Major League Baseball betting (bet on the MLB)

If you’ve wagered on sports before, it’s likely that you are familiar with systems such as the money line and the point spread.

Major League Baseball betting (bet on the MLB) Both of these systems are used in football and basketball betting, the two most popular sports to place bets on. In baseball the point spread is not used; instead, a wager is placed on the run line. It’s similar in concept to the point spread but works around baseball’s scoring system.

The reason why the spread can’t apply to baseball is that the scoring system is straightforward; one player crossing the plate equals one run, for one point. In football and basketball, there are a number of ways to gain extra points depending on the play. The result is that in football and basketball, games score much higher.

In baseball the run line requires a sports bettor to place a wager on a team to win, and that team must win by a certain amount of runs in order to take the bet. Conversely, a bettor can an under dog team and win the bet as long as the dogs lose the game by less than the number of runs laid. Here’s a quick example.

Seattle Mariners -2.5 -120
Toronto Blue Jays +2.5 +130

The visiting Seattle Mariners are the favorites in this case. If you bet on them, they must win the game by three or more runs for you to win the wager. In addition you will have to bet $120 for every $100 you get in the event of a win. If you bet on the Blue Jays to beat the run line, you can win $130 for every $100 you bet. You win the bet if the Jays win straight up or if they lose by 2 or less runs. The difference of $10 between the money line is known as the dime line. It’s the vigorish that the bookmaker will take on the overall bets. Watch these lines; a dime line indicates a good value bet, but these lines can run up to a dollar or more. It’s too risky to take this kind of bet, and they are very bad value. The .5 point will of course never happen, but it is included so that bookmakers avoid a push where they have to return all bets.

You might see baseball wagers in this form:

901 Seattle Mariners Feierabend -120 8 over -120
902 Toronto Blue Jays Halladay +130 8 under Even

This is a full line. Note that there is no run line; the full line is a different type of betting opportunity. The over under bets indicate the number of combined runs scored in the game. If there are more than eight runs scored in the game, people who bet the over will win $100 for every $120 wagered, and under 8 bettors will win $100 for every $100 if there are under eight runs scored. Ties result in the return of bets. The Mariners are the favorites and a straight up win will result in $100 for every $120 bet, while an upset by the dog Jays will return a bet of $130 for every $100 bet.

Marshall

Published on 07/27/2007