How to Bet on Baseball Games
How to Bet on MLB Games
Batter up! It’s your turn to step to the plate at Fanatics Sportsbook. But if you need to review how to bet on baseball first, we’re here to help with the different ways to bet on it!
MLB Moneyline Betting
The most popular MLB wager is the moneyline, or betting on which team will win the game. When betting on the moneyline in baseball, there are three different situations you would encounter—wagering on a favorite, on an underdog or on a pick’em. Understanding how to read baseball odds will help you navigate these scenarios.
Since the favorite is viewed as more likely to win, you’d wager a bigger amount than the potential amount you’d win. In this situation, a minus sign (-) would come before the price of the favorite. For example, if you decide to bet on the -150 favorite, you’d have to lay $150 to win $100 (for a total potential payout of $250, $150 stake and $100 winnings).
On the flip side, with a moneyline bet on the underdog, you would get a bigger payout than your stake amount if you win. An underdog is displayed with a plus sign (+) in front of its price. So if you placed a $100 bet on a +200 underdog that won, you would receive a total payout of $300—$200 in winnings and your $100 stake.
A pick’em means that the game is viewed as a toss-up and both teams have the same price to win, which is commonly -110. While both teams would have a minus sign (-) in front of its price, that doesn’t mean both teams are the favorites. But it does mean that you would have to lay $110 to net $100 for a potential total payout of $210.
How MLB Run Line Betting Works
Instead of winning the game outright with moneyline, the run line gives bettors the opportunity to wager on teams to win or lose by margin—like the spread in football or basketball.
Just like the spread, there are two important numbers to pay attention to with the run line. The first is the run line itself, which is often listed at -1.5 or +1.5. The second is the price you lay in order to bet on the run line.
Let’s say Team A and Team B are playing a game in which Team A is considered the favorite. Team A is listed at -1.5 (+110) on the run line and Team B is +1.5 (-130). With the run line at -1.5, Team A would need to win by two runs or more to win the bet. If you wanted to bet Team A -1.5, you could bet $100 to win $110 because of the +110 price (or $50 to win $55, $10 to win $11, etc.).
Now if you wanted to roll with the underdog in Team B at +1.5, you’d either need Team B to lose by 1 run OR win the game outright. If Team B +1.5 was the bet you chose, you would put down $130 to win $100 because of the -130 price (or $65 to win $50, $1300 to win $1000, etc.).
MLB Total Betting
If you want to focus on how many runs are scored in a game rather than the winning team, betting totals is for you. You can either wager on the over or under of a game’s total, which is why this market is also often referred to as the over/under. Let’s say you bet the over on a total of 7, and Team A beats Team B 5-3. Since the game finished with 8 runs, your over bet has cashed. On the flip side, if you bet under 7 and Team A wins 3-1 (or 4 combined runs), your under bet has cashed. Now if the score ended up being 5-2, that means 7 pushed and you would get your original stake back.
MLB Player Prop Betting
You can also bet on how a player will perform instead of the entire team. Do you have a feeling that a team’s ace is about to mow down an opposing lineup? Or how about a slugger putting one over the fence? You can wager on a batter’s home runs, hits, RBIs, singles, doubles, triples and stolen bases as well as a pitcher’s strikeouts and total outs.
MLB Yes Run First Inning (YRFI)/No Run First Inning (NRFI) Bets
A betting market that has taken the baseball world is YRFI/NRFI, where you can bet whether a run will be scored in the first inning. After all, you can get an instant sweat with the first six outs of the game! YRFI/NRFI pricing is similar to moneyline, where you’ll see one option as the favored result (like -140) and the other option as plus money (like +120). Those prices will determine how much you would need to stake in order to get the payout you desire.
MLB Parlay Betting
With a parlay, you can bet on multiple outcomes to happen and it could lead to a bigger payout. You can bet on five favorites to all win their respective games or a couple of underdogs to pull off the upset. Since a parlay needs several things to occur, the odds go up as does the potential payout. Every leg needs to hit, though, in order for the parlay to cash. Even if you bet on 10 teams to win and nine end up doing so but one doesn’t, the parlay loses.
MLB Same Game Parlay Betting
A really fun way to parlay is to bet on multiple outcomes from one game. If you think a particular game is going to be a slugfest, you can create a parlay that features the over on the total, a batter to hit a home run and the under on a starting pitcher’s outs. With the Same Game Parlay, you can bet on several legs that would be more correlated compared to making bets on different games in other parlays.
MLB In-Play Betting
The betting window isn’t closed after the first pitch—far from it! Now with in-play betting, you can bet on moneylines, totals, player props and more all throughout the game. Let’s say Team A was a -150 favorite before kickoff but is down 3-0 to Team B in the third inning. Now facing a deficit, you can back Team A as an underdog to get a better price using in-play betting.
MLB Futures Betting
An MLB futures bet is when you bet on something that takes place in the future or will be determined later in the season compared to the current slate. You can bet on team futures such as World Series winner, division winner, pennant winner or even the team that finishes with the worst record in the MLB. Depending on what state you’re in, you can also wager on awards such as MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year or markets such as the player that finishes with the home runs in the regular season.