A Guide to Betting on the NBA All-Star Game

Since 2018, the players that receive the most votes in each conference are designated as team captains and they can choose from the pool of All-Star reserves to form their team, regardless of which conference they play in. Today, this selection process is broadcast live on television, and it always draws a great deal of interest.

The head coach of the team with the best record in each conference is chosen to lead their respective conference in the All-Star Game, but they cannot do so two years in a row.

When it comes to betting on the game, there are a few things that it is very important to be aware of. The game is played under standard NBA rules; however, due to the selection process of players, a player sometimes starts the game in an atypical position. For example, in 2007, Kobe Bryant was chosen as a starting Western Conference guard. He normally played shooting guard, and as such started the game as a point guard.

It is also important to remember that it is an exhibition game. This means that it is common to see players attempting impressive slam dunks and alley oops, and there is less focus on defence. As such, the final score is often much higher than a regular NBA game.

The game also uses the Elam Ending rules. This means that in the fourth quarter, the game clock is turned off with four minutes remaining and a target score is set, whichever team reaches the target wins the game. All of this not only makes the game very exciting to watch, but requires an adaptation of the betting strategy.

Betting on the NBA All-Stars Game 

You will find many of the same betting markets for the All-Stars game as you would on any other basketball match; here we explain the most popular of them.

Game Winner

This is the most basic bet you can place on the game. It is a bet on which of the two teams will be the winner.

Game Point Spread Betting

This type of bet gives you the chance to enjoy longer odds on the favourites and reduce the risk of betting on the underdog. The bet assigns a points handicap to the favourite team, e.g. -4.5, and the same points advantage to the underdog.

This means that if you bet on the favourite to win, then they need to do so by at least as many points as given by the bet (in the above example that would be 5 points). If you bet on the underdog, then you need them to either win the game or not lose by more than the number of points given.

Points Total

As mentioned, the All-Star game is usually very high scoring and this market allows you to bet on just how high scoring you think it will be. The market gives a points total, such as 321.5, and you bet on whether you think the total number of points scored will be above this (over) or below it (under). Often, there will be several options of points total to choose from.

You will likely find other bets that work in a similar manner. For instance a bet on the total points scored in one half or the total points scored by one of the teams.

Game Winning Margin

Many All-Star games are extremely tight but sometimes, one team does manage to run away with it. This is a bet on how many points it will be won by. You can select a range, 1-2 points, 3-6 points, 7-9 points, 10-13 points, and so on.

First Half/Full Time

This is a bet on which team will be ahead at halftime and which team will win. It can be extremely difficult to predict in the All-Star game as not much is known about the team dynamics and it is a highly attacking game.

Player Proposition Bets

These are a major part of All Star game betting. Often there are a huge number of player prop bets available for the game, such as first player or team to score in each quarter, whether a player will get a slam dunk, which player will be named MVP, how many points, rebounds and assists a player will manage, and so on.

Game Proposition Bets

Like the player props, these bets can be hugely enjoyable in the All-Star game. They include bets such as which team will be the first to score 5/10/20/30/40/50 points, how many 3-point shots there will be in a game, which team will win each of the quarters, which team will score first in the game, and more.

Many More Bets

You will find many more bets available for the NBA All-Star game. Using the principles explained above you should have no problem understanding them, and with a bit of luck, you will be able to develop a winning betting strategy.