There’s no question that baseball is America’s favorite pastime and it follows that online baseball betting is America’s favorite sportsbook activity. When it comes to betting baseball online, there’s a ton of action to choose from every day. Naturally, you need some forehand understanding of the baseball betting world in order to navigate these waters. The three methods to bet baseball is the moneyline, total over/under, and run line.
BetNow is one of the top sports betting sites that allows MLB bettors to participate and legally bet on baseball betting from the regular season up to the postseason. MLB bettors can find the most up-to-date sports betting odds and various betting lines surrounding the tournament.
We also offer sports betting in NCAA college sports like college basketball and other sporting events such as major sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL.)
Below you’ll find a comprehensive guide and information covering the ins and outs of online baseball betting that can help you understand major league baseball betting, betting value, and other things that is related to baseball betting trends.
Online MLB Betting Breakdown
The Season of MLB Games
The Major League Baseball season program consists of 162 games for each of the 30 teams: 15 in the American League (AL) and 15 in the National League (NL) —with 29 in the USA and 1 in Canada. A total of 2,430 games played over roughly six months, plus the postseason.
The MLB betting season begins in spring sometime in March and will continue until the fall, concluding in late September or early October. Afterwards the postseason will begin, leading up to the World Series. The World Series is the final series of the season and will determine who the best team in the world is. Afterwards the offseason will commence and the whole thing will start all over again in a couple of months.
Bet on MLB Championship Series
The World Series is the annual championship series for the MLB. This showdown has been going on since 1903 so there’s quite a bit of history to the sport. In of itself, the series is a best-of-seven playoffs to determine who gets to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy. Colloquially referred to as the Fall Classic, even those who aren’t MLB fans tend to keep up with the World Series. It’s a great event for friends to get together and a terrific reason to make some online baseball predictions.
Wagering on Major League Baseball Games
In February, pitchers (starting pitchers and relievers) as well as catchers report to Spring Training, for what is the beginning of the baseball season. These are exhibition baseball games that every team plays, each on their own playing field. There’s a “Grapefruit League” in Florida and a “Cactus League” in Arizona. As you might imagine, while most sportsbooks may not have these games, we aren’t like them. You can find all of these betting options right here at our site.
Every team goes through this before the regular season, so you’ll be able to bet on all of the teams, not just the popular teams. The Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and every other team will be represented with live odds, just as in the regular season.
Then, in April, the regular season begins. Now you’ll be able to bet on baseball how you want. That could mean player props, it could mean taking the home teams, and so much else. If you believe one team has a true home field advantage (and many do) then one of the best bets might be on the home teams.
Types of MLB Betting Lines
Generally speaking, the most common MLB betting lines consist of betting on the money line, betting against the spread, and betting on the over/under. We’ll be taking a look at these one-by-one below but first it’s important to familiarize yourself with the betting lines and MLB odds. The line begins on the left with the name of the team followed by the spread line, the totals line and the money line. Both the spread and the totals have two numbers, the number the represents the line and the odds that represent the payout. The last line, the money line, only features the odds.
| Pirates | +1½ (-140) | 9½ (-110) | +148 |
| Cubs | -1½ (+120) | 9½ (-110) | -158 |
Money Line
When you bet on the money line, you are simply betting on one team to beat another. In moneyline bets, you have a choice to place baseball bets on the favorites which is the team expected to win, or bet on baseball underdogs. Just keep in mind that if you’re betting on the side of the favorites, you will earn less money than you wagered if your bet wins, whereas winning an underdog bet will return more than your bet.
Using the example above, we can see that the Pirates are pegged as a betting underdog against the Cubs. We can tell this because the Pirates have a (+) in front of their odds while the Cubs have a (-).
Generally the odds on the money line start at -110 and will continue to rise if a team is heavily favored. Above we can see Chicago is pegged as a -158 favorite, which means they’re pretty likely to win this game. Normally a -110 betting line requires a $110 initial wager in order to be able to win $100. But sticking with the example above, you need to wager $158 in order to be able to win $100. In short, a $158 winning bet on Chicago would net you $258 in total (the original $158 wager plus the $100 in winnings).
Because the Pirates are the underdog and are likely to lose, taking them straight up is more appealing. Since they’re facing + odds, you only need to wager $100 in order to be able to win $148. Sportsbooks have to make taking the underdog appealing in order to balance these matchups up. To sum it up, a $100 winning bet on the Pirates would net you $248 (the original $100 wager plus the $148 in winnings).
