Unlike football and basketball, the main way to bet on Major League Baseball is through Moneyline betting.
For those not familiar with Moneyline betting, simply put, Moneyline betting is where you pick the team you believe will win that specific matchup.
There is no point spread to worry about (in MLB betting this is more commonly referred to as the ‘run line’). As long as the team you pick to win wins the game – you win your bet.
If there is a twist to Moneyline betting it’s that the money you need to risk to hit your desired payout will vary based on the team you select to win the game and the matchup itself.
Moneyline betting, like anything else in sports betting, works off the idea of wagering on the favorite to win $100 or wagering $100 on an underdog to win plus-money.
Here’s an example of what a Moneyline bet would look like for Major League Baseball.
Yankees (+125)
at Red Sox (-150)
In the above example, if you believe the Yankees will win the game, you would bet $100 to win $125. If you believed the Red Sox would win the game, and wished to win $100, you would risk $150 on the Red Sox.
Another wrinkle to consider with MLB Moneyline betting deals with last-minute pitching changes. With any given Moneyline wager in Major League Baseball, you are able to bet on two different options: “listed” and “action”.
Essentially what this means is if you select a Moneyline listed wager, the two pitchers named as the starters will both have to start the game for the bet to proceed. If a starting pitcher is scratched right before the first pitch, your bet would be canceled and your money would be returned back to you.
On the other hand, if you take “action” on the Moneyline, your bet will proceed as it is regardless of any last-second pitching changes.
Most professional bettors will suggest you always take the “listed” option, as this gives you more flexibility to reassess your bet if the pitching matchup suddenly changes.

While point spread betting is extremely common in football and basketball, MLB betting is predominantly done via moneyline betting. However, there is the option to incorporate a point spread in MLB betting and this is what is most commonly known as the “run line”.
The “run line” is identical in principle to a point spread. Every game in baseball will have a run line associated with the matchup and this run line will always be set at 1.5 runs.
The team that is the favorite in any given matchup has to win by 2 runs or more to win your bet. The team that is the underdog will need to either win their game outright or lose by just 1 run.
One thing you will immediately notice in regards to run line betting is that the payout for teams needing to win by 2 or more will be higher than the payout for an underdog to cover the run line.
Here’s an example of what an MLB Run Line may look like at your sportsbook of choice:
Chicago Cubs +1.5 (-190)
at St. Louis Cardinals -1.5 (+160)
In the example above, you can see that the Cardinals are considered the favorite in this matchup, but oddsmakers still believe the Cubs will keep the game within a run. If you believed the Cardinals would cover the run line and bet $100, you would be rewarded with a cool $160 win.
If you believed the Cubs would win or lose by 1, you would need to risk $190 to win $100.
On the surface, betting on the run line seems incredibly easy, but the reason for the underdog to have a steeper cost than the favorite to win by 2 is that nearly one-third of all MLB games end up being one-run games.
Another thing not taken into consideration by newer sports bettors is that the home team has a slight disadvantage in covering a run line because if they successfully finish out a game in the 9^th, they will not be coming up to bat to try to pad that run total.
Thus, you will see plenty of games have an infamous back-door thanks to a late rally that falls just short.

As is the case with any other sport, if you’re not comfortable betting on a side to win a given game, you also have the option to bet on the combined run total in any given baseball game to be “Over” or “Under” a number set by oddsmakers prior to the start of the game.
An example of what an MLB Over/Under bet would look like this:
Los Angeles Angels O8.5
at Seattle Mariners U8.5
If you believed the combined run total would be 9 runs or more, you would take the over 8.5 runs here. If you believed the combined run total would be 8 runs or less, you would take the under 8.5.
MLB Over/Under bets are extremely popular bets amongst bettors that wager on baseball, and the combined total will fluctuate based on a number of factors, the most common being:
• Pitching matchup
• Pitching venue (ex. Coors Field in Denver will typically have higher totals than an evening game at Dodger Stadium)
• DH or no DH (especially in interleague games at AL ball parks)
• Weather (is the wind blowing in and killing home run balls or is the wind blowing out and turning extra-base hits into home runs?)
• Is the game indoors or outdoors? (Games in a dome/closed roof will have much better conditions for a pitcher than a game outdoors)
• Umpires (Some umps have tighter strike zones than others, leading to more batters on base and runs scored)

If you love quarter or half bets in football and basketball, first 5 inning bets in MLB betting will be right up your alley.
First 5 inning bets, also known as ‘F5 bets’, are moneyline bets where you are betting on just the first five innings of a baseball game.
If a team you want to bet on has an awful bullpen but solid starting pitching, there may be greater value in betting on the first five innings of a game than letting the bullpen have a chance to blow your moneyline, run line or total.
During the long MLB regular season, particularly in the first two months of the year, it may take baseball teams a little bit of time to get back into rhythm, pick up on pitching tendencies, new manager tendencies and so forth.
As such, teams will notoriously have slow starts and as a bettor you can absolutely capitalize on that.
If you only wish to handicap starting pitchers and rely on them for your bets, MLB first 5 inning betting is probably for you.

A parlay is a single wager that essentially combines two or more individual bets into one wager. In order for your parlay to be a winner, every bet you make must win or the entire ticket will be a bust.
MLB parlay betting is no different than parlay betting in any sport.
However, if there is a discernible difference between parlay betting in football or basketball, it’s that MLB parlay betting will primarily be based on Moneyline bets or total bets.
Note: Most sportsbooks will not allow you to parlay run lines, but this varies from sportsbook to sportsbook.
Here’s an example of what a traditional Moneyline MLB parlay may look like:
Yankees -150
Astros -200
Pirates +150
In the above example, if the Yankees, Astros, and Pirates all won their respective games, you would win this parlay.

Another wrinkle to MLB betting comes via MLB series betting.
MLB series betting is precisely like it sounds. Prior to a series beginning in baseball (2-4 games against the same opponent), you are able to bet on the team that you believe will win that series.
For example if the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays were about to begin a 3-game series, you may see this presented by your sportsbook of choice:
Baltimore Orioles to win series (+150)
Tampa Bay Rays to win series (-130)
The team that wins at least 2 games out of this 3-game set will win the “series”.
In the event the series is 2 or 4 games (or a game in the 3-game set is rained out) and ends as a 1-1 or 2-2 split, the bet would be deemed a “push” and your money would be returned.

A future bet in Major League Baseball is a bet about something that you believe is going to happen in the future.
The two most common MLB futures bets comes in betting on the team you believe will win the World Series and betting on teams to go “Over” or “Under” a projected win total for the 162-game season.
In the case of bets on who will win the World Series, you will be able to make a future bet on that at any point during the season.
MLB Win Total bets, however, will need to be submitted before the beginning of the season. These bets do not adjust as the season goes on.
If you’re not wanting to bet on who will win the Fall Classic or if the Mets will win less than 80 games this season, there are numerous other ways to take part in the MLB futures market.
Some examples include:
• Betting on a team to win their division
• Betting on a team to win the pennant
• Betting on a team to win one of the two Wild Card slots in the AL/NL
• Betting on a player to win an individual award (Cy Young, MVP, etc.)
• Betting on a player to win the batting title
• Betting on a player to hit the most home runs/have most RBI
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