MLB Betting Lines Guide
When it comes to MLB betting lines, there are multiple bet types available and ways to interpret these lines and odds.
It’s crucial to understand the various bet types and how to read MLB betting odds because, with a season as long as this one (162 regular season games), you’ll be fighting an uphill battle trying to win wagers without a foundational understanding.
Our guide here will teach you how to read odds, review the different bet types with real examples, and show you how to get started.
Baseball Betting Odds Explained
Regardless of what bet you want to make, they’ll all have betting odds. Before you do anything, it’s important to understand how to read odds and how that correlates to your winnings.
The favored team will have “-” odds. If you’re looking at a bet type with multiple teams having “-” odds, the highest number with a “-” next to it is the team most likely to win.
When it comes to winnings, you’ll win $100 whenever you wager an amount of money equal to what’s next to the “-” odds. For example, if the odds are -275, you’ll need to bet $275 to win $100.
As for the underdog, this team is notated with “+” odds. If you bet $100 on this team and win, you’ll win the amount and amount of money equal to what’s next, the “+” odds. For example, if the odds are +150, you’ll win $150 with a $100 wager.
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MLB Betting Odds To Know
When reviewing Major League Baseball betting odds, you’ll find that there are multiple ways to bet on this sport. Below, we’ll look at each betting market and provide a real-life example.
1. Moneyline
The moneyline is your most straightforward bet—you’re simply picking who will win. If you back a bet with +166 odds, you’ll win $166 with a successful $100 bet. Back a bet with -198 odds, you’ll need to wager $198 to win $100.
2. Run Line
With MLB betting, there’s no point spread but rather a run line. The run line will always be 1.5 runs, as nearly 30% of MLB games end with a winning margin of just one run. As a result, you’ll sometimes see disparate odds, unlike the standard -110 you’d see with a point spread wager in football or basketball.
3. Totals
Totals wagers, also known as over/under betting, are where you’ll wager whether the combined runs in a game will go over or under the line provided. You’ll bet whether you think both teams will combine for more or less than a specific number of runs. With this being a whole number, there’s a potential for a tie here. When this happens, the wager “pushes” (a betting term for a tie), and you’ll receive your original wager back.
4. Futures
Futures betting markets provide a lot of “+” line value, but casual bettors ignore it due to the amount of time money needs to be tied up as this is for betting on end-of-the-season milestones, including a World Series winner, division winner, and more.
5. Parlays
Parlays allow you to bet on multiple games/contests at once, instead of numerous things individually. As you’ll see in the screenshot below, the odds are heightened beyond what the games/contests are individual. This is because parlay bets have an added risk as all contests on the betslip must settle as a win for a parlay to succeed.
6. Same Game Parlays
With Same Game Parlays, you’re dealing with, fundamentally, the same thing as a traditional parlay. The main difference is these parlays focus on one game and there could be limitations on what you can parlay together. For example, you can’t parlay a moneyline and run line wager together.
7. Props
In baseball betting, you’ll most often find game and player props. Game props will focus on total runs for a team, the race to a certain number of runs, total hits, and more. These could appear like an over/under betting or a moneyline with an option and a betting line. As for player props, these are like over/under bets.
8. Live Betting
After covering the other markets above, you’ll be happy to know that, with MLB live betting, you can make all those same wagers while games are actively in progress. The odds for the various betting markets will reflect what’s happening live in the game, so you’ll want to decide what to wager on quickly before the odds change.
MLB MVP Betting Odds Explained
Betting on the MLB MVP is part of the futures betting market. In the MLB, there’s an American League and National League MVP. Like the example above with the World Series winner, there is a list of players with odds attached to them that you can wager on. As the season progresses, these odds will change to reflect the performance and chances of that player in the present time.
Getting Started Betting On MLB Betting Odds
- Please read through our online sportsbook reviews to find which site makes the most sense for you. These reviews cover critical aspects of online sportsbooks, such as bonuses/promotions, betting markets, customer support, etc.
- Once you decide where to play, navigate to the site or download the mobile betting app.
- Create your new player account.
- Make your first deposit. Remember the welcome bonus in the sportsbook and make a deposit necessary to redeem the offer.
- After loading funds into your account, it’s time to bet.
- Go to the homepage and find the MLB betting page.
- Find which market of the abovementioned ones you want to bet on and make your selections.
- Add them to your betslip, input the amount you want to wager, and wait for the results.
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Conclusion on MLB Betting Odds
While you may be an MLB fan and are eager to bet especially if you’re in a newly legal state, it’s vital that you understand how to read MLB betting odds as well as the various betting markets associated with it.
In the guide above we’ve done just that and encourage you to bookmark this page and come back when you’re ready to make your first wager or simply need a refresher on what each of these betting markets is.
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