Unlike football, for example, baseball has way more games meaning that there are way more opportunities to make a bet and win some cash. In total, Major League Baseball (MLB) teams all together will play a total of 2,430 regular-season games. Baseball betting is a diverse area of sports betting as it offers a number of parts of the game to bet on as they search through the online sportsbook.
Here is the ultimate baseball betting guide.
1. Moneyline
The moneyline bet simply looks at which team is most likely to win a match. Suppose the L.A. Dodgers face up against the Texas Rangers, the bookies will offer odds that suggest who is the favourite and who is the underdog. It may look something like this;
- L.A. Dodgers -350
- Texas Ranger +200
To understand who is the favourite and who is the underdog, we have to look at the symbol that precedes the number. The minus sign indicates that this team is the favourite and the underdog is shown by the plus sign. The numbers are always in relation to $100. So, if you want to bet on the favourite L.A. Dodgers at -350, you must bet $350 for every $100 you want to win. In the reverse sense, if you bet $100 on the underdog Texas Rangers and win, you gain $200 in this case. This is the most basic form of baseball betting.
2. Run Line
This is baseball’s version of a point-spread. This takes the standard bet which is the moneyline, and adds a little extra stakes to it. Before the game, one team is selected to have an advantage of 1.5 runs as baseball is generally a low scoring sport. If we take the example from the last bet, it may look something like this;
- Texas Rangers -1.5
- L.A. Dodgers +1.5
Therefore, if you’re betting on the favourite which is L.A. Dodgers, you need them to win by 2 or more runs. Then if you’re taking the underdog which is the Texas Rangers, you need to lose by only one (less than 1.5) run or win.
3. Totals
Baseball is never that straightforward to predict, including the question about whether or not it will be high scoring or not. Totals betting looks at the total number of combined runs scored. The sportsbooks will make an offer based on the outcome of this total. So in our example of the Dodgers v.s. Rangers, it may look something like this;
- Over 7.5
- Under 7.5
If you are betting on ‘over 7.5’, this means that you are predicting 8 or more runs in the game, whereas if you are betting on ‘under 7.5’, you think that the game will not see more than 7 runs in total.
4. First 5 Innings Line
Instead of betting on the outcome for the entire match, many like to focus on the first 5 innings. This may draw interest as an interesting pitching line-up or to avoid the bullpen. The same kind of bets can take place, such as the winner of the first 5 innings (in the form of a money line bet) or the total score (like a totals bet).
5. Prop Bets
Prop bets are more customized kinds of betting. They focus on specific things and can be a range of many different predictions. This can come in the form of whether or not a specific player will get X amount of hits and gain how X runs, or it could be how many home runs or strikeouts a specific player will get. It also considers what are called futures bets, and this can include the outright World Series winner, the league Pennant winner, or who will be the MLB’ MVP.
Conclusion
There are many options when it comes to betting on baseball, and there are also many tips that can help make the experience more profitable. From avoiding big favorites and focusing on divisional underdogs, to knowing the weather and umpires, there are plenty of little must-knows that can help make more accurate predictions for the upcoming season of MLB. With so many games, baseball is a top attraction for sports gamblers. And for fans alike, betting on the game is just another way to boost the entertainment levels.
