How to Bet on the WNBA

WNBA Betting Guide

After a successful 2024 season, the WNBA is expanding in 2025, adding a team, the Golden State Valkyries, and four additional games to the regular season schedule. With 13 teams playing 44 regular season games, bettors will have even more great WNBA action to put money on this season.

Do you need some help getting started? No worries—we are here for you. Our ‘How to Bet on the WNBA’ guide can get you pointed in the right direction.

🏀The Basics
📊Parlays and SGP's
📈Futures
💡Tips & Strategies

WNBA Betting Basics: Betting on Games--Moneyline, Point Spreads, & Totals

During the season, you will seldom find a night without at least one WNBA game to bet on via the traditional way: moneyline, point spread, and total. Let’s review what each is and how to read the odds.

Moneyline

If you are interested in betting on the outright winner of a game with no point spread involved and no matter what the margin of victory is, you’ll want to bet on a team’s moneyline for that game. The number is a numerical representation of the perceived advantage/disadvantage between the teams.

Moneyline odds (American format) will consist of a three-digit number preceded by a minus (-) or plus (+) sign and indicate how much money you can win with a $100 wager. If you bet on the underdog (i.e., +110, +250, +1000, etc.), the odds are what you can win if you bet $100.

So, if the odds are +200, a $100 wager will result in a $300 payday, your stake ($100), and the winnings from the wager ($200). But if you bet on the favorite (i.e., -110, -250, -10000, etc.), the number is how much you need to bet to win $100.
Bet on something with -1000 odds, and you’ll need to bet $1000 to win $100.

Point Spreads

The point spread is the expected margin of victory for a given game. Like the moneyline, the number for favorites will be preceded by a minus sign and the underdo a plus sign. Bets on the favorite must win by more than the spread to grade as a winner. Underdog bets are graded as a win as long as dogs do not lose by more than the listed number.

As for betting on a favorite, let’s say the Las Vegas Aces are favored by seven points (-7) via the Phoenix Mercury (+7). The Aces will need to win by 8+ points for a wager to be a winner. Phoenix, on the other hand, can lose by up to six points, and wagers will be graded as winners.

WNBA betting with FanDuel

Totals

If you don’t want to bet on one team over the other, then betting on the total, also referred to as the OVER/UNDER, may be for you. You bet on whether the final score for both teams will add up to more (OVER) or less (UNDER) than the listed number.

Let’s say the total for a game is listed at 141.5 points, and you are confident both teams have solid offenses but weak defenses. Then you’ll want to take the OVER. If you have more confidence in the defenses and think it will be a low-scoring game, you’ll want to take the UNDER.

WNBA Player Props

Numerous factors can impact whether a team wins or loses a game. You may feel more comfortable betting on something other than the outcome, like player props. Player props are markets based on how a player performs during a quarter, half, or the duration of a game.

Markets will usually be listed as totals, giving you a chance to bet on whether a player will go over or under that number.

For example, let’s say the total assists listed for Caitlin Clark is 9.5. If you feel like she’ll record 10+, then you’ll want to take the OVER, but if you think she’ll record fewer, then take the UNDER.

Live, In-Game Betting

Gone are the days when you could only bet on a game before it began. Many sportsbooks now offer in-game or live betting where you can bet on aspects of a game while it plays out. Depending on the book, you may be able to bet on the outcome of a team’s next possession, various player/game/team props, spread/moneyline/total for the quarter/half/final, etc.

Parlays & Same-Game Parlays

Parlays and same-game parlays give bettors a chance to combine two or more individual bets (or legs) into one larger bet. You stand to win exponentially more, depending on the number of legs. But it is essential to keep in mind that the House has the advantage, and that advantage grows with each additional leg.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples:

Leg No. 1: Fever ML at +145
Leg No. 2: Liberty -3 at -110
Leg No. 3: OVER 136.5 points at -110 (Mystics vs. Aces)

Parlay Odds: +793

A $100 wager will result in a $893 payday, your stake ($100) plus $793 in winnings. Now, the legs in a parlay (min. 2) will need to come from different games, but if you want to combine bets from the same game, you can do so in a same-game parlay (SGP; min. two legs).

Here’s an example of what one could look like:

Fever +5 at -105
Caitlin Clark OVER 19.5 Points at -110

SGP Odds: +273

A $100 wager will result in a $373 payday, your stake ($100) plus $273 in winnings.

WNBA Futures

A futures bet is a wager on the outcome of something that will take place or be decided in the future.

For example, the New York Liberty is the betting favorite to win the WNBA Championship for the 2025 season at +175 (via FanDuel). Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson is a heavy favorite to win the award again this season at -140.

Both are things that will be decided in the future, hence qualifying as futures wagers.

WNBA Betting Tips & Strategies

Now that we have reviewed the different types of bets you can make on the WNBA let’s go over a few WNBA betting tips and strategies:

Do Your Homework: Take some time to research the teams/players you want to bet on so you can make the most informed decision possible. That includes monitoring injuries, weather/field conditions, and anything else that could impact how a game plays out.
Open an account with multiple sportsbooks: Sportsbooks dangle some nice carrots to get you to join. Take advantage of them. Also, it’s kind of hard to line shop if you don’t have an account with different sportsbooks.
Line Shop: Check the odds for the market you’re interested in at several sportsbooks. That way, you can make sure you are winning as much as you can with your bet.
Don’t Fade the Public: There usually isn’t enough betting volume for the public to influence the line and create value.