Baseball Betting Sites

Check Out Our List of the Best Baseball Sportsbooks Online in December 2023

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in America. On top of that, it would be an understatement to say there are many MLB wagering options. When the Major League Baseball (MLB) season rolls around, you can expect the online sportsbooks we review to have the best betting lines possible. Our extensive guide to baseball betting will show you how to bet on baseball, the bets and markets available and much more.

If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to wagering on baseball, then keep reading.

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FIND THE BEST MLB ODDS

You should shop around when you want to find the best MLB odds. While the odds will not be that different, check different sportsbooks to get the best MLB odds, which means the best payout possible.

NO LACK OF OPTIONS

One of the cool things about baseball betting is there is no lack of options. In the most popular league in the world in MLB, there are 30 teams, which play 162 games a season, not including the playoffs. So, just for MLB, there are over 4,800 games available to bet on, and all of the games will have quite a few betting markets. To say there are tons of MLB lines available would be a major understatement.

MLB TIPS

There are a lot of MLB betting tips out there, and it is up to you whether to use them or not. Not only can you find many tips by simply doing a simple Google search, but they are also offered often at some of our recommended sportsbooks that we recommend.

THE POPULAR RUN LINE

The run line is the most popular baseball handicap wager and one you need to know. Run line betting is when the favorite in a game will be giving 1.5 runs to the underdog. Run line betting is something to take advantage of when there is a major favorite, as you can still bet on them and get good MLB odds.

BASEBALL BETTING TRENDS

MLB trends are key to look at when making picks. There can be team and players trends such as a team or player’s recent form, how has a team fared on the road or at home, and how has a team fared lately against right-hand or left-hand starters? Sportsbooks will often offer tons of MLB betting trends for you to check out.

LIVE BASEBALL BETTING LINES

Most sportsbooks that we review and recommend will offer live betting, which means you can wager on an MLB game as it happens in real time. The odds change quickly, but live MLB betting is very exciting, to say the least, and allows you to cash in on the action in real-time.

Basic Intro to Baseball

Before we get into the meat of wagering on America’s pastime, let’s do a quick intro to the sport. In a baseball game, two teams face off, and there are nine players in the field for each team with eight position players and a pitcher.

The positions in baseball are

• Pitcher
• Catcher
• First baseman
• Second baseman
• Third baseman
• Shortstop
• Right fielder
• Center fielder
• Left Fielder

The teams switch off every inning taking turns in the field and at the plate. The team with the most runs at the end of the game is the winner. Teams score runs while they are batting, trying to get hits off the opposing pitcher and advancing runners on their bases. The team at the field has to make three outs for the inning to be over and get the chance to bat and score runs.

The pitcher is on the mound, which is 60 feet and 6 inches away from home plate, which is where the batter stands. The pitcher throws the ball to the catcher, who is crouched behind the batter with the umpire calling balls and strikes behind him.

The pitcher will then pitch the ball and if the batter swings and misses, hits the ball out of bounds (field of play), or if the hitter does not swing but the ball is within the strike zone (between the batter’s armpits and the top of the knees and over home plate) it is a strike. If the ball is outside the strike zone it is a ball. If a pitcher gets three strikes the batter is out. If the pitcher throws three balls the batter is awarded first base and the next batter gets their turn. If there is two strikes and the batter hits a foul ball they get another pitch.

If the pitcher strikes out the batter but the catcher drops the ball the batter can run to first base to try to get there before the catcher throws to the first baseman.

When a team is at bat, they are trying to get hits to move around the three bases and get back to home plate, where they begin the at-bat, which is called a run. They try to do this before the opposing team can get them out. A fielding team can get an out by catching a hit ball before it hits the ground, getting a put out, tagging a runner that is not on base or throwing to a teammate on a base before the runner gets there. 

There are also bench players and bullpen players (pitchers) that can be substituted into the game at any time with a decision by the manager (head coach).

The Layout of Major League Baseball

As of 2022, 30 teams play 162 games each in the regular season. There are six divisions with five teams each, and they are:

The postseason in MLB may change in 2022 with the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) being negotiated at the time of writing. There have been proposals for 14 teams making the playoffs or 16 like in the pandemic shortened 2020 season. Still, no matter what structure is in place, just like the regular season, there are many baseball betting options for the postseason.

