If you are interested in sports betting, especially MLB betting it is useful for you to learn how to read a typical baseball line. The information you will find in a betting line are:
Date: The date of the match and time. Check if the sport-books is using an Eastern time zone or a Pacific time zone.
Teams: The first team is the visitor and the second team indicated is the home team.
Pitcher: In this column, you find the pitchers for each time that will start the match. The first pitcher is very important in determining the odds of the game, even though is just one of the elements that can decide the final result.
Money line: The favorite team is indicated with a negative number that indicates the amount you have to bet on this team to win $100. It can happen, but is very uncommon, that both teams to have a number with a minus. The underdog is indicated with a positive number in the amount you’ll win if you bet $100. Understanding the money line is pretty easy, what is more, tricky is to make your betting choice. Yes, because it is the odds maker’s job to avoid all the public wagering only on one team, the favorite.
Run Line: You can bet on the point difference between the winning team and the one that loses. It is quite close to the ATS (against the spread) bet. Since in 1 out of four baseball matches it is just one run that decides the final result if you have a good source of information this bet can be very profitable.
Totals or Over/under: This is a can of bet that can be found in many different sports. You can try to predict that the total points scored by both teams at the end of the game, extra-inning included, will be more or less than a certain number.
Parlays: With this bet, you can choose a group of baseball teams and bet on them. To win a parlay bet all the teams you picked have to win their match. It’s a waker that pays well but is careful, in baseball is already difficult to pick one team, let alone more than one.
Prop Bets: there are a variety of other bets you can choose from like the pitcher with the highest number of strikeouts, a number of home-run, etc.
Futures: In this bet, you try to predict a future event like the winning team in the division or in the championship. Usually, you can make a small stake and if you’re good and lucky, you’ll get a big payout. Futures are a good option for those who gamble just for fun and do not want to risk big money. The only problem is that you have to wait until the end of the season to see the result, and till then your money is blocked.
Season Wins: Oddsmaker can list a number of victories for each team and you can bet over or under that number. In this case, the odds are determined by the public perception of a team’s strength and it is very common that underdogs do better than what is expected and favorites are not good as in the previous season. The drawback is that your money is locked till the end of the season like in the futures.
With the above information, you should be able to understand MLB betting odds more than other people. Now you can check your sportsbook online and start wagering.