Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, and while it still may not be as popular away from its home country, it is still an incredibly popular sport to place a bet on. 

Due to the incredibly intense schedule of the baseball season, there are a lot of opportunities for punters to make some serious money. 

Getting your head around gambling on the sport can be incredibly tricky though, so we here at Bonus Bets have compiled the following guide to introduce you to the basics. 

The MLB (Major League Baseball) league in America is the biggest and most popular baseball division in the world and attracts millions of viewers each year. 

The MLB season runs through the Spring and Summer months in the USA, starting in March and finishing towards the end of September. 

Following the typical season, the World Series, the biggest prize in Baseball, takes place throughout October. 

Like a lot of American sports, the MLB is broken down into two leagues- The American League, and The National League. Each of these is then split into three smaller divisions. Each team plays a staggering 162 games each, meaning that there is always plenty of opportunities to place a bet on the sport while the season is taking place. 

There are also several minor leagues in America that you can place bets on, with their seasons running at a similar time to the major leagues. 

Types of bets

 

The easiest type of bet to place in any sport is the results bet, this is a simple case of choosing whether you think the home or away team will win the game. A draw is not an option in baseball as the game will go to extra innings to decide a winner. 

A handicap bet or a run line as it will often be called in baseball markets is basically where one of the teams starts the game with a hypothetical disadvantage.

This is a nice way of evening up the odds a little and also finding some great value bets, especially when one of the teams is a clear favourite over the other. 

These types of bets have quickly established themselves as one of the most popular when it comes to betting on baseball. 

Total Runs

 

The total runs market is one of the most popular when it comes to betting on baseball and can be a nice little money maker for those with a good knowledge of team’s previous records. 

This is nearly always presented using an over/under format and is often for the total number of runs you will see in a game. This can, however, also be for the total amount of runs scored by an individual team. 

Accumulator bets, or parlay bets as they are known in the States are when you place multiple selections on the same slip and need all of those selections to come in to win the bet. 

Accumulator bets are easily one of the most exciting types of bets to put on baseball, but they can also be one of the most stressful. 

The biggest downside to these types of bets is that you need to have all of the results correct to win the bet, meaning that if just one result is wrong, even if the rest are correct, then you will walk away with nothing. 

There is a huge array of special and proposition style bets available for both baseball games, most of which are based around a player or a team’s individual performance. 

Markets such as, how many home runs will be scored, or how many strikeouts will a player achieve are incredibly common markets and can always add a bit of fun to your gambling experience. They can also prove to be quite lucrative, especially for those with a strong statistical knowledge of the game. 

Away from these kinds of bets, a lot of bookmakers will often offer price boosts or free bets during the World Series and you may even find that some bookies will offer some great sign-up offers around this time of the year as well, due to the increased interest in the sport. 

Due to the length of certain games as well, betting in-play can also be fairly fruitful when it comes to betting on baseball, so it is always worth keeping an eye on odds as the game progresses.

As with all sports, the key to betting on baseball is doing your research and making sure that you fully understand the ins and outs of the game. 

Analysing a team’s form, the league table, and previous records against other teams are all essential, as is keeping up with a player’s individual’s statistics and form. 

Keeping an eye on listed pitchers and making sure you research them can also be vital- as can looking out for the first pitcher and their form. 

There are many different variables to look out for when it comes to betting on baseball but given the sheer number of games that takes place during a season, it can prove to be an incredibly profitable venture.