Basketball wagering can come in many forms. You can make betting on the MVP race a part of your basketball wagering portfolio. I'm sure plenty of people were upset by the fact that Michael Jordan lost the Most Valuable Award to Karl Malone in 1996 and they probably lost some money off of it as well. It is very exciting to see upsets in the NBA Playoff like the majestic run that the Denver Nuggets went on as the number eight seed knocking off the number one seed in the 1993 playoffs. The euphoria on Dikembe Mutumbo and LaPhonso Ellis's face could only be matched by the disappointment on the faces of Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and George Karl. It is an interesting question as to how many of the pros of basketball wagering would have been able to predict the outcome of that series.



Basketball wagering can be tough to do because a team like Jim Valvano's 1983 National Championship team that barely received a bid into the NCAA can actually pull off a monumental upset to defeat a historic team like the Houston Cougars who were by Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon at the time. That was another example that shows the unpredictability that can make basketball wagering so tough. Valvano himself probably would not have bet on his own team if such basketball wagering was allowed on his behalf as so many including him had little belief that his team could actually beat Houston. If you look at the other side of the coin however, making correct predictions like that is what can make basketball wagering so fun and rewarding.

Basketball wagering is something that is frowned upon by the NCAA, but you have to wonder whether they feel some of the hints of their own hypocrisy when it comes to basketball wagering because they hold conference tournaments in places like Atlantic City, New Jersey. The trend of having these tournaments in places where basketball wagering actually goes on is not likely to end any time as basketball wagering still remains extremely popular and profitable especially the later it gets in the college basketball schedule.