is the over/under, also known as totals. This bet involves wagering on the total number of points to be scored in the game by both teams combined. The oddsmaker will set a total for the game and you can bet on whether you think more or fewer points will be scored.
The over/under in the Magic vs Heat game is set at 208.5 points. If 209 or more points are scored then the over bets would be winners, while if 208 or fewer points are scored the under bets would be winners.
These are the three bets that take the majority of betting action on NBA games, but there are also a wide variety of prop bets you can make as well. The ‘+267 Bets’ shown beside the Magic and Heat in each of the odds screenshots above indicates Bovada has 267 other bets you can make on this one NBA game.
How To Bet On The NBA From Florida – 3 Steps
Follow these three simple steps to bet on the NBA from Florida.
Step 1. Join Bovada.lv
Click the above link and click on the red ‘Join Now’ button on the landing page. Fill out the short form to open your account.
Step 2. Deposit
Log into your account and click on ‘Deposit’ in the top right corner of the screen. Choose one of the deposit options and follow the steps to fund your account.
Bovada accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency deposits.
You are entitled to a 50% matching bonus up to $250 on your first deposit. You will need to claim this bonus in the “My Rewards” section of your Bovada account.
Step 3. Place Your NBA Bets
Click on ‘Sports’ from the top navigation bar of the Bovada website and ‘Basketball’ from the secondary sports menu. Select ‘NBA’ from the ‘Trending Competitions’ or ‘Basketball A-Z’ menus in the left sidebar.
Select the NBA bet you want to make and enter your risk amount on the Bet Slip on the right of the screen. When you are satisfied with the risk and potential winnings, click ‘Place Bets’ to confirm the wager.
Here’s a screenshot showing the clicks to find the NBA betting lines and place a wager:
It’s that easy. Ready to bet? Click here to visit Bovada.lv.
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