How To Bet On Major League Baseball

Major League baseball takes center stage during the summer and with that, baseball bets will begin to flood the betting sites. Betting on Major League baseball isn’t so much different from betting on say the NBA, NFL or NHL but baseball is a little different because winning or losing involves more factors.

For instance, the same teams play in the NBA, NFL or NHL on a nightly basis unless of course there are injuries. But in baseball, a team has a rotation of pitchers who will alternately on a nightly basis. That alone makes a different team in every five or so games. No, we’re not trying to scare you off. We’re here to help you.

While that may sound daunting, it’s not. With a little research, a good read and some luck, you can hit a home run with your baseball bets.

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline betting is betting on the outright winner of a particular game. However, some teams are better than others, hence teams are priced differently when matched up to even the playing field. These are the moneyline odds.

For example, a moneyline could read as New York Yankees +270, Boston Red Sox -170. This simply means that if you bet $100 on the New York Yankees, you will win $270 if they beat the Boston Red Sox in a particular game. On the other hand, a -170 means that you have to bet $170 to win $100 on the Red Sox in a particular game against the Yankees.

One tip here. Even very good MLB teams win only around 60% of their regular season games. That means if you’re new to baseball betting, don’t just bet on the favorites because they are favored. Sure, they may have the edge but the winning percentage in baseball favorites isn’t as high as say in boxing or Formula One racing. The MLB is a very competitive league and with so many games to bet on, it’s still best to know your baseball.

You don’t have to be an expert to handicap games though. When betting on games, take a look at the pitchers starting for each team. Check their records, their most recent outings and their history against the opposing team. Likewise, don’t just rely on the pitchers. Jacob deGrom was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2018 but with the Mets unable to provide him the needed run support, the team didn’t get wins. Remember that in baseball, a team may get the win or loss but the pitcher doesn’t necessarily get the decision. When researching, look at both pitching and offense.

Betting On Totals

Aside from the moneyline, bet makers also offer bet markets for the total number of runs that both teams will score in a particular game. Here, the oddsmakers establish a certain number of runs which becomes the betting line for a game. You will be given an option to bet whether the teams go OVER the established total of whether they go UNDER it.

For example, an over/under total line could read as Over 8.5 -115, Under 8.5 -105. This means that if your bet on the over, you are picking the two teams to score more than 8.5 runs. If the total runs scored is 9 or more, you win. If it’s 8 or below, you lose. The same with the under. In this particular wager, you will have to bet $115 to win $100 on the over and $105 to win $100 on the under.

There are instances when the run total set by the oddsmaker is a whole number or one without the decimals at the end. In the example above, we take out the 0.5 and make the run total as 8. Now the bets are Over 8 and Under 8. But what if the run total is exactly 8? That is called a push and whether you bet over or under, you will be refunded because there is no winner.

Another interesting in Totals betting is when a game goes extra innings. Now as in the case of other sports like Football or Basketball which can go to the overtime period, only the final score matters, regardless of how many overtime periods or extra innings are played. Now bettors would refer to overtime or in the case of baseball extra innings as your best friend if you bet on the over. It becomes your nightmare if you bet on the under.

Runline Betting

Runline betting is what is called as spread betting in basketball or football. Here, you bet on by how many runs a team wins or loses a game. An example would be New York Yankees +2.5 (-115), Boston Red Sox -2.5 (-105).

This means that the oddsmaker is giving the New York Yankees an additional two runs in their game against the Red Sox. If the Yankees win the game, the additional runs don’t matter and if you bet $115 on the Yankees, you win $100. If the Yankees lose by one or two runs, you still win because of the additional 2.5 runs given to New York. On the other hand, for a bet on the Red Sox to win, Boston must beat the New York Yankees by at least 3 runs.

Just like in the totals betting, there are instances when the runline is a whole number. In the example above, it could be 2 instead of 2.5. Now if the final score is decided by two runs, we get a push and bettors are refunded. Likewise, if the game goes to extra innings, it doesn’t matter because what we’re after is the final score and the final scoring difference. Unlike in run totals betting, it the extra innings are neither your friend or enemy here.

Futures Betting

Futures betting means bets on future events like who wins the World Series after the season or who will be the MVP of the AL and NL after the season. Futures bets also include who hits the most home runs in a season, which pitcher has more wins in a season, who will win the Cy Young award and so on. These bets are long-term since you won’t know the outcome of the bet until the end of the season or at the end of a particular event . This means your bet money is tied to the bet maker for some period and while you won’t lose right away, you won’t get any yield for your bet anytime soon.

There are also factors that affect these kinds of bets even after you’ve made them. For example, if a player gets injured during the season, then he cannot hit home runs or pitch for wins. If a player is traded to another team, you can’t expect the same results all the time. If one or two players on offense are hurt, pitchers’ win totals can be affected if they don’t get the run support they need.

So that’s about it for baseball betting. The Major League season is just getting started so perhaps you can start trying out your luck with the different kinds of baseball bets available. Good luck and don’t strike out!