To bet on US sports from Australia, you use a bookmaker licensed under an Australian state or territory law and place each online bet before the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL game starts. US sports betting here is priced in decimal odds, and the games mostly start between early morning and early afternoon on Australian time. A 7:00 pm start in New York, for example, is 11:00 am the next day in Sydney from 1 November 2026 to 13 March 2027.
Three things differ from AFL or NRL betting. US coverage quotes American odds such as -120 or +260, which need converting before you compare them with an Australian price. Each league settles a level score its own way, which can decide head to head, line and total bets. Team news lands overnight here. Once translated, the bets are familiar: a moneyline is a head to head bet, the spread is the line and a parlay is a multi.
NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL betting at a glance
The four leagues share the core markets and differ in what decides a close bet; the rules every sport shares are in sports betting explained.
| League | Main markets | What decides close bets | 2026-27 season (US dates) | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBA (basketball) | Head to head, line, total points, player props | Overtime, and the injury report | 20 October 2026 to 11 April 2027, then playoffs | NBA betting from Australia |
| NFL (American football) | Head to head, line, total points, player props, futures | Ties, and lines near 3 and 7 points (key numbers) | 9 September 2026 to 10 January 2027; Super Bowl LXI on 14 February 2027 | NFL betting from Australia |
| MLB (baseball) | Head to head, run line, total runs, first five innings | The starting pitchers, and extra innings | 2026 postseason through October, with the World Series from 23 October | MLB betting from Australia |
| NHL (ice hockey) | Head to head with or without overtime, puck line, total goals | The shootout, and empty-net goals | 29 September 2026 to 10 April 2027, 84 games a team | NHL betting from Australia |
The dates come from each league's schedule release: the NFL's of 14 May 2026, the NBA's 2026-27 schedule notes, MLB's 2026 postseason schedule and the NHL's 2026-27 schedule. All four overlap only in late October 2026: the NFL and NHL seasons are under way, MLB's postseason runs until a World Series that can last to 31 October, and the NBA season opens on 20 October.
The US names for head to head, line and multi
The core US betting words have plain Australian equivalents, and the bet underneath is the same:
| US term | Australian term | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Head to head | Back a team to win the game |
| Point spread, the spread | Line, handicap or points start | The favourite gives points and the underdog gets them: -5.5 and +5.5 |
| Run line, puck line | The line in baseball and hockey | A line usually set at 1.5 runs or goals |
| Total, over/under | Total points, runs or goals | Over or under a number such as 44.5 |
| Parlay | Multi | Every leg must win, and the prices multiply |
| Same game parlay | Same game multi (SGM) | Several legs from one game on one ticket |
US betting terms translated covers the rest, from juice and sportsbook to the hook, chalk and a backdoor cover. The Australian guides explain head to head betting, line betting and multi bets in full.
Converting American odds to decimal
American odds put a sign in front of the number. A minus number is the stake needed to win $100, so -120 means staking $120 to win $100, and a plus number is the profit on a $100 stake, so +260 means $100 wins $260. Australian bookmakers quote decimal odds: the total return per $1, stake included. The guide to odds types sets decimal odds beside fractional and American odds, tote dividends and starting prices.
To convert, divide a plus number by 100 and add 1, or divide 100 by a minus number, ignoring the sign, and add 1. Going the other way, a decimal price of $2.00 or more becomes (decimal - 1) x 100 with a plus sign, and a price under $2.00 becomes -100 / (decimal - 1). With illustrative prices and a $60 stake, the implied chances and returns worked from the unrounded price:
| US price | Working | Decimal | Implied chance (1 / decimal) | $60 returns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -500 | 100 / 500 + 1 = 1.20 | $1.20 | 83.3% | $72.00 |
| -120 | 100 / 120 + 1 = 1.8333 | $1.83 | 54.5% | $110.00 |
| +115 | 115 / 100 + 1 = 2.15 | $2.15 | 46.5% | $129.00 |
| +260 | 260 / 100 + 1 = 3.60 | $3.60 | 27.8% | $216.00 |
Even money is +100 or -100, both $2.00, and anything shorter is a minus number: -105 is 100 / 105 + 1 = $1.95.
Converted prices show the margin too. Take an illustrative game quoted at -500 and +400: that is $1.20 and $5.00 in decimal. Their implied chances add up to 83.33% + 20.00% = 103.33%, and the 3.33% over 100% is the overround that bookmaker margin explains.
The odds converter does these sums as you type, and the glossary entry on American odds covers the format itself.
