The smart bets to place can often be on the runs and there are always odds assigned to this based on probability. Baseball is predictable and is growing in popularity with sports betting fans. Around $1 billion was wagered in Las Vegas on Major League Baseball in 2016 and it really is a numbers game. It has the longest season and there are games every day so gamblers have more data than they know what to do with.
Since Delaware and New Jersey launched legal sportsbetting, baseball has accounted for 75% of the $7 million Delaware’s three casinos generated in less than three weeks. Baseball offers bettors a lot of options and online betting sites such as the new Spin Palace Sportsbook offers competitive odds on all major MLB games. There’s money lines, run lines, over/under totals, series prices, and other prop bets available.
How to Bet on Baseball
The first thing you need to do is understand how the game is played. A standard baseball game has two teams with nine players on each side. They take it in turns to bat and field for nine innings. Each inning consists of three outs for each team. Teams try to score the most runs by circling the four bases on the field.
There are three basic bet types that you must be aware of. These are the money line, run line, and total. The money line bet refers to which team will win the game. Run line betting is the same as the NFL’s point spread bet, and totals betting is where you bet on the total number of runs scored in a game.
Besides analysing the team and player performance, it is also important to consider external factors before placing your baseball bets. This includes the weather and that different stadiums have different dimensions and this can affect how many runs are scored. The temperature and humidity as well as wind speed on the day of the game is another thing to take into consideration.
Win Money Betting on Baseball
Below you’ll find our top tips on how to win money betting on MLB. This includes how to select the best bets to give you the highest chance of making a profit.
- The top teams can often lose a lot of games: The MLB teams don’t enjoy as many bets as the NFL and NBA and a big reason for this is that the top teams can often lose a lot of their games. If we look at 2014, the LA Angels has the best record in the MLB at 98-64. This means that they still lost almost 40% of their games and for the majority of these they would have been the favorites. For sports betting fans, this means that the straight money line bet is not going to be the way to win big on baseball betting. It is better to use a combination of game totals, run lines, and well selected straight bets if you want to win.
- Baseball is a Marathon and not a Race: The MLB season consists of 162 games and team performance is bound to dip at certain points during the season. Everything kicks off in April and runs right through until October. You should view your wins and losses in this context and plan for the whole season and not just base your profit or loss on one or two games.
- It’s Not All About Starting Pitchers: Pitching is very important in baseball and that’s why the names of the two starting pitchers are always listed next to the odds. It’s also why the World Series Champions usually have a good starting pitcher too. If you are going to bet on a single game though, you need to remember that most of the MLB’s starting pitchers don’t make it much further than the sixth inning. This in itself, leaves a third of the game that the starting pitcher isn’t involved in so be sure to look at the game as a whole when placing your bets.
- Pay attention to the bullpen and how teams perform in tight games: How the pullpen performs in tight games between evenly matched teams is really important as is how a team handles one-run games. A good bullpen has a lockdown closer and a couple of good options for the 7th and 8th. Good one-run ball teams usually steal bases and leave a few runners on base. They also play great defense. It’s important to know this information and have it to hand when you are looking to place your baseball bets.
- Don’t be afraid of losing: The MLB season spans 162 games and during this time, it’s not uncommon for teams to win and lose. In some cases, this can be up to 10 consecutive games. Don’t be afraid of this. Unlike other sports where it can often feel like there’s a level of inevitability when most streaks will end after five games, it can get a lot more than this in baseball. Don’t be afraid to bet on teams that are winning or losing a lot of games. Remember teams can often get stuck in a rut when they are playing games every single day. Placing winning baseball bets is all about knowing what is happening in the season, monitoring the games, seeing who is on a winning or losing streak and how many games they’ve been there for. Don’t be afraid to lose because with 162 games to bet on, there’s always a win around the corner.
