How to bet & find value on the FIBA World Cup

How to bet & find value on the FIBA World Cup

By Michael Gales Aug 22, 2014

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Basketball bettors have to wait until October for the start of the NBA, but have the opportunity to bet on the 2014 FIBA World Cup starting on August 30th. This article explains how to bet and find value on the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

What is the FIBA World Cup?

The FIBA World Cup is an international basketball tournament held every four years. 24 nations will compete in the 2014 tournament – 17th edition – hosted by Spain with the winner automatically qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Below is the 2014 FIBA World Cup tournament structure:

Preliminary Round

The 24 teams have been split into four groups of six, whereby the top four nations will qualify from each group for the knockout stages.

2014 FIBA World Cup Groups

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Spain

Philippines

Dominican Republic

Lithuania

Iran

Senegal

Turkey

Angola

France

Puerto Rico

United States

South Korea

Brazil

Argentina

Finland

Slovenia

Egypt

Greece

New Zealand

Mexico

Serbia

Croatia

Ukraine

Australia

Final Round

The remaining 16 nations will then compete in a straight knockout format until two teams remain, competing in the 2014 FIBA World Cup Final on September 14th.

Bettors should take note of a recent change for the Final round. Teams from Group A and B are in one half of the bracket, while teams from Group C and D are in the other. This ensures that nations from Group A and B won’t meet teams from Group C or D until the final or third-place playoff, and can potentially meet previous group opponents as early as the Quarter-finals.

USA are the big favourites to win the 2014 FIBA World Cup?

The USA are the 1.578* favourites with Pinnacle Sports to win their fifth FIBA World Cup title. This gives the NBA-led team an impressive 63.37% chance of winning according to the odds.

The team will be looking to defend the title they won in 2010 when they beat Turkey by 17 points (81-64).

However, this year the American’s are without star players LeBron James and Kevin Durant – arguably the best two players in the world.

Also, the biggest line movements in the lead-up to the tournament have revolved around the injuries to influential USA player Paul George. When news broke of George’s injury the USA drifted from 1.416 to 1.625, while Spain’s odds shortened from 4.500 to 2.690.

This highlights the influence George had on their chances of winning and despite a team still loaded with top-level NBA talent, and an experienced coach in Mike Krzyzewski, bettors must decide how much of an impact these absentees will have on their chances of lifting the trophy.

Judging the motivational factors of the USA players will also be key to successful FIBA World Cup betting. It may seem logical to think that representing your nation at the World Cup would be the highlight of a player’s career, but for NBA players, this isn’t necessarily the case.

For instance, how motivated will the US players be to play teams such as Finland? For games that appear like an easy win, betting on the OVER market is tempting, however judging player motivation beforehand is key.

Which team will pose the biggest challenge to the Americans?

Each time the USA enter international tournaments questions are asked who, if anyone, can beat them?

The distance between the rest of the world and the Americans in terms of talent and skill has narrowed over the last four years, and with a number of nations boasting rosters full of NBA and Euroleague players, is 2014 the year to bet against the USA?

Spain

The hosts Spain are the clear 2.650* second favourites with Pinnacle Sports to claim the 2014 FIBA World Cup. The Spaniards have an array of NBA talent on their roster, and are led by the fearsome frontline of brothers Pau and Marc Gasol as well as Serge Ibaka.

Home court advantage will give the hosts an edge, however bettors should be aware the host nation hasn’t won the FIBA World Cup since Yugoslavia in 1970, while Turkey – in 2010 – were the first team to reach the final.

The odds give Spain a 37.74% chance of winning on home soil, but bettors must decide if this offers realistic value.

Lithuania

The Lithuanian roster is made up of huge men and they certainly have the capability of causing a shock at the FIBA World Cup. They are led by Jonas Valanciunas – who comes into the tournament full of confidence from his breakout season in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors – and also have Donatas Motiejunas.

However, like the USA they are missing two big-game players in Linas Kleiza – who was named in the 2013 EuroBasket All-Tournament team – and Robertas Javtokas, who have both withdrawn through injury.

Lithuania can be backed at 4.730* with Pinnacle Sports to finish inside the top three.

Brazil, Greece & France

Both Brazil and France underperformed in 2010 and were eliminated in the Round of 16. In 2014 however, their squads are stacked with NBA talent, which may give them a legitimate chance of winning.

Two-time winners Brazil can be backed at 6.710* to make the top three, while France are a little shorter at 5.650*.

The Greeks in comparison are offered at 6.880* to make the top three for only the second time in the FIBA World Cup. One important factor for Greece – like other European nations – is the fact that three of their players play together at club level. Bettors must decide if this will give them an advantage over teams where their players don’t play together regularly?

How to bet on FIBA World Cup

There are many ways to bet on the FIBA World Cup with Pinnacle Sports. Bettors have a fantastic opportunity to bet on different markets with a variety of different betting formats such as:

FIBA World Cup Moneyline betting:

Moneyline markets are the most common and the simplest way for a bettor to understand the cost of a bet. Moneyline bettors are ultimately betting on who will win the match.

FIBA World Cup Futures betting:

Bettors can bet on a number of FIBA World Cup markets, including who will win, weather or not a team will finish in the top three, or who will win their respective group.

FIBA World Cup Props betting:

There will be a number of Prop bets at Pinnacle Sports for the FIBA World Cup, such as first halve/first quarter betting on all games, and specific player markets.

FIBA World Cup Totals betting:

Totals betting is an extremely popular bet in basketball. A point marker is set and bettors place a bet on whether fewer or more points will be scored in the game. If the bettor bets over, and more points are scored, they win. If they bet over, and fewer points are scored, they lose.

FIBA World Cup Point Spread betting:

Betting on the handicap occurs when one team is favoured over their opponents. To counter the perceived bias in ability, bookmakers offer a handicap of points to level the playing field.

These points are then added to the game’s final score, and the winner is the team that wins with these additions.

FIBA World Cup Live betting:

Pinnacle Sports will be offering live FIBA World Cup betting on all Final Round games, while 2nd half lines and live betting will be offered on selected Preliminary Round games.

More value at Pinnacle Sports

See the table below for Pinnacle Sports’ FIBA World Cup limits and margins, which proves why we offer more value than other bookmakers.

If these limits still aren’t enough, don’t worry, you can rebet as many times as you like to obtain unlimited liquidity. The table below highlights the standard minimum limits and margins for the Preliminary and Final rounds. However, limits often go much higher in the latter stages of tournaments.

2014 FIBA World Cup Preliminary Round Limits & Margins

Pre game

Minimum Limit

Margin

Spread

$5,000

2.4%

Moneyline

$3,000

2.4%

Total

$3,000

2.4%

2014 FIBA World Cup Final Round Minimum Limits (ML) & Margins

Pre game

Quarter-final (ML)

Semi-final (ML)

Final (ML)

Margin

Spread

$10,000

$20,000

$50,000

2.4%

Moneyline

$5,000

$10,000

$20,000

2.4%

Total

$5,000

$10,000

$20,000

2.4%

2014 FIBA World Cup Live Betting Limits & Margins

Live Betting

Minimum Limit

Margin

Spread

$2,500

3.8%

Moneyline

$1,500

3.8%

Total

$1,500

3.8%

Click here to bet on the latest 2014 FIBA World Cup odds.

*Odds subject to change

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