Baseball has been widely recognized as one of the most popular American hobbies since the late 19th century when it began to rise to a more professional level. Baseball’s popularity has grown significantly throughout the years. Its popularity has spread beyond the United States, and you can find professional leagues in almost all continents. Baseball’s popularity correlates with the increased interest in baseball betting, particularly outside of the United States.
UNDERSTANDING HOW MLB BETTING WORKS
Baseball betting is one of the most straightforward sports betting marketplaces.
Because baseball is a low-scoring sport and a significant number of games are decided by one run, choosing the winner outright, often known as betting the Moneyline, is the most popular way of baseball betting.
Another common and simple baseball bet is to wager on the total number of runs scored by both teams in the game, generally known as the Over/Under. Let’s go over each one of these methods in more detail.
MONEYLINE BASEBALL BETTING
Moneyline betting is where a set of odds on a baseball game is based on the preset chances of each team winning. The odds are mostly displayed in hundreds – which is the American Odds display mode. You will see a Negative sign against the favored team and a positive sign indicating the underdog.
Here’s where you choose the team you feel would win, but keep in mind that the winning chances depend on the risk involved. This means that the amount of money you win will be greater if the team you wager on is playing against a strong team. In such a case, the strong team has fewer odds while the weaker team has smaller odds and lesser chances of winning.
Let’s say the Moneyline for the stronger team, for example, is -150. That means that for every $1 you wish to win, you must stake $1.50 because the risk is lower. After all, the favorite is more likely to win the game. A $150 bet at -150 might result in a $100 win.
OVER AND UNDER BASEBALL BETTING MARKETS
Baseball Over/Under betting is immensely popular among oddsmakers, who provide a projected total of combined runs scored in a game by both teams. Gamblers choose whether the final score will go Over or Under that total.
Both the Over and Under categories have appended odds, referred to as juice or vig. The juice is calculated based on the predicted likelihood that the final score will be Over or Under the total.
PARLAYS BASEBALL BETTING
MLB parlays are made up of two or more baseball bets linked under one wager. The parlay might have Moneyline, run line, and Over/Under bets. The more bets added to a parlay, the bigger the possible reward, but the greater the danger.
All bets in the MLB parlay must win for the parlay to pay out. Even if only one of the bets in the MLB parlay loses, the entire parlay is considered a loss.
PROP BASEBALL BETS
Instead of betting on a team’s final scores, MLB prop bets involve betting on the team or players’ performance. The bets are usually based on metrics such as a team’s total number of hits or runs in a game. It could also be based on a specific player performance like the pitchers and batters.
You can choose to place prop bets on this season’s MLB tournament instead of the other traditional betting options. MLB proposition bets are popular betting markets in most sportsbooks that offer baseball as a betting event.