For sharp bettors, baseball betting is considered to be the most suitable sport. Learning how to make successful bets on baseball can be the key to a fun and enjoyable experience while enjoying the game itself. The best bettors take an analytical approach in making successful bets in baseball, and this guide should take you on that journey.
What is Baseball?
The first step to learning baseball betting is to learn how the game itself works. A standard game of baseball will comprise of two teams, with 9 players playing on each side. The teams take turns in batting and fielding for the 9 innings. Each of these contains 3 outs for each team. The teams try to score the most runs by circling the 4 bases on the field. Baseball was first introduced by the British during the 17th century, under the name Rounders. It was introduced to the United States in the mid-18th century. To this day, baseball rules in the states. Baseball didn’t take long to gain popularity. It then got extended to Central America and Cuba, and even in China and Japan. For the most part of the 20th century, baseball was most popular in the US.
How to Bet On Baseball?
The key player for baseball is the starting pitcher, so most of your betting tactics should be based around this key player. Many sportsbooks offer information and data on the baseball players you want to look at, so take your time to do research on them. The standard statistic for any baseball player is the Earned Run Average or ERA. This is also a quick way to see how good the pitcher is. The ERA can show you how many runs you can realistically expect from the pitcher to give up during the 9 inning match.
Since there are 2 sides of the game, your next move is to find out the batting line-up of the opposing side. The most common stats to look for here are the batting average, and the Runs Batted In or RBI. The game has more going on that just the starting pitcher and the batting line up at the start. The bullpen also plays a major part, and so do the other players coming into the game later on. So consider these factors as well to make better bets.
Once you have gone through all this information, you should have a good idea about how the game might play out. Once you are sure, go ahead and place your bet accordingly. But keep in mind that thousands of other bettors are betting as well at any given time, and the lines are set accordingly, so the majority of the bettors are also looking at this information, just like you. So when it comes to baseball betting, the amount of information you can gather is literally endless. Think about how deep you are willing to dive, and venture accordingly.
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Baseball Betting: Understanding the Rules
Baseball betting has been around in Canada for more than a century now. The popularity of baseball betting is a global phenomenon now. Some of the longest leagues ever played are from baseball. Thousands of games are played in a single year. There are no other sports that have more betting opportunities than baseball. Today, baseball is one of the four biggest sports in the world. Teams such as New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants are strong and powerful teams in the world history. To understand how the betting rules work, read on.
Markets / How to Bet on the Baseball: Basic Bet Types
Kind of bets
For baseball betting, there are 3 basic bet types available. These are Money Line, Run Line, and Total. Money Line baseball is as simple as choosing the winning team. Run Line is similar to the point spread. Totals betting refers to predicting the total number of runs scored in the game.
Money Line
Money line betting is super easy to do as you just need to correctly predict the winner of the match. Once you know how to bet on the money line, the next step should be finding an edge over the bookmaker. You need to consider 2 main factors to make sure that you win your bets.
Defense
It’s important that you know who will be the starting pitcher in any game. Analyzing a team’s bullpen is a good place to start with, but ultimately the starting pitcher is the one with the biggest variables.
Offense
Other than analyzing each of the team’s pitchers, also look out for the batters. Numerous statistics come with the games, but some are definitely more valuable than to the others. Plate Appearances, Isolated power, On-base Percentage etc. are some examples of such stats.
Run Line
When you bet on Run Line, you will be getting more value. But with more value, you will need to get more advanced baseball knowledge. At the basic level, Run Line betting is giving a handicap to both the teams.
Totals
Totals in baseball betting mean to bet on the total score in the game. Bettors can place bets either over or under the bookmaker’s set figure. Each team has 27 outs to score as many runs as they can, so this is an ideal way of making strategic betting. Analyzing both the teams in terms of defensive and offensive strengths can help make better bets when it comes to Totals betting. There are some external factors such as weather change, injuries etc. which can lead to both low and high scoring games.
Baseball Odds
The odds used in baseball betting is mainly Decimal and Fractional odds.
Decimal Odds
The odds for each team will be shown in decimal. Let’s say for example a money line bet is using decimal odds. The odds for team A is 1.8 and for the team, B is 2.0. you can easily multiply the stake with the odds to see your potential return, given your team wins.
Fractional Odds
In this case, the odds of the teams are shown in fractions. So for example, team A has the odds 4/5 and team B has 1/1. In fractional betting, the number after the / is what you have to stake in order to win the number before the /.