Overtime, extra innings and shootouts compared
Each league settles a score that is level after regulation its own way:
| League | Regulation | Level after regulation, regular season | Level after regulation, playoffs | Can a game end tied? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBA | Four 12-minute quarters | Five-minute overtime periods, as many as needed | The same | No |
| NFL | Four 15-minute quarters | One 10-minute period: both teams are due a possession (unless the team kicking off scores a safety on the first one), but the period ends at 10 minutes even if the second team has not had the ball; still level at the end is a tie | 15-minute periods until there is a winner | Yes, in the regular season |
| MLB | Nine innings | Extra innings until there is a winner, each half-inning from the 10th starting with a runner on second base | Extra innings with no runner placed on second | Rarely: only a game called while level and never completed |
| NHL | Three 20-minute periods | Up to five minutes of three-on-three, first goal wins, then a shootout of three shooters a side, then sudden death | 20-minute five-on-five periods until a goal | No |
The table follows NBA Rule 5 (2026-27 rulebook) and NFL Rule 16 (2026 Official Playing Rules). It also follows MLB rules 7.01 and 7.02 (2026 Official Baseball Rules, which keep the runner off second in every postseason game) and NHL Rule 84 (Official Rules 2026-2027).
One detail catches punters out: the NHL records a shootout win as one extra goal in the official final score, whatever happened in the shootout, and credits no player with that goal (Rule 84.4).
What a level score after regulation does to each bet
Settlement follows the market's rules, not the league's. The common rule types:
| Market | Common rule type | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Head to head (two-way) | Counts overtime, extra innings and the shootout | An NFL tie needs its own rule: a dead heat, a refund, or a loss if the tie was priced |
| Result after regulation (three-way, often called 60-minute in hockey) | Settles when regulation ends, with the tie or draw as a selection | Your team can win in overtime and the bet still loses |
| Line, run line, puck line | Counts overtime | A shootout winner wins by one goal, so -1.5 cannot cover |
| Totals | Count overtime and extra innings | Hockey totals depend on whether the shootout goal counts |
| Quarter, first half, period, first five innings | Settled before overtime can start | Nothing after regulation reaches them |
| Second half | Commonly counts overtime | Overtime can decide a second-half line or total, so check your bookmaker's terms |
| Player props | Settled on official statistics, which include overtime | The shootout winner is not in any player's goals |
The guide to whether overtime counts in NBA betting works through a basketball line decided in overtime, and the guides to the puck line and the run line cover hockey and baseball.
Whose rule settles it
One public rule book binds bookmakers licensed in NSW and authorised there to take sports bets: the NSW Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules. Unless something else is agreed when you bet, results and line bets include extra time, and a line's points start is set in half points (clauses 5.1.2 and 5.1.3).
Where the market prices a tie, extra time is left out, the tie wins and every other selection loses (5.1.7). Where it does not, a tie pays the face value divided by the number tied, times the places they share (5.1.8). Other bookmakers write their own terms, so read them for the market you bet.
A tied NFL regular-season game and a hockey game settled in a shootout are where these rules turn one result into different outcomes, and the NFL and NHL guides work each case through, market by market. Back a 60-minute or three-way market only when you have priced the chance of a level score after regulation.
Baseball adds the weather. Under MLB's rule 7.01(d), a game called after five completed innings can count as a regulation game. The NSW rule book refunds bets on a game postponed to more than three calendar days after its scheduled finish (5.1.6), and other terms on shortened games differ, so check them before a wet night.
What time US games start in Australia
Sydney is between 14 and 16 hours ahead of New York, and the gap moves four times a year because Australia and the US change their clocks on different dates. For a 7:00 pm start in New York (US Eastern time), and one in Los Angeles:
| US games played | Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart | Brisbane | Perth | Sydney, for a 7:00 pm start in Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 to 31 October 2026 | 10:00 am the next day (AEDT) | 9:00 am | 7:00 am | 1:00 pm |
| 1 November 2026 to 13 March 2027 | 11:00 am (AEDT) | 10:00 am | 8:00 am | 2:00 pm |
| 14 March to 2 April 2027 | 10:00 am (AEDT) | 9:00 am | 7:00 am | 1:00 pm |
| From 3 April 2027 | 9:00 am (AEST) | 9:00 am | 7:00 am | 12:00 pm |
Adelaide is half an hour behind Sydney all year. The date moves too: a game the NBA lists for Tuesday 17 November starts on Wednesday 18 November here, so match the date as well as the teams before you bet.
The NFL's early Sunday games, at 1:00 pm in New York, start at 4:00 am Monday in Sydney in October and 5:00 am from November. Its games in Europe, at 9:30 am New York time on Sundays, start at 12:30 am Monday in Sydney in October and 1:30 am in November, and the NFL guide converts every other slot.
The same arithmetic ran in reverse for the NFL's first regular-season game in Australia. Played at the MCG, it kicked off at 10:35 am on Friday 11 September 2026 in Melbourne, which was 8:35 pm on Thursday in New York. Super Bowl LXI is scheduled for Sunday 14 February 2027 in Los Angeles, which falls on Monday 15 February in Australia; the Super Bowl betting guide covers its markets.
Team news on Australian mornings, and when prices move
Much of the news that moves a US price arrives during the Australian night. Under the NBA's injury reporting rules as published for the 2025-26 season (checked October 2026), a team's report is due by 5:00 pm local time the day before most games. For a team on US Eastern time between November and mid-March, that is 9:00 am the day before in Sydney, and the NBA betting strategy guide converts the rest of the NBA's reporting deadlines.
