Houston Rockets Betting Bonuses & Promos
After enduring a stretch of down years, the Houston Rockets are on the rebound after a promising campaign a year. Led by guards Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet with rebounding machine Alperen Sengun in the paint, the 2024-25 Rockets are hoping for their postseason appearance since 2020. Those in Texas wanting to bet on the NBA don’t have traditional sports betting, but there are options with social sportsbooks and fantasy sports sites. Read on for a full guide on how to bet on the Houston Rockets in Texas.
How to bet on Rockets games in Texas
Real money NBA betting is available in most states, but not Texas. That said, there are online NBA betting sites in Texas that are currently legal to play. These include social sportsbooks that use virtual currencies but that also in some cases offer ways to redeem winnings for cash prizes. They also include daily fantasy sports sites, including some “pick’em”-style fantasy sites that offer types of NBA wagers that resemble what you find in traditional sportsbooks.
Social sportsbooks in Texas
Social sportsbooks like Fliff Sportsbook invite players to wager on games using Fliff Coins or Fliff Cash. Wagering with Fliff Coins is for entertainment purposes only, but when you bet with Fliff Cash you can later redeem your winnings for actual money. No purchase is necessary to play on the site, although there is the option to purchase Fliff Coins and receive a bonus Fliff Cash when you do, much like on social and sweepstakes casinos.
You’ll also find you get free Fliff Coins and Fliff Cash just for signing up, and there are daily bonuses as well (in fact, bonuses come every couple of hours). Be sure to use bonus code PLAYTX when creating an account and you’ll be eligible to receive another bonus worth up to 600,000 in Fliff Coins and up to $100 in Fliff Cash.
Get up to $100
- Spend $50, Get up to $100 in Fliff Coins
- 1x Playthrough
- Use Promo Code: PLAYTX
Thrillzz is another example of a social sportsbook where you can bet on the Rockets in Texas. There the currencies used are Thrillzz Coins and Sweeps Coins.
Daily fantasy sports sites in Texas
You can also wager on the Rockets and other NBA action at daily fantasy sports sites including DraftKings and FanDuel that offer a huge variety of DFS contests you can enter. Those sites don’t actually let you bet solely on Houston, but you can pick Rockets players to form part of your fantasy lineups when entering contests.
There are also pick’em-style fantasy sites that offer additional ways to wager on the NBA. Underdog Fantasy is a good example of a site that lets you enter traditional DFS contests but that also offers pick’em games that invite you to pick sides on various player props (e.g., will Alperen Sengun collect more or less than 11.5 rebounds?), and add multiple picks into a parlay wager. The more you get correct, the more you win.
When you sign up at Underdog Fantasy, you can enter the bonus code TXBONUS and be able to receive up to $1,000 in Bonus Cash you can use on your bets.
- Get up to $1,000 in Bonus Cash
- PLUS a Pick'Em Special on Deposit
- Win Up to 100x Your Entry in a Single Night
- Use Bonus Code: TXBONUS
Other pick’em style fantasy sports sites you can play in Texas include Betr Picks, Sleeper, and Parlay Play. All of these sites offer great options that are available right now for sports betting in Texas.
How to read Houston Rockets betting lines
When betting on NBA games, the listing for the three most popular sports bets, namely moneylines, point spreads, and totals, will look something like this at the sportsbook:
What is the Houston Rockets moneyline?
The moneyline bet is simple: two teams play; and you pick which one is going to win. If you’re right, you get paid based on your bet amount and the odds at the time you submitted your wager.
You can tell which team is the favorite by which carries negative odds, such as -165. The underdog is the one with positive odds, like +220. Here’s an example of what a Rockets moneyline bet might look like, say, at Fliff or Thrillzz or other online sportsbooks:
- Houston Rockets -140
- San Antonio Spurs +165
Negative odds show us how much we have to wager in order to get $100 in profit. So for a bet on the Rockets, a $140 wager would win $100 for a total return of $240. Positive odds indicate what you stand to win for every $100 you bet. At $100 for your wager on the Spurs, you would win $165 and as a result get $265 back.
You don’t have to bet that much or that little. No matter how much you wager, your potential payout is proportional to the odds.
What is the Rockets point spread?
The moneyline may be the most popular bet type with novice gamblers, but stats show that experienced sports bettors tend to go for the point spread.