No matter what structure is in place, there will be the AL and NL division series’ (quarterfinals) and AL and NL championship series’ (semifinals). The winners of the ALCS and NLCS will face off in the World Series, which consists of seven games. The team that is the higher seed in their respective league will host the World Series, and if they are the same seed, the host will go to the team with the best record in the regular season.

Brief History of Baseball

The history of baseball is a long and interesting one, to say the least. It was first thought that Abner Doubleday invented the game in the mid 19th century, but in 1945 Alexander Cartwright is credited with coming up with the rules of the game, many of which are still used today.

After the Civil War, there were hundreds of baseball clubs in the U.S. In 1869 the first professional baseball team was formed in the Cincinnati Red Stockings. 1871 the first professional baseball league was formed in the National Association. The league did not last long, with baseball betting being a black mark. In 1875 the National League was formed, and while a few leagues were competing at the time and for the next two decades, the National League stuck and was joined in 1901 by the American League.

The AL and the NL formed what we know as Major League baseball today, and the first World Series was held in 2003 when the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first couple of decades of MLB was known as the “dead-ball” era, as there were few home runs, and games were mostly about contact hitting, bunting, and stealing bases. In 1919 a baseball betting scandal ricked the game when gamblers paid the Chicago White Sox to throw the world series.

The dead-ball era saw the end when the New York Yankees bought the contract of Babe Ruth, who was the first major superstar in the game and changed it with his batting prowess. During World War II, the game saw some tough times with many players serving in the military. However, when the war was over, the baseball game rose in popularity in the next several decades with several milestones, including Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, the advent of free agency, and the expansion of MLB teams around the nation.

Expansion continued in the 1960s and 1970s and the modern game was formed but the sport would be rocked again in the upcoming decades. In 1989 the all-time hits leader in Pete Rose was banned for baseball for life for baseball betting on the team he managed in the Cincinnati Reds. Then in 1994, there was a player’s strike, and there was no World Series for the first time in 92 years.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the steroids issued clouded America’s pastime, and many of the game’s top players admitted to using steroids to get an advantage. Because of that some of the top stars from that time have been excluded from the Hall of Fame including Roger Clemens. Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and most notably Barry Bonds, who holds the records for most career home runs and most home runs in a season.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, online sports betting became legal on a state-by-state basis. There are currently many states where baseball betting is legal, and more and more teams are partnering up with betting brands such as the Washington Nationals and BetMGM and the Chicago Cubs and Draft Kings.

The New York Yankees have won the most World Series titles, by far, with 27, with the St. Louis Cardinals having the second most with 11. The Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Milwaukee Brewers are the only teams that have never won a World Series. The Mariners are the only team that has never reached the World Series.

How Does Baseball Betting Work

Once you have chosen a game to wager on, the next thing to do is choose the bet to make, and there are plenty of them. You will see many markets available from the moneyline to totals to prop bets and run lines for every MLB game. Then you decide the bet you want to make and the amount you want to wager. Once you do that, you are set, and then you wait for the game to end to see if your bet was a winning one or losing one.

Once you have chosen a game to wager on, the next thing to do is choose the bet to make, and there are plenty of them. You will see many markets available from the moneyline to totals to prop bets and run lines for every MLB game. Then you decide the bet you want to make and the amount you want to wager. Once you do that, you are set, and then you wait for the game to end to see if your bet was a winning one or losing one.

Baseball Bets Available

Moneylines

The moneyline is the most popular baseball bet, and with good reason. It is simple to understand, as you are just betting on one team to win a game. However, unlike NBA or NFL betting, there is no spread involved, so the moneyline is a bet that has inflated odds to show the favorite and the underdog in a game. Basically, for moneylines you are betting more to win less betting on the favorite and betting less to win more on the underdog.

For simplicity, we will use $100 to show an example of moneyline betting odds. At sportsbooks, you will see a moneyline bet like this:

Boston Red Sox +130

New York Yankees -150

In this example, the + in front of the number indicates the underdog in the game. Conversely, the – in front of the number will indicate the favorite. So, in using $100 as a base, you will wager $100 to win $130 if you bet on the Red Sox to win and $150 to win $100 if you bet on the Yankees.

