How to Bet on Baseball

Of all the sports people love to gamble on, baseball might be the best. With 30 MLB teams playing 162 game seasons, there is ample opportunity for any gambler to bet on baseball. The length of the season ensures that there will be a number of upsets, and the complexity of the game itself allows for a number of variations on how to bet. In the following article, we will break down and explain all there is to know about baseball gambling so that our subscribers have the best information when they lay their money on the line this summer.

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Baseball Moneyline

Just like the money line in other sports, moneyline in baseball is about picking an outright winner. In a typical scenario, the moneyline for a baseball game would look like this: St Louis +150 Chicago -125. Very simply, this means that St Louis is the favorite and Chicago is the underdog. You can bet on either team to win, but the payout is different according to the number next to the +/- sign. In the above scenario, if you bet on St Louis to win you would need to wager $150 in order to win $100, whereas a $100 bet on Chicago would get you $125 if they pulled off the upset.

What’s great about betting on baseball is that with such a long season, even the best teams are bound to lose at least 30% of the time. To give you an idea, the 2001 Seattle Mariners hold the second best regular season record in MLB history with a 116-46 record. That means they were upset 46 times in one season. Imagine placing a successful wager on even half of those upsets – the payoff would be huge!

Baseball Runline

Runline betting in baseball is unique in that the line is always 1.5. The odds in parenthesis are the same as moneyline betting, except the team you wager on must cover the runline. A typical runline will look something like this: Minnesota +1.5 (-150) Texas -1.5 (+120). In this example, Texas is the favorite because of the negative sign next to the runline. However, they must cover the 1.5 runs (eg, win by two or more runs) in order for a wager on them to win. Conversely, if you bet on an underdog -Minnesota in this example- you are betting on them to either lose by only 1 run or win the game.

Baseball Totals

Totals betting is when you wager on the sum of runs scored by both teams in a game. Oddsmakers give you two options, over and under, and the gambler wagers on how many total runs he or she thinks will be scored in a game. A totals line would look something like this: o9 (+120) u9 (-120).

Baseball Parlays

Parlay betting is when you combine two or more bets together. The basic idea is that a winning bet carries over to the next bet, and each successful bet after that compounds your winnings. The bets don’t have to all be the same; it can be a combination of moneylines, runlines and totals. The payoff is big if you win every pick, but the odds are higher due to the complexity of the bet. One loss and you lose the parlay.

Baseball Futures

Future betting refers to betting on how the season ends up. You can bet on who wins the World Series, the pennants, and the division titles. Futures betting is open all year long, even in the offseason. Because the odds change with time, it is a good practice to check the odds right before placing your wager. Future bets can often be big payoffs, especially if you have good insight and a lot of luck. Even betting on last year’s champ, the Boston Red Sox, yields pretty high rewards.

Baseball Prop Bets

Finally, there are prop bets. These bets have to do mostly with individual player accolades, like who will win MVP, home run totals, etc. You can wager on your favorite player or use your insight to predict who will finish the season with the best numbers an array of stats such as hit totals, pitcher win totals, etc.