While some moneyline odds can be very lopsided, NBA point spreads are designed to “even” the playing field. This bet type assigns a mandatory margin of victory to the favorite in the game. If the favorite fails to win by that much, bets on the underdog will win (even if the underdog loses the game outright).
A standard Rockets point spread bet might look like this:
- Houston Rockets +8.5 (-110)
- Dallas Mavericks –8.5 (-110)
In this case, for bets on the Mavericks to pay out, Dallas has to win by nine points or more. The Rockets, on the other hand, just need to keep the game within eight points for a bet on them to win. The odds work the same for point spreads as they do in our moneyline example above.
What is a Houston Rockets totals bet?
Totals bets are also known as over/unders. The oddsmakers provide a total number of points they believe the two teams will combine to score. Then, you decide if the eventual final score will add up to over or under that set threshold. You might find a game line for the over/under that appears this way:
- O/U 206.5 points (-110)
If the two teams can combine to score over 207 points (a 115-103 final, for example), then the over would pay out at -110 odds ($100 profit for every $110 wagered). Anything below 206 points would pay out for the under.
Live betting on the Houston Rockets
Live betting on NBA games allows you to keep placing wagers on the moneyline, the point spread, the total, as well as various props, too, even after the game tips off. The odds keep changing as the game progresses in response to how the game is going, but those bets remain available for much of the game.
Also called “in-game” betting, live betting is especially popular at traditional real money online sportsbooks like Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook and similar sites available in other states. However, you’ll find sits like Fliff Sportsbook have live betting available as well.
What are Houston Rockets futures odds?
NBA futures bets are focused on season-long possibilities, such as the Rockets making a trip to the NBA Finals, winning their division, or the Western Conference. These futures are usually available once the offseason begins, though the odds are pretty much all over the place at that early stage. The odds then tighten up as the season progresses. By the midway point of the regular season, for example, oddsmakers have a much better idea which teams could make the postseason or contend for a title.
For instance, you might find really favorable odds when the futures lines are first released, such as a +1950 bet for the Rockets to win the Western Conference. But if the Rockets blasted out of the gates in the forthcoming season, those odds would shrink considerably as the conference race became clearer.
At the start of the 2024-25 season, the Rockets were coming off a 41-41 year in which they finished one spot out of the play-in tournament. Here’s a sample of some Rockets futures found at some NBA betting sites to start the year:
- Rockets to reach the playoffs — Yes +105 / No -125 (at most sites)
- Rockets to win the Western Conference — ranging from +3000 to +5000
- Rockets to win NBA title — ranging from +9000 to +10000
These sports betting odds suggest the oddsmakers think Houston is a slight underdog to make the playoffs, but a clear longshot to make a deep run if they do.
Where do the Houston Rockets play their home games?
- Home arena: Toyota Center
- Address: 1510 Polk Street, Houston, Texas
- Owner: Harris County Houston Sports Authority
- Operator: Clutch City Sports and Entertainment
- Basketball capacity: 18,104
- Opened: October 6, 2003
- Construction cost: $235 million in 2003 ($346 million adjusted for inflation)
Rockets gambling partners
In 2021, DraftKings became the exclusive betting partner for the Houston Rockets after agreeing to a $1.56 billion deal to buy Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta’s Golden Nugget online gaming business. Not coincidentally, over the years since both Fertitta and DraftKings have been among the parties lobbying in favor of legalizing sports betting in Texas.
How to watch the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets games are available on nationally televised broadcasts throughout the season. You can find them and other NBA teams on ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV.
If you’re someone who would rather stream your games, check out NBA League Pass, where you can get a subscription to watch the games online all year long.
Houston Rockets FAQ
That is a difficult question to answer definitively. There have been amazing players throughout the history of the Rockets. Ralph Sampson, Clyde Drexler, Calvin Murphy, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and James Harden are all in the running for sure.
For most, however, the answer would be Hakeem Olajuwon. “The Dream” spent 17 seasons with the Rockets, led two championship teams, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. He averaged 25.9 points per game, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks.
The team has always been the Rockets, though it has not always been based in Houston. The organization first came into existence in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets before moving to Houston in 1971.
Tilman Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets. He is the chairman, CEO, and owner of Landry’s Inc. and is also chairman of the University of Houston’s Board of Regents. He bought the Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017.
According to Forbes, in late 2023 the Rockets franchise was worth $4.4 billion.