The Basics on How to Bet on Baseball

Posted by Alex Murphy on Friday,May 1, 2015 10:50, EDT in

Placing a bet on baseball is as interesting and challenging as NFL betting can be, and we’re here to teach you the basics, from the types of bets you can place to the most popular terms used and how to achieve the highest profit on your bets.

A Look at The Basics on How to Bet on Baseball

Moneylines

There are different ways to place bets on baseball games, with money lines being the most popular in baseball. As with any type of wager, moneylines come with its own advantages and disadvantages. The following is an example of a moneyline bet:

New York Yankees -150
Boston Red Sox +140

The minus (-) sign represents the winner, in this case the New York Yankees, and the plus sign (+) the underdogs. If you wish to place a bet on the Yankees to win, you will have to risk $150 to win $100. On the other side, if you wish to take the Red Sox, you’ll only have to risk $100 for a potential $140 win.

5-Inning Lines

A 5-Inning line is essentially a money line bet that considers the result of the first 5 innings of the game to decide a winner. Odds on a 5-inning line work the same way as a full game line but, because this bet is on a shorter period, you should pay extra attention to the pitching match-up to decide on where to place your bet.

Total

The total is also a very popular baseball bet, also called the ‘Over/Under’ bet. When placing total bets in baseball, you are betting if a game’s total result (score of both teams combined) will be above or under the previously determined number of runs predicted by the sportsbook.

Runline

A runline is almost identical to a spread bet in basketball or football. In baseball it’s usually between -1.5 and -2.5, which means that the favorite has to win by 2 or 3 runs to cover the line and for you to win your bet. A runline is offered by sportsbooks to give players the option to risk less for a potential win.

Futures

Betting on baseball futures is the last betting option we will comment on. MLB prop betting is usually more popular at the beginning of the season, where players can bet on a team’s total season wins or stats.