In the single-game framework, baseball is the most unpredictable of the four American major professional sports. It’s also the most frequently played, with each MLB team playing generally 27 times per month for a six-month period from April to September. For the bettor, high frequency and unpredictability make for a great deal of excitement, whether betting a single-game outcome or season results. Below, we take a look at definitions of key sports betting terms and how odds work in the many ways to get a piece of MLB betting action.
MLB betting: Ways to bet
Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list of today’s sports betting odds and lines.
- Single-game betting: Individual games are broken down into a moneyline, run line, or Over/Under. Bettors can back one of two sides of each line.
- Live betting: Get action while the game is underway with lines adjusting almost constantly based on which team is winning or dominating play. In-game injuries and big early leads can drastically affect the lines and odds.
- Alternate lines: When looking to bet on a game, it’s always wise to look at all of the available options on the alternate lines. These can offer either a greater profit margin or a higher probability of winning the bet.
- Futures betting: Place bets in the offseason or at any point within a season by backing a team to win the World Series or the AL/NL pennant or their league, or to win a certain number of games. Player awards such as the league MVP or Cy Young Award are also available as futures. Odds are adjusted throughout the year based on team or player performance.
- Prop bets: Get single-game action on in-game events, like total runs plus hits plus errors in a given inning, a yes/no on the game going into extra innings, or game firsts (strikeout, hit, home run, etc. …)
MLB betting: Key betting terms to know
- Favorite: The team the market identifies as the most likely winner. Starting pitchers often play a role, here.
- Underdog: Conversely, underdogs or dogs, are the team the market tags as most likely to lose.
- Moneyline: The most common bet type – simply pick one side or the other to win the game. Moneylines typically look for a team to win a game, but five-inning and other lines can be found, each changing the end-point of the wager and the calculus of the odds.
- Run line: The favorite is tagged with the stipulation of winning by a margin of -1.5 runs. With roughly a third of all MLB games decided by a single run, this wager type changes the odds – sometimes flipping a moneyline favorite to a run line underdog.
- Total or Over/Under: A line set for how many combined runs will be scored in the game by the two teams. Can be a full game or a five-inning total for a single game or a component of a prop bet (example: Over/Under 17 total strikeouts in a game).
- Push: A wager not won by either side. MLB games can’t end in a tie, but bets sometimes can (the Over/Under is the most common push in baseball betting).
- Chalk: Referring to odds on heavy favorites. The odds are generally so low as to not be worth betting as the profit margin is too small to warrant the small risk.
- Parlay: Combining two or more bet types from the same game or across multiple-game offerings. It increases the total odds, but they’re extremely risky as all plays need to be correct for a bet to win. The more bets included, the higher the payout, but the higher the risk.
- Teaser: Buy or sell some runs on a run line or a total bet in order to get better odds or increase your chance of winning with lower odds.
MLB betting: How do odds work?
Baseball odds on the moneyline generally range from -250 to +250, but one of the lures of MLB betting is the preponderance of plays in the -175 to +175 range. The more even margins typically mean less of a takeout on the sportsbook end. A $10 bet at -150 would return a profit of $6.67 on a win. A $10 bet at +150 would return a profit of $15 on an upset win.
All bets are paid out shortly after a game finishes, with those funds being allowed to be placed on new bets or be withdrawn from the sportsbook.
First-time MLB bettors should note how expected pitchers (starting and otherwise) for a game can drastically change what the normal team-vs.-team odds would be in a vacuum. Recent trends, matchup histories, variable strengths and weaknesses based on pitcher handedness and venue, and injuries all play into how a game is priced. Finding small market inefficiencies can be profitable when plotted against a daily slate of 10 to 15 games each day.
Get some sports betting action by placing a bet with BetMGM today. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.
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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
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