Exploring Future Bets

The thrill of predicting the next champion, the team with the most wins at the end of the season, and who wins the MVP comes with the huge payout that lures most bettors. Placing money on future bets carries risks that can be addressed with proper research on the top sportsbooks. Check out how future bets work and what it takes for punters to win it all.

Published on 28 Jan 2022

A vision to foresee what lies ahead several weeks or months from Day 1 of a major sports league is a gift every bettor desires if only to secure a huge payout for long-term investment on other betting options in sportsbooks. Some punters are way past the opening-day matches, the marquee matchups, and the start of a playoff season, as they place their bets on which team wins it all or who are the top players at the end of the tournament. Bookmakers have unveiled a futures bet option for bettors who believe they know who will emerge as the champion even as the season is about to start.
So, for the uninitiated, what is the concept of future bets, and how does it work?

BEST TEAMS LIKELY PICKED AS FUTURE BETS

The futures bet is described as a wager on an event, series, or award (for individual players) that will be announced in the future. It is, basically, about bettors placing their money on an event that will be decided on an end-of-season result and beyond games from the current day or week.In the NBA, punters look forward to predicting which team will win the championship even if the regular season has yet to start, or the number of victories a team will collect over the course of the season, to the player who gets to take home the Most Valuable Player award or other individual accolades as announced during the playoffs.Sports use algorithms or computer simulations to determine the odds of every team’s chances of winning the NBA crown – but this will be based mostly on their performances and statistics last season or major player acquisitions or trades that will create a huge impact in changing a squad’s fortunes in the new season.

HUGE PAYOUT GUARANTEED IN FUTURE BETS

Predicting which team wins it all in any major sport – from the NBA to NFL, MLB, and NHL – is no easy task even if sportsbooks guide bettors with odds based on past numbers, current lineups, and performance from the previous season. That is why punters are rewarded with a high payout once their predictions turn out to be correct at the season’s end.For example, most bookmakers believe the Golden State Warriors have an 18% chance of winning the NBA Finals. Such a percentage converts to betting odds of +456, meaning a punter wins USD456 on a USD100 bet.
But bettors might see the Warriors listed on their sportsbook at around +400, which results in a 20% probability – a number that is slightly higher than the chance oddsmakers actually think they have.

FUTURE BETS OFFER SEVERAL OPTIONS

Aside from predicting the NBA Finals champion, sportsbooks offer future bets as to which team will collect the highest win totals after the regular season, who will win the MVP award, and who among the freshmen claims the Rookie of the Year award.The Coach of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year awards are also offered as individual futures bets to punters, but most bettors are also interested in NBA playoffs futures that include how many games in a best-of-seven series it will take for a team to advance into the next round. Several choices are presented for a first-round matchup between, for example, the top-seeded Warriors against the No8 seed Portland Trail Blazers. Bettors will choose if they see the Warriors finish off the Blazers in 4, 5, 6, or 7 games at various odds, as well as the underdog Blazers in 4, 5, 6, or 7 games.

MULTIPLE PICKS CAN RAISE CHANCES OF WINNING

Punters with deep pockets often choose multiple teams, players, or entrants to win a futures bet due to the higher payout it offers. But bettors must calculate exactly how much they have at risk total and how much they stand to win at each selection before considering this strategy.The defending champion usually leads with the highest odds to defend their title among future bets. In this case, if the Milwaukee Bucks add one or two players and have a healthy lineup, their odds of retaining the title will surely increase. But bettors should not always fall on the hype just as the Bucks, for example, snatched Nikola Jokic from the Denver Nuggets and paraded an impressive frontline with MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.For bettors who are loyal fans, sentiment won’t win you in a future bet. A punter should not bet on their favorite team to win the championship and instead choose the squad with higher odds of securing a huge payout. Just because you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan due to the presence of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russel Westbrook, does it mean a higher payout is within your reach on a future bet. Picking the eventual NBA champion on a future bet will still be based on where a bettor believes there is value and where they can make money.

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