More About Baseball Odds
ATS
ATS Betting against the spread is a little more complicated than betting straight up but it’s still fairly straightforward. Instead of betting on one team to beat another, here you are betting on a team to cover the spread. So how does a team cover the spread?
The spread refers to a point total that a team must cover. Using the above listed odds, we can see that the runline is set at 1 ½ points. So in order for the favorite to cover the spread, Chicago in this case, the Cubs must beat the Pirates by more than 1 ½ points. On the other hand, if the Pirates can avoid losing by less than 1 ½ points, they will have covered the spread. Below are some listed examples so you can see how this runline would play out.
Cubs win 10-8 || Here Chicago won by 2-points so they did cover the 1 ½ point spread while the Pirates did not.
Cubs win 10-9 || Here Chicago won by 1-point so they did not cover the 1 ½ point spread while the Pirates did.
Pittsburgh wins 5-4 || Here Pittsburgh avoided losing altogether so they did cover the spread.
TOTALs
Unlike betting run line or money line, here you aren’t really picking one team over another. Instead, you are simply betting on the baseball totals or total sum of points that will be scored in a game. Obviously this is calculated by taking the points one team scored and adding it to the points the other team scored. Sticking with the betting line we’ve covered, we can see that the over/under is set at 9 ½ points. So if you think more than 9 ½ points will be scored in this matchup, you would take the over. If you think there will be less than that figure, you would take the under. The over is always the top line and the under is always the bottom line. The vig is the same in the example above but sometimes they can vary.
MLB Parlays, Props & Futures Betting
Parlays and props betting lines represent other MLB betting lines that aren’t as common. In baseball parlays you can make predictions in advance or even up the stakes by making multiples bets in one. Below we’ll be taking a look at these options as well as what they offer.
Parlays
Betting Parlays are very popular because they take a relatively low-risk wager and turn it into a massive payout. Parlays work by allowing you to combine multiple bets into one. Naturally, you need all of your bets to come true in order for your parlay to be successful. Since this is quite difficult to accomplish, bookies really sweeten the pot with these types of predictions. The payout is affected by how unlikely a bet is to come to fruition as well as how many different bets you’re making at once.
Props Betting
Props betting lines have been growing in popularity in recent years. Proposition bets or simply prop bets are a type of bet that can be related to any stats within a game that doesn’t need to have a direct correlation to the final results or outcome. It includes something like player performances, exact scores, team win totals, and others for entertainment purposes. With prop bets, sports bettors are betting on some vastly different things.
These types of lines can offer action on who will have a lead at halftime, what kind of game players will have and everything in between. There are a ton of different options so you really have to check these out yourself to be up to speed.
Live Betting
Live betting allows allows baseball bettors to bet on a game as it unfolds, making both the game and your bets that much more thrilling. This is somewhat new to the scene but it offers the biggest thrills of all. Additionally, there are a ton of opportunities to find some winnings as you watch the game develop.
MLB Futures Betting
Futures betting is a great option with tremendous odds. If you feel confident about who will be winning the World Series, this is without a doubt the best way to go about betting on baseball. Here you can make lofty predictions way in advance and capitalize on some pretty eye-catching odds. Below we’ll be taking a look at the World Series futures betting odds as they currently stand.
Baseball wagering isn’t like putting a bet down on a football or basketball game. To bet baseball or MLB games is to engage in a different kind of sports betting. Sure, you can get down a moneyline bet, with moneyline odds, just as you might with other sports. You can bet on a baseball game in terms of the final score, moneyline bets, or anything else related to MLB games. Bet on baseball and so much more right here at our site.
| Team | Odds to Win 2022 World Series |
|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | +6600 |
| Atlanta Braves | +900 |
| Baltimore Orioles | +65535 |
| Boston Red Sox | +1600 |
| Chicago Cubs | +1600 |
| Chicago White Sox | +15000 |
| Cincinnati Red | +6000 |
| Cleveland Indians | +2500 |
| Colorado Rockies | +5500 |
| Detroit Tigers | +65535 |
| Houston Astros | +355 |
| Kansas City Royals | +65535 |
| Los Angeles Angels | +6000 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | +250 |
| Miami Marlins | +65535 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | +1850 |
| Minnesota Twins | +800 |
| New York Mets | +8500 |
| New York Yankees | +310 |
| Oakland Athletics | +3550 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | +2050 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | +7500 |
| San Diego Padres | +6600 |
| San Francisco Giants | +15000 |
| Seattle Mariners | +30000 |
| St Louis Cardinals | +4000 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | +2000 |
| Texas Rangers | +4500 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | +65535 |
| Washington Nationals | +2200 |