Major Events
The baseball calendar has some pretty big major events happening every year. Some of them include:
World Series
This is the end of season championship contest in the US major league baseball. This is played in October of each year.
World Baseball Classic
This is an international baseball tournament that took off back in 2006. This is held every 4 years. It’s the first ever major baseball tournament that features professional players from the major leagues around the world, including the MLB.
Premier12 World Championship
This is another major international baseball tournament. This is fairly new compared to the others, as it started only in 2015.
Baseball Favorites
There will be an urge to bet on your favorites, for sure, but stay away from that lure. It does seem like easy money as you only need to put your money on the starting pitcher of the favorite team. But what seems like a sure thing is not something that happens in baseball. In fact, betting on your favorite in baseball betting is one of the least effective ways to win money. The winning percentage you will need to maintain to make this into a profitable strategy will almost never become fruitful.
Putting your money on the favorites is the elementary way of winning, and you can certainly not expect much from that. The parity of baseball will get you almost nothing out of your big favorites. Only the very best can clock in a 60% winning percentage. The worst teams can make a win almost 40% of the time. So baseball is different from your typical soccer, so think about it long and hard before betting on your favorites.
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Tips
Avoid Favorites
Everyone, including your bookmakers, know the fact that recreational bettors love to put their bets on the big favorites. Because of this, they will shade their lines accordingly, to make money from the public bias. So popular teams will always be overpriced because the beginners will bet on them no matter the odds, even in the -180 or -200. Laying a bet on a huge minus means you are actually ending up with negative money. The payout is super small when the favorite wins, but when they lose, you are absolutely crushed. Betting on them is simply not worthwhile either way, so stay away from making those bets if you are serious about baseball betting.
Take Advantage of the Underdogs
When you put money on the underdogs, you better your chances, overall. When they lose, you only lose the amount you risked. But when they win, you get plus money payouts. The underdogs are hence worth the risk. If you want to actually see some decent money, bet on the underdogs.
Bet against the Crowd
That’s right, go against the flow. Because more often than not, the crowd loses the game. Most of the recreational bettors put their bets on the favorites be it a team, a player or franchise. But when they lose, they lose big money. And when they win, it’s not even worth celebrating much. Take advantage of this scenario, and bet against the average public.
Follow the Reverse Line
Try to bet on the sharp side of each game. The best way to locate sharp action is following the Reverse Line Movement (RLM). This is the scenario when the betting line moves in the opposite direction of the betting percentage.
Focus on the Divisional Underdogs
The teams within each division play each other 19 times a year, so there is always familiarity and leveling of the playing field. This inevitably benefits the underdog.
Know the Weather
This is one of the most major factors to consider before placing a total wager. This becomes even more important if there is wind. When the wind blows in, it can turn the home runs into warning track outs. This ultimately benefits the unders. Alternatively, when it blows out, the fly balls can turn into homers. This ultimately benefits the overs.
Know the Umpires
Don’t place your bets solely based on the umpires, of course, but it’s still important to know who’s behind the plates. Bettors can exploit the tendencies when they know the umpire. Some umpires tend to cave in under the crowd’s pressure and are influenced by the crowd.
This can definitely benefit the home team. Some umpires again have big strike zones, which can lead to more strikeouts and batted balls in the play.
Use Multiple Sportsbook
Making your bets only through one sportsbook is certainly a mistake. This makes the bettors place their bets on whatever number the bookmaker is offering. Instead, you should open multiple accounts across different sportsbooks so that you get to shop for the best line.
FAQ
Q: Is money line betting the best option for placing bets?
A: Well, this depends on your expertise and experience. If you have been in the game for long, then it’s certainly time to level up and venture into more areas, unless you want to keep being a recreational bettor. If you would like to not take things seriously, then you can just keep on betting with money line betting.
Q: Are the online sportsbooks safe?
A: Yes, there are many online sportsbooks which are safe and secure. If you do your research, then you should be able to find one that is secure. But be aware that there are scammers lurking on the internet as well. So always do your research first.
Q: Do I need to place big bets to win?
A: No! If you want to win your bets, you don’t need to place big ones. Placing the minimum allowed bet is good enough to make you win, given you have made the correct guess.
Conclusion
The baseball betting is slightly different from other types of sports since the game is a bit different. The rules of the game are different, which can lead to more unpredictable outcomes than other games. The baseball betting can be a fun and exhilarating way to enjoy baseball even more, even if you are willing to play only for recreation.