The Basics of Betting On Baseball

Few games have benefited from the popularity of online betting as much as baseball. It used to be quite hard to find a good line or some fun prop bets for MLB games, but now, online bookmakers are offering great odds and even greater prop bets. There are so many great online betting opportunities that many online bettors have not discovered yet. But, I must warn you. Betting on baseball is different than betting on other games. It is a bit more complicated and requires a little more mathematical skill. There are few differences that you must take note of if you want to be successful.

Let’s just run through the basics of betting on baseball one more time…

Run Line

This is a bet on the overall winner of the game. Baseball uses something similar to a spread to even out the betting. There are a few fundamental differences between the two though.
The main difference between the way a football spread and a baseball spread is used is the money line. In football, the spread can range from 3.5 all the way up to 14.5 and higher, but in baseball, it will usually be 1.5. That is because in baseball, the spread is not used to even out the amount of betting on each team, the money line is. Instead of adjusting the spread, the bookmakers adjust the money line according to who the favorites are to even out the betting. This is a big difference and may take a little while to get used to, but in time it will be second nature to you.

Over/Under

The over/under on the total number of runs scored is also very popular for people who bet on baseball. It is just a bet on how many times both teams will score during the whole game. There’s nothing more to it than that. As with every other sport that can be bet on, the over/under is set with a .5 decimal, as to prevent a push.

Proposition or Exotic Bets

Like almost any other major sport, bookmakers offer a wide variety of prop of exotic bets on baseball games. Since there are more facets to baseball games than many other sports games, more prop bets can be offered. The basic ones usually include specific player matchups (usually batter matchups) and over/under on specific players, with more advanced bets being who will score first, totals after specified innings, and even number of unforced errors. If there is an area of the game you want to bet on, chances are, bookmakers are offering it!

If you want to explore the various betting options for the MLB, or any sport for that matter, head over to 888sport and take advantage of their free bets promotion. They are allowing new players to place a number of risk free bets to test out how the whole process works. There is no reason not to take advantage of this deal.