Totals

The totals bet is the easiest bet to understand in terms of MLB odds. There will be a total for the game in the number of runs scored for both teams. Totals are also called the over/under bet, as you are betting if you think the total number of runs scored in a game will be over or under the posted total.

Here is an example of a totals bet:

Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets – 11

The 11 shows the total of the game and if the final outcome is Mets 7 and Phillies 6, the final total is 13. Therefore, if you bet on the over 11 runs, you would win the bet and if you bet the under 11 runs, you would lose the bet.

In terms of MLB totals bets you, often,  will see a .5 after the number. The .5 signifies a half a run, and since a half run cannot be scored in baseball, there cannot be a push for the wager. If there is not a .5 there can be a push. In the example above if the total is set at 11 and the Mets beat the Phillies 7-4, 11 runs are scored, which is the exact total. If this is the case, it is called a push or tie, and you will get your original stake back. You will also get your original stake back if a schedule starring pitcher is scratched, which means they will not be starting that game.

Run Lines

Run lines in MLB baseball betting is the most popular handicapping wager to make. With a run line it, kind of, puts a spread into the equation. With a run line MLB bet the favorite will be giving 1.5 runs to the underdog while the underdog will be getting 1.5 runs. The giving and getting of runs by the teams will alter the payout in the game. Again, since a half a run (.5) cannot be scored if you bet on the favorite, they have to win by two or more runs, and if you bet on the underdog, they have to either win the game or lose by a single run.

Here is an example of a run line bet:

The moneyline is shown as

L.A. Dodgers +160

San Francisco Giants -170

So, for the run line it will look like this:

L.A. Dodgers -1.5 runs -130

San Francisco Giants +1.5 runs +110

If the Dodgers beat the Giants 8-5 they won by more than two runs, so the Dodgers are the winning bet, and the Giants are the losing one. The run lines wager can be a good idea if you think a team will win rather big in a game. By looking at the example above, if you are betting on the Dodgers in the moneyline you are wagering $160 to win $100, but if you use the run line, you are betting $100 to win $110, which is, obviously, a better payout.

An interesting fact that you should be aware of is that around 30% of all MLB games are won or lost by a single run.

Parlays

A parlay is betting on multiple games in one bet. In a single bet you can typically wager on between 2-15 games called legs. The more legs are in the bet, the higher the payout will be, and with several of them, the payout can be significant. However, you should know that for a parlay, you have to win every game (leg) in the bet for it to be a winning one.

A parlay is a very high-risk and high reward wager. One of the cool things about this type of bet is that you can mix and match it. For example, you could have a four-game parlay where you take the moneyline odds twice and then the totals odds twice. Some online sportsbooks allow you to come up with cross-sport parlays so that you could have a couple of MLB games and a couple of NFL games as well.

Proposition Bets

A proposition bet has nothing to do with the outcome of the game. There is player and team MLB baseball betting and some of the bets have even odds and some have inflated odds. A few examples of a prop bet are will a pitcher have over or under 8 strikeouts, will a player hit a HR in the game, will team A or team B score first and, and will team A or team B have more total bases in a game.

Typically, there will be quite a few prop bets for every MLB game. You should be aware that there are more of them available for bigger games such as in the playoffs and especially the World Series.

Futures

A futures bet is one where you are betting on the future outcome of an event or award race. In terms of futures, a few of the more common wagers are which team will win the World Series, which team will win the AL or NL Pennant, which team will win a certain division, which player will win the MVP, and which player will win the Cy Young award.

You can get solid odds and make a bet early for MLB futures. For example, you can bet on a team to win the World Series before the season even begins. All of the baseball betting sportsbooks will offer MLB futures. This is a bet where you have to be in it for the long haul, as you have to wait until after the regular season or the World Series to cash in.

The odds will change for futures throughout the season depending on how the player or the team is doing. For example, if you want to bet on the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series and they are a long shot, you make a bet on them where they have baseball betting odds of +5000. In the first two months of the season, the team blows out of the gates, and they are in first place in their division. Because of this, their odds may change to reflect that, and they may be at +2500. The odds you get when you make a futures bet are the ones you are locked in on, no matter how much they change during the season.

