Title:
Strategic Wagering For Major League Baseball (MLB) I
Word Count:
982
Summary:
As time has shown, if given the opportunity, people will bet on just
about anything and at anytime! Throughout history people have found
things to wager on, from cockfighting to bare knuckle fights to horse
racing to baseball and much more! In the past, sportsbook betting was
limited to fixed locations, with information coming by word-of-mouth,
newspapers, and at the event site.
With the Internet a new wagering platform was created. The once
restricted pastime evolved into...
Keywords:
Article Body:
As time has shown, if given the opportunity, people will bet on just
about anything and at anytime! Throughout history people have found
things to wager on, from cockfighting to bare knuckle fights to horse
racing to baseball and much more! In the past, sportsbook betting was
limited to fixed locations, with information coming by word-of-mouth,
newspapers, and at the event site.
With the Internet a new wagering platform was created. The once
restricted pastime evolved into worldwide wagering opportunities that you
could access 24/7 on your home PC while in your PJ’s. Yee haw! With
global sport betting at consumers’ fingertips, it’s no wonder that the
convenience of the web has resulted in rapid growth and surging
popularity in the sportsbook industry. The major sportsbook websites have
numerous features, including live lines and odds, information about
sports, commentaries on contests and wagering opportunities. Some even
offer a daily live radio show focusing on sports and sports betting on
the web!
With new electronic opportunities, new strategies developed in sports
wagering. On the web, each sport’s betting event possesses preferred
wagering strategies. Major League Baseball season has started and it’s a
great time to review the ins and outs of Strategic Wagering for the
sport.
Hey, what is Major League Baseball without betting for or against the
outcome! When you have something going besides the actual game, like the
bettor’s action, things get very exciting when watching the highs and
lows of the contest. Just thinking about it can give you an adrenaline
rush!
Although wagering on MLB has some peculiarities, overall it’s pretty
straightforward. In the following sections, we will cover basic bets
common to MLB. These include:
Straight or Side bets: These are the most common MLB wagers-- “betting to
win or lose.”
Run lines: Most popular for MLB, a combination of Point Spread and Money
Line.
Money lines: Next best for MLB, which gives odds that one team will beat
another.
Over/unders (total runs): The bettor is wagering for the game to go over
or under the run total.
Action points: Team against team, regardless of the starting pitchers.
However, if there is a change in one or both of the starting pitchers,
the bettor still has a wager, but the price will be adjusted according to
the new starting pitcher.
Point spreads: Used as a margin to handicap the favorite team.
Head to head propositions: This is “betting to win” on one sports
figure/team against another sports figure/team.
Note: These wagers have no built-in mathematical advantage in a sports
event. Why? Sports are independent events and are not ruled by
probability theory! Instead, the sportsbook acts as a broker and gains a
commission only on losing bets. This commission is called vigorish, vig
or juice and typically is 10% of your wager. So if you are wagering $100,
you place $110 (11/10 odds). If you win you get $210; or if you lose, you
lose $110 and the Sportsbook gets the $10.
Straight bets are the most common MLB wager. When you place a straight
bet, you simply pick the team that will win or lose the game. All
straight bets have 11/10 odds, unless otherwise noted at the time of the
wager. This translates into the sportsbook making 10% vigorish (juice) on
losing wagers.
OddsRiskGet Juice (lose only) Win
Straight$110$100$10$210
Straight buy ½ point$120$100$20$220
Straight buy 1 point$130$100$30$230
The format used for sportsbook wagering charts is displayed differently
and will look more like:
Major League Baseball Run Line Money Line Game Total
HcapPricePriceOver/Under Price
Datetime905(Away Team & Pitcher)+1.5-220+104O: 9.0-120
(Home Team & Pitcher)- 1.5+180- 114U: 9.0+100
DateTime906Dodgers Valdez+1.5+115- 138O: 9.5-115
ExposHermanson- 1.5-135+128U: 9.5-105
DateTime907Athletics Loaiza +1.5-220+112O: 10.0-120
TwinsSilva- 1.5+170 -122U: 10.0+100
This typical sportsbook wagering chart is compact and shows the Run line,
Money Line and Over/Under Straight Bet with the odds. This compact format
will list the Away Team wager line first, then the Home Team wager line.
The minus sign (e.g. -130) always indicates the favorite and the amount
you must bet to win $100. The line without the minus sign (e.g. +120)
always indicates the underdog and the amount you win for every $100 bet.
Using this example, therefore, you would bet $130 to win $100 on the
favorite, while for the underdog you would bet $100 to win $120.
Run Lines: The MLB Run Line is a combination of the Point Spread and the
Money Line. The team you wager on must win by covering the Run Line
spread. The amount you lay down is determined by the Money Line odds next
to the Run Line spread. (Odds are primarily determined by who’s
pitching). The same rules that apply for the Totals apply for the Run
Lines. When wagering on the Expos Run Line, the team selected must win by
at least 2 runs. When wagering on the Dodgers Run Line, the selected team
can lose the game, but not by more that one run. Note: Run Lines are
always “listed pitchers”.
Money Lines: When wagering on sides, if you are betting the favorite, you
will be laying odds. When betting on the underdog, you will be picking
the odds. The odds for each game are based on who is pitching.
Over/Under: Waging on the total runs scored on the game (both teams
combined, overtime included). If you wager on the Dodgers/Exposes game to
go OVER the predicted total, the amount of the runs on the game must be
more than 10 in order to win the wager. If you wager on the Dodgers/Expos
game to go UNDER the predicted total, the amount of runs on the game must
not exceed 9 in order to win the wager. The game must go 9 innings (8.5
if the home team is ahead) to have action.
Those are the basic wagering strategies for Major League Baseball! With
this basic information, the beginner should feel comfortable with looking
at and figuring out how to use a typical sportsbook wagering chart.