Major League Baseball Odds

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Baseball (MLB) wagering can be very exciting provided you take a bit of time to understand how each bet works. There are several different types of wagers and each one will require some knowledge to help bettors actually win some cash on their bets. The choice of sportsbooks you bet at is also an important factor. The most common ones in baseball are the Moneyline, Runline and the Over / Under. If you're new to betting on sports, the away team is always listed first, or on the top.The home team is always listed second, or on the bottom.

MoneyLine: 

This is a very popular bet for fans who like to bet on baseball. It's a good starting point for those new to the game. The moneyline odds are based on $100 wagers, although you don't have to bet that amount. It can just as easily be explained with $5, or $10 bets, but since the moneyline bet is based on $100 we'll go with that. Let’s look at a same city matchup at Wrigley Field between the Chicago White Sox (Visitor) and the Chicago Cubs (Home). Since the White Sox are playing at Wrigley they are the visiting, or away team and we'll say they are also the underdog. 

Here's a scenario:

Chicago White Sox +140.

Chicago Cubs -130

Tips for Moneyline Bets:

• Pay special attention to starting pitchers for both teams as oddsmakers pay special attention to this factor when working on moneyline. Moneyline wagers are a solid return on investment if bettors can predict the underdog. If the home team has been named the underdog in the books, then your best bet is to wager on them. Home teams always have a distinct advantage when playing on familiar grounds. 

• Also, another important factor to make the most of moneyline bets is to consider team fatigue factor in determining the odds. A team that has been on the road and playing against a home team gives moneyline bets a very clear picture. 

• For a winning strategy on moneyline bets, it pays to study past trends for each team. At times past performances of teams can help you predict the outcome of a match more or less.

Back to our example above.

Run Lines:

The run line in Major League Baseball is similar to a point spread in the sense that it is a bet on the margin of victory. Being that baseball is usually a low scoring game the spread is almost always set at -1.5 for the favored team and +1.5 for the underdog. Visit YouWager for a 100% Sign up bonus good through December 2021.

Our example:

New York Mets +1.5

New York Yankees -1.5

In this game the Yankees beat the Mets by a score of 6 - 5.

Say you bet on the Yankees to win, well you lost your bet, because the Yankees were minus 2 runs before the game started. There are no half runs in baseball obviously and for you to have won the bet the Yanks needed to score at least two runs more than the Mets scored. Now if you bet the Mets to win, well you won your bet, because the Mets started the game with plus two runs and as far as you're concerned the score was Mets 7, Yankees 6. That simple.

Tips for Run Line bets: 

1. Go for run line bets on baseball once you have better understanding of how team performances and odds work. When you are confident of the favorite winning the game, run lines offer good opportunities to win solid.
    
2. To make run line wagers count, treat them as moneyline bets and really study the numbers to determine the odds. Take into consideration their recent performances, form and starting pitcher.

Over / Under

Betting the over / under is quite simple. Last season in the Major Leagues the Houston Astros were the top scoring team in both leagues with a total of 863 runs, 5.46 runs per game. Close behind Houston were the Toronto Blue Jays with 846 runs for the season, 5.25 per game. When betting the Over / Under you must factor in certain situations. In a game where these two teams were playing against one another and the Ov / Un was set at 10 runs, then I would bet the over, provided I knew their best hitters were going to be in the line-up. Now, if I knew some of their top hitters were were going to be out of the line-up for that game, I would bet the under. You also have to factor in who is pitching for both teams and are any of the top hitters in a slump. In other words when your money is on the line you really do need to do your homework.