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Normally, baseball betting requires you to betting against a money line as opposed to a point spread. For example, let’s say Boston is playing against Toronto. Boston is listed as – 180, which means Boston is the favorite. Toronto is listed as + 160, which makes them the underdog. If you want to place a bet on Boston at – 180, then you must wager $180 to win $100. If you want to place a bet on Toronto at + 160, then your $100 wager would yield a return of $160. There is no point spread involved. If your team wins by even just one run, then you win your bet.

You can certainly see where the advantage would be to finding solid underdog plays, since you win more than you wager. In the example above, you’d win $160 for a $100 wager on Toronto. You’d have to wager $180 just to win $100 on Boston. The economics are pretty simple. It’s easy to see how making a habit of betting on huge favorites can come back to haunt you. You’d have to win two out of every three or maybe even three out of every four heavy-favorite bets just to show a tiny profit. This is why many MLB betting experts wager on nothing but underdogs. By wagering on underdogs, you can actually lose more than half of your bets and still show a profit. Yes, it sounds strange, but it also happens to be the truth.

You may also see a Total listed for the game. For this example, let’s say there is a Total listed at 9. The total is the number of combined runs scored by both teams in the game. If you think the two teams will combine to score more than the posted total of 9, then you would wager “Over the Total”. If you think the two teams will combine to score less than the posted total of 9, then you would wager “Under the Total”. If the total score ends up being exactly 9, then the total is a “push” or “no action” and everyone who wagered on the total gets back their original wager amount.

For this example, let’s say Boston won the game, 7 – 6. If you placed a $180 bet on Boston, you’d get $280 (your original $180 plus $100 profit). If you placed a $100 bet on Toronto, you’d lose that $100. If Toronto had won the game and you placed a $100 wager on them, you’d get $260 (your original $100 plus $160 profit because they were + 160). If Toronto had won the game and you placed a $180 wager on Boston (to win $100), you’d lose the $180.

The actual final score of the game was 7 - 6. That’s a total of 13 points. The posted total line was 9. So, bettors who wagered on “Over the Total” won their bets since 13 is over, or higher than, 9. Bettors who wagered “Under the Total” lost their wagers.

The money line involved in baseball betting has a lot to do with who the starting pitchers will be. As a result, it’s very important that you keep an eye on last-minute pitching changes. There’s no worse feeling than thinking you have money on a Cy Young winner, only to find out that he was scratched at the last possible minute and replaced by a Triple A call-up making his Major League debut. If allowed, always specify the pitcher or pitchers that must start (throwing at least the first pitch constitutes a “start”) in order for your wager to be considered “action” (a live bet).

Another possibility when MLB betting is to wager on the run line. For example, if you like a heavy favorite but don’t want to risk the huge money line, you can choose to take that favorite at – 1½ runs at a more reasonable price. In our example from above, you may have been able to get Boston at – 1½ runs – 110 instead of the regular money line at - 180. However, in this case, a 7 – 6 Boston win would be a losing bet. Boston would have to win by at least two runs. You can also take teams at + 1½ runs. In that case, your team could lose the game by one run and you’d still have a winning wager.

Betting information for beginners can also be found on the sports listed below. Just click on the appropriate link for:

College Basketball Betting

College Football Betting

NBA Basketball Betting

NFL Football Betting