How to bet on Baseball

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 you to make some serious money by betting on this sport.

On this page, we'll introduce you to the basics of betting on baseball.

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

The MLB season runs through the Spring and Summer months in America, 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 an incredible 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.

Result: 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. 

Handicap/Run-line: A handicap bet or a run line as it is often called in baseball markets, is 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. 

Accumulators: Accumulator bets, or parlay bets as they are known in the United States, are require you to place multiple selections on the same betting slip. You need all of those selections to win in order for you 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. 

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.