Each NFL club's inactive list goes to the referee 90 minutes before kick-off, which for a 1:00 pm Sunday game is 2:30 am Monday in Sydney in October and 3:30 am from November.
Baseball prices are built around the two starting pitchers. Under the NSW rule book, every bet on a game is void and refunded if a nominated starting pitcher does not start, unless something else was agreed (5.2.11). Other terms let a bet stand whoever pitches, so know which you hold: the listed pitchers guide explains the difference. In hockey, the starting goaltender is the news to wait for.
Prices move when that news lands and when money follows it. That gives an Australian punter a choice: bet the evening before, at a price set before the news, or after it, at a price that already reflects it. The last price before the start is the closing price, and whether your prices beat it over many bets is the test closing line value explains.
Tip: If a game starts while you are asleep, decide the night before whether the bet stands up without the late news. If it needs the news, skip it.
Online bets on US games close at the start
Online betting on a US game closes when the game begins: at tip-off, kick-off, the first pitch or the opening face-off. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 calls a service that takes bets on a sporting event placed or accepted after the event has begun an in-play betting service (s 10B).
An online sports betting service is lawful only for bets that are not in-play (s 8A(3)), and only from a provider holding a licence under an Australian state or territory law (s 15AA). A licence from a US state does not count.
For US sport that has two practical effects:
- News after the start, such as a starter hurt in the first quarter, cannot be acted on with an online bet.
- A multi or same game multi with a leg in a game has to be placed before that game starts. A Monday multi that includes an early NFL game closes at 4:00 am or 5:00 am in Sydney, or at 12:30 am or 1:30 am if it includes one of the NFL's games in Europe.
Search a bookmaker's trading name on ACMA's register of licensed wagering providers before you open an account. A site with no Australian licence that takes bets from people here is offering an illegal service. ACMA warns that such operators may not pay out, may close and take customers' money with them, and that Australian regulators cannot help their customers. The guides to offshore betting sites and whether sports betting is legal cover the rest of the law.
US sports betting mistakes and what they cost
With illustrative prices:
| The mistake | What it costs | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Reading +260 as $2.60, then taking $3.40 elsewhere as the better price | A winning $50 bet returns 50 x 3.40 = $170 instead of 50 x 3.60 = $180 | Convert first: 260 / 100 + 1 = 3.60 |
| Matching a game by its teams but not its date | MLB teams play series on consecutive days, so picking a game by its US date from a list in Australian time can put your bet on the wrong game in the series, against a starting pitcher you never priced | Convert the start to Australian time, then match the date, the teams and the listed pitchers |
| Betting MLB before the pitchers are confirmed, on terms where the bet stands whoever pitches | You took $2.10 with your team's best starter listed; a late change moves your fair price to $2.50, an edge of 2.10 / 2.50 - 1 = -16%, or an expected loss of 16c per $1 | Know whether a pitcher change voids your bet |
When to leave a US market alone
Skip the bet when:
- you cannot find how the market settles overtime, a tie or a pitcher change;
- the price you are working from is in American odds and you have not converted it;
- the bet only makes sense with news that will land after you have gone to sleep;
- you are staying up for the next game to win back a loss from the last one. That is chasing, and the point to stop: Gambling Help Online and the national helpline on 1800 858 858 are free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Converting prices and reading settlement rules removes avoidable losses, but it does not change how often a team wins, and long runs of losing bets happen in every sport. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
NBA prices and SGM Saver on B337
B337's Terminal has a sports board that lists leagues and their games whenever bookmakers have markets up, the NBA among them. Each bookmaker's head to head, line and total prices sit in their own column, with player props where bookmakers offer them and the best available price on each selection picked out. Out of season there is little or nothing to compare.
The Terminal covers 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports, though not every bookmaker prices every game. It reads prices on a repeating cycle, not tick by tick, so a price on screen can trail the bookmaker's own: confirm it in your bookmaker account before you bet, and check the overtime rule there too. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds, and the odds comparison board explains where the prices come from.
SGM Saver, one of B337's automated strategies, has the NBA among its four sports. On games you choose, it places same game multis in your own accounts at seven bookmakers, only for saver or stake-back offers those accounts already hold. It bets only before the game starts, and only while your computer is on, awake, online and running the bot. B337 is software, not a bookmaker: it takes no bets, sets no prices and never holds your money.
SGM Saver comes with Full Automation. It is set up with the team and the price is confirmed before you pay, and bets placed through B337 use credits, a per-bet usage charge. Many bookmakers restrict or prohibit automated betting, third-party access and multiple accounts in their terms, so using B337 may breach them, and a bookmaker can limit stakes, void bets or close an account; that risk is yours. A saver offer does not stop a same game multi from losing. Same game multi automation explains the setup, and NBA same game multis covers how the legs are priced.
For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The highest price on a board says nothing about who wins, a price can move before your bet is accepted, and automation can place far more bets, far faster, than you would by hand. See responsible gambling for limits and support.