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How to Bet on Baseball: Strategies and Tips for Beginners

Baseball is an American classic and one of the most popular sports in the world—and one of the most popular forms of live sports betting. We’ve written this guide to help you understand the basics of MLB betting.

In this article, you’ll find the top strategies and tips that will boost your odds of success and help you win big. Read on to learn the basics of how to bet on baseball and to prepare for your first wager.

Understanding Baseball Betting: Key Concepts in Sports Betting

Baseball betting is incredibly similar to betting on other sports. Before you get started, it’s important to make sure you understand the basics of sports betting. A thorough understanding will help you have more fun and increase your odds of success.

Basics of Baseball Betting

The most important concept is “betting odds.” This describes the payout for your wager. Betting odds will always be listed as a 3-digit number, with a “+” or “-” sign following the number.

Betting odds of +100 on a $100 wager will net you a $100 profit, in addition to your initial $100 wager (a total payout of $200). However, if the odds are -100, you’d need to wager $110 to win $100 (a total payout of $200). You’ll get a higher payout with “+” odds, but the bet itself will be riskier. +100 represents even odds, while “-” numbers indicate that the team is a favorite.

After betting odds, the most important concepts to understand are the moneyline, run line, and total. A moneyline bet is the most straightforward wager. You’re betting on which team will win the game itself. If your chosen team is victorious, you win.

On the other hand, the run line represents the point spread at the end of the game. When you bet on the run line, you’re betting that your chosen team will win the game by a minimum number of points. In baseball, the run line is usually set to 1.5 runs. To win this bet, your chosen team will need to win by 2 or more runs.

The total (also known as over/under bets) represents the total number of runs by both teams. If the total is 9.5 and you wager over, you’re betting that both teams will score more than 10 runs combined.

An Introduction to Alternative Betting

While we’ve covered the three most common types of baseball betting, there are alternative (or side) bets you can also wager on. These include prop bets and futures—and they have the potential to be very lucrative with high winnings.

Prop bets can be made before the game or during play. You can bet on individual player stats (like home runs, batting average, runs batted in, etc.), the timing of the event, or overall numbers for the team outside of runs.

Another popular alternative wager is the future bet. These are predictions about a team or the league itself. For example, in baseball you can wager on who will win the World Series, the MVP race, or total regular season wins for your favorite team.

Key Betting Terms for the MLB

Understanding the spread is vital. This term refers to the amount that a team is predicted to win or lose by. The team that is favored to win is given a “-” number, while the underdog is given a “+” number. If the San Francisco Giants have a spread of +1.5, this means they’re predicted to win by 2 or more points.

The juice, on the other hand, is typically -110. This represents the amount you’ll pay to the sports betting site as part of your wager. If you bet $100, you’ll win $110 overall—but you’ll only receive $109 after the betting platform takes its percentage. You’ll normally find the juice right next to the point spread on most websites.

Parlay is the last key term you’ll need to understand before you place your first wager. A parlay is an advanced strategy that combines multiple individual bets into a single wager. You only win if every single one of these bets wins.

For example, you may place a parlay wager that the Toronto Blue Jays will win, your favorite player will bat a .320 or higher, and that both teams will score 8.5 or more runs combined. If any of these individual wagers fail, you’ve lost the entire parlay. But, if all of these bets are successful, you’re in line for a huge payout.

Strategies for Betting on Baseball

Before you cast your first bet, take a look at our list of common strategies to help you plan your wager and boost your odds.

Research and Analysis

Research and analysis are the cornerstone of any successful betting strategy. It’s important to do some minimum research before wagering, otherwise you’re just throwing a dart at a board and hoping for the best.

Start by looking at your chosen team’s performance this season, and look through the player roster to see if anything stands out. You should look for injuries to top players, batting average over the season, and on-base percentage first. These are the most important statistics—and they’ll give you an idea of how your team may perform.

You’ll also want to look at the pitching matchup for that particular game. Since pitchers change every game, you’ll need to understand who will be pitching that day and how they’re likely to perform.

The best metrics are a pitcher’s earned run average (ERA), strikeouts per nine innings, and walk rates. Savvy gamblers will also look at the opponent’s past performance against right- and left-handed pitchers.

Betting on the Moneyline

We already discussed the moneyline above. You can choose your favorite by looking at their win record this year, their performance against similar pitchers, and by looking up injuries to their starting players.

You should also pay attention to other factors, like a recent winning streak, performance against this specific opponent, and record in different types of ballparks.

Betting on the Run Line

Creating a strategy for betting on the run line is very similar to your moneyline strategy. You’ll want to look at the team’s average runs per game, the starting pitchers for both teams and defensive stats to understand the likely outcome.

You can approach most games using this straightforward strategy. However, you should consider betting on the favorite to cover the run line when you predict a particularly high-scoring game or bet on the underdog when experts predict a pitching duel and low score.

Over/Under Betting

The last major type of bet is the over/under. This wager has the potential for a huge payout, so you’ll want to create a smart strategy to predict the total runs scored. Again, you should look at both team’s overall records, the number of runs scored per game, and the specific pitching matchup that day.

Another key factor is the ballpark itself. Some ballparks are notoriously difficult to score home runs in, which will likely reduce the total number of runs scored. Severe weather, like heavy winds or rain, can also impact the over/under.

Why are Crypto Sportsbooks Better

Crypto sportsbooks are becoming incredibly popular with experienced and novice sports betters. That’s because they offer anonymity and don’t require you to share your personal details or bank account information. In addition, their use of the blockchain means that they have more security and accountability when compared to traditional MLB betting sites.

In addition, crypto platforms can be accessed from anywhere in the world and they usually have faster transactions compared to traditional sites, including the ability to transfer funds to and from your account. They also have lower transaction costs and a better overall customer experience.

CryptoRush has rapidly become one of the most popular sites for baseball betting. That’s because we have ultra-low transaction costs, offer complete anonymity, and allow you to place a wager from anywhere in the world. Create an account to learn how to bet on baseball with your favorite cryptocurrency.

Place Your First Bet With Proven Strategies

This article is an easy one-step guide to learn how to bet on baseball. Now that you understand the basic terms and strategies associated with online sports betting, you’re ready to create an account with CryptoRush and place your first wager.

We encourage new users to start with standard bets, like the moneyline, run line, or over/under bets. Once you’ve gotten some success and hit your first big win, you can start exploring alternative wagers like prop bets and futures.

Users in some countries may need to download a VPN to access the site. We recommend NordVPN, Norton VPN, and Express VPN as the easiest to use. To get started with CryptoRush, simply visit our website (with or without a VPN depending on your country) and create an account with nothing more than your email address and crypto wallet. You can place your first wager in minutes.

Marcus Taylor.

Author

Marcus Taylor helps startups and emerging technology companies create innovative, results-driven go-to-market and content marketing strategies. Throughout his career, he has completed large-scale marketing projects and produced ghostwritten content for Google, Boston Consulting Group, Nutanix, Teradata, the Arms Control Association, McGraw Hill Publishers, Masthead Media, BairesDev, and many more. This includes bringing cutting-edge cybersecurity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Software as a Service (SaaS), and quantum computing products to market.