Live Bets

Live baseball betting is very popular these days and very exciting. The type of wager allows you to make bets while being played. One nice thing about live bets is that sportsbooks will often offer live streaming of games, and if that is the case, you can watch the game and wager on it simultaneously.

Most live baseball betting will be for the moneyline and the totals, but some sportsbooks will also offer prop live bets. The odds will change for the game depending on how it is unfolding. For example, before the game, the Yankees have a moneyline of -200 facing the underdog Red Sox at +180. The Red Sox score three runs in the first inning; the odds will change to reflect that, so after the first inning, they may be at +110. For most live bets for other sports such as football and basketball, the odds change quickly, and while that is somewhat the case for live MLB bets, you will have more time to make wagers since the game is a slower-paced one.

Here are a few other specific MLB wagers available:

•   First 5 Innings – Like the popular halftime bet in the NFL and NBA for MLB picks, there is the first five innings wager where you bet on which team has the lead after five innings of play.
•   Grand Salami – A unique MLB betting odds wager being a totals (over/under) bet, but the sportsbook will put out a number for the total number of runs scored by each team in a single day.
•   Series Betting – Betting on which teams will win a series. There are 3,4, and 5 game series and in the event a four-game series is split at 2-2, you will get your original stake back.
•   Season Win Totals – A type of futures bet where you are betting over or under the totals wins for the season for a team that the sportsbook will post.·  Team Totals – A bet similar to a totals bet but rather betting the over or under for the total number of runs scored in a game you are waging on the number of runs scored by one team.

Baseball Bonuses and Promotions

There are plenty of baseball betting promotions offered at sportsbooks that offer MLB lines. There are ones for the sportsbook as a whole and others specific to baseball and, more specifically, MLB. Anytime you see a bonus available at an online sportsbook, you should jump on it to boost your bankroll. A few common bonuses and promotions available are a welcome bonus, reload bonus, refer-a-friend-bonus, no-risk free bet, and parlay insurance.

Often sportsbooks will have MLB promos available throughout the year, and you can find quite a few of them with the playoffs roll around and especially for the World Series.

It is a good idea to also check the sportsbook regularly for profit boosts and reduced juice. These are two types of bonuses where you can increase your winning potential. A profit boost will offer higher odds for a specific game, which offers you a bigger payout. Reduced juice is a lower commission for a sportsbook for a game that allows you to win more. Rather than have a bet with two sides at +110, for as totals bet, for example, you will see odds such as -105 for both bettering your payout if the bet is a winning one.

It’s Not All About Major League Baseball

MLB baseball betting is, by far, the league that is bet on the most. All U.S. sportsbooks will offer MLB odds on games and many prop bets and other offers. However, there are other leagues the world over where you can bet on America’s pastime. Often at U.S. licensed sportsbooks, you can find lines for leagues in Korea, Japan, and sometimes even in Latin American countries. You should also know that NCAA baseball odds can be found and they are more prevalent when the College World Series happens.

When it comes to leagues to wager on outside of MLB, the options for the bets available will be limited. You will usually only find moneylines and totals bets for leagues that are not MLB at U.S. licensed sportsbooks.

Baseball Betting Requires Solid Money Management

Money management is key to baseball betting, as it is a marathon and not a sprint. That is especially the case for baseball since so many games are played in the season and so many bets to make. First of all, when you come up with a bankroll, it should be money that you can afford to lose. That is the golden rule of gambling: never bet more than you can afford to lose.

You should use a standard bet size, and for baseball, it should be around 2% of your bankroll. When you get better at MLB picks, you can start to wager a bit more, but always remember that the MLB season is long.

Smart money management is important to have enough for the long haul. You can bet a little more when winning, and, on the other side of the coin, you can bet a little less when you hit a cold streak.

No matter what wagering system you use and the great MLB tips you may get, you have to know you will go through some cold streaks just like all teams do. However, with solid money management, you can endure them and come out ahead, which is always the main goal when taking part in sports betting.