Baseball Betting Basics

For sports bettors who are very knowledgeable, betting on baseball can be one of the, if not the, most profitable sports betting option. What’s interesting though is that baseball is one of the least wagered on sports in the world simply due to the fact that many gamblers don’t know the betting basics for it. 

The point spread is used in conjunction with the money line in baseball and this can be confusing for those used to dealing with a spread. But the truth is that wagering on baseball is just as easy to learn as any other sport if you take the time to look at the basics.

Understanding the Run Line

As mentioned before, the money line and point spread concepts are used in baseball so this is the first thing bettors need to understand when wagering on the sport. And this idea can be a little tough to learn at first since most gamblers are only used to dealing with either the money line or the point spread separately. Understand though that the run line uses either a point spread of 1.5 or 2.5 runs and the favorite on the money line will be the favorite on the overall run line. Here’s a quick look at how this works:

New York Yankees -1.5 + 115

Tampa Bay Rays +1.5 - 135

In this scenario you can see that the Tampa Bay Rays are favored to win the game as indicated by the money line. However, the way the run line includes both the number 1.5 and a money line is what’s confusing here. But all you really have to focus on is that you’re betting $115 to win $100 with the Yankees and they can lose by less than 1.5 runs for your bet to be a winner. Likewise, you’re wagering $100 to win $135 with the Tampa Bay Rays, but they must win by more than 1.5 runs for the bet to be successful. 

Another way that baseball can be wagered on is through over/under bets. Not everyone is used to dealing with over/unders so an explanation of these is definitely in order here. All over/under wagers in any sport are when a person bets that the final score will go over or under the bookmakers line. Over/unders are the same in pretty much every sport with the lone difference in baseball being that the money line often differs from the standard -110 in other sporting events. An example of this can be seen below:

Cincinnati Reds OV 7.5 +120

Pittsburgh Pirates UN 7.5 -120

An over/under line can look a little intimidating at first since the run totals are the same in both rows while the money line differs on each. In addition to that, there’s also the fact that the over (OV) is by the Reds name while the Pirates have the under by their name (UN). However, you should discount the team names in the equation since they only serve to let you know which game the line is for.

All you really need to look at is that you will be winning $100 for wagering $120 if the score is more than 7.5 runs while you’ll be betting $100 to win $120 by betting the score will be less than 7.5 runs. And when you’re deciding whether to wager on the over or under just remember that the 7.5 runs means the combined score of both teams at the end of the game. 

The over/under is always a useful bet in baseball because the home team doesn’t get to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning if they’re ahead since they’ve already won the game. This can also be a very profitable bet to make if you know a lot about the pitchers and have a solid knowledge of both teams in general.