Complete MLB betting guide

North America’s MLB betting scene grabs the lion’s share of baseball attention. Baseball in the US is simply huge, on par with football in Europe, but MLB has also tried to broaden its appeal.

MLB experiences in London, for example, have served as MLB’s gateway plans to expand the game in Europe. However, there is already quite a large baseball scene there, with professional leagues in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries.

Asia and the Caribbean are two other big baseball-playing regions. Fortunately, with this modern age of streaming, it’s much easier for fans to catch the latest baseball action from their favourite leagues, such as MLB, than it ever was before.

Introduction to MLB betting and the sport’s history

Baseball is known as ‘America’s pastime’, a clear indication of how popular it is in the US. The National League (NL) was first played in 1876 and is one of the leagues included in what is today known as MLB. Of the four major sports in America (the others being ice hockey, football and basketball), it is the oldest professional sports team league.

The first professional baseball team appeared in 1869 in Cincinnati, and the northeast of the country was really where the sport took a foothold. The modern MLB franchises are all based in major cities and are at the top of the sport, but there are many different tiers of amateur and college baseball spreading out from there. It is a hotbed of promising young talent that keeps feeding MLB.

There’s nothing quite like MLB in terms of size and support in world baseball. Not only does it oversee the 30 pro teams, but there are also more than 200 affiliate teams across the country through the minor league setup. With so much competition and matches, learning even the basics of the sport ultimately helps with how to bet on MLB baseball.

MLB betting tips – the depth of talent

MLB franchises have affiliate teams, which usually take up residence in mid-sized cities in the US. These are feeder clubs where young talent is nurtured, but at the same time, they are highly competitive league tiers in their own right.

They all fall under the title of Minor League Baseball, of which there are four tiers: Triple-A, Double-A, High-A and Single-A. They all have different rules regarding the length of the season, how many players can sit on an active roster, and player restrictions.

It’s possible to find baseball betting markets for the Triple-A, which is at the top of the minor baseball tree, and in some instances, Double-A also.

MLB betting tips – the American League

MLB is structured as two leagues, both with 15 teams. The American League (AL) was born out of a former minor league and had its breakthrough in 1901 when it was given Major League status.

Two years following that, for the first time, the American League champion would go forward to meet the winner of the National League in the World Series. The American League features the only Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, along with famous franchises such as the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.

In many MLB betting tips for the American League, you’ll see much pre-season speculation over who will be crowned American League champion.

MLB betting tips – the National League

The National League was formed well before the American League was accepted into MLB.

The first ever National League baseball game was played in 1876, and from there it kept going strong, despite being challenged by rival leagues such as the American Association, which was eventually absorbed by the National League.

Like the American League, the National League MLB betting tips can focus on long-term forecasts such as the National League champion, its divisional winners, and which teams will book playoff berths.

Divisions for MLB betting

Those two MLB leagues are split into three divisions each, making another key component of MLB betting tips. Forecasts can, for example, focus on the finishing positions of teams in each of the divisions, from the winner to who will finish bottom.

For both the National League and the American League, there is an East, Central and West Division, and this plays a big part in the fixture lists. Teams predominately play opposition from their own league, and will face their divisional rivals more than they will teams in other divisions.

The NL Central’s Milwaukee Brewers, for example, will meet the likes of the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals more than they will the Atlanta Braves from the NL East.

World Series MLB betting

Twelve teams make it to the MLB playoffs, in a bracket that is separated by league. The top two seeds from the National League and American League automatically go into their respective Division Series. All other qualified teams have to first navigate a Wild Card Series round to make it to that Division Series stage.

The winners of the Division Series move ahead to the Championship Series. The playoffs bring a new angle for MLB, as each round is played in a ‘best of’ format. The World Series is a best-of-seven series, a clash between the best of the National League and the American League.

The first-ever World Series was held in 1903, and it was won by a team called the Boston Americans. The all-time leader in MLB World Series titles is the New York Yankees, the only team to have surpassed 20 titles.

Betting on the World Series is one of the most popular markets for betting on MLB. Some bettors take the long-term approach of picking a pre-season winner, while others may wait to see how the playoff brackets shake out before picking a World Series winner.

MLB baseball betting markets

Baseball is defined by metrics about everything from Batting Average to Intentional Walks and Hit By Pitch. It means that great stats are available to use for the different MLB betting markets, of which there is a great variety.

However, three main areas of baseball betting draw the most attention.

Match winner (moneyline)

The match winner market presents either a two-way or three-way option to bet on MLB and is the main focus of most MLB betting tips. It’s a pick of which team will win a given fixture. The two-way option includes any extra innings. The three-way option doesn’t, but provides the betting option of a draw at the end of the regulation nine innings.

Spread (run line)

This is a popular method to bet on MLB games where a team can be selected with an option such as +1.5 or -2.5 runs. It’s essentially a handicap of how many runs a team will either win or lose by.

Over/under (totals)

The other main MLB betting market is the over/under. This is a prediction of how many runs will be scored, such as +7.5 or -6.5, and the average totals line is 8.5 in MLB betting. Options for run totals on individual innings can also be found.

Prop bets

Prop bets for MLB betting are things such as the number of Runs Batted In that a player achieves, or how many Stolen Bases a player gets. It’s possible to get really deep into player performances through betting markets such as Player To Record a Hit, Player To Record a Run, and Player Total Bases.

Team Prop bets, such as which team will score the most home runs or the highest number of hits in a match, present further MLB baseball betting options.

MLB betting odds for outright betting

As with most sports, season outright markets are a big focus of MLB baseball betting, as punters can put their long-term prediction powers to the test. There are plenty of ways to do this, with the most heavily bet-on outright markets being the winners of the American League and National League, and the World Series.

Picks can be made as early as pre-season for options such as the American League winner, for example. Nominating winners of the individual divisions is also a popular approach, such as backing the NL West winners.

Then, the World Series outright MLB betting odds come into the picture, and while a team can be backed to be crowned champions at any point of the season, interest ramps up when the line-up is known. An outright option on the World Series can be taken, along with options such as the Series Correct Score, a Series Handicap and World Series MVP.

The most common form of MLB betting, however, is the individual match outrights. For all the individual baseball games in a season, it’s worth keeping up to date with MLB betting tips to analyse markets and form for pre-match and in-play match winner options.

Bet on MLB MVP

The best players in MLB are celebrated with awards such as the MVP of the year. There is an American League and a National League MVP award up for grabs, and this can go to any type of player. There is a separate award just for pitchers, called the Cy Young Award. Voting results aren’t revealed until after the World Series.

Bet on MLB Rookie of The Year

There is an outright MLB baseball betting market for the MLB Rookie of the Year. This focuses on which newcomer has been the top performer. Bringing rookies into the big leagues is an exciting feature of baseball, as franchises invest a lot of time and money in the players who they pick up from the MLB draft.

MLB betting tips and odds for matches

Each of the 30 teams in MLB plays a 162-game schedule for the season, with more to follow for those who successfully reach the playoffs. This translates to a heavy load of individual baseball matches for MLB betting odds and analysis.

We touched upon the three main markets for MLB betting odds, but there are plenty more to explore and size up. Beyond the outright winner market, for example