Baseball betting is an extremely exciting activity and so there are many handicappers that love to participate. There are plenty of varying types of bets that you can place on baseball, and so you have plenty of options when it comes to how you bet on a baseball game. This is great, as you can find the bet type as well as the strategy that works best for you. Here are five types of MLB baseball bets that you can utilize.
1. Money Lines
The simplest type of baseball bet out there is the MLB money line, which means that you bet on the team that you believe will win the game outright. Although there are some games out there that are evenly matched, indicating that they feature two teams that both have a -110 bet each so that if you bet $110, you’ll win $100, it is more common that there is a very clear favorite, and then an underdog. In this case the bets are much more extreme. For example, if you bet on the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees, then you may have as high as a -300 bet, which means you have to bet $300 to win $100.
2. Run Lines
The second most popular type of baseball betting is to place a bet on run lines. This means that you pick a side that has a set point spread of +1.5 or -1.5. Instead of placing a bet on your big favorite, you are betting that they will win by a certain amount. In this type of betting you can also win by betting on the amount that the underdog loses or wins. Similar to overs and unders, these wages will only count if the games goes on for the full nine innings.
3. Unders and Overs
Bookmakers will set a total for each baseball game, and you can then wager on whether or not the total amount of runs that are scored between both teams will be under or over the total score that is set. Those games that feature bad offenses and great starting pitchers will often have low totals, while those that have a great offense are set very high. Unlike money line betting, there is still action required in the event that the winner was determined from a rainout, as this type of betting requires a full nine innings to count. This means that if you win the over, but there wasn’t enough runs in order to go over the total, then your bet will be graded as a no action.
4. Point Spread
Although -1.5 and +1.5 are the standard run lines in betting, many books will offer an alternative point spread like 3.5 or 2.5, which means there must be much more exaggerated odds. Those underdog bettors that want the additional insurance or those betting on the favorite and want a larger spread can benefit from using this type of bet.
5. Parlays
A baseball parlay is a type of bet in which there are two or more baseball sides that can be selected, and in order to win, all the ones you selected must win. The more games that you choose, the more winnings you’ll receive if the parlay is successful. Common baseball parlay strategies include semi-correlated and money line parlays. Semi-correlated parlays are bets in which there is an over and under, as well as a money line in the same baseball game. Money line parlays are those that have multiple very heavy favorites, which lets you have a much bigger pay off then just betting on a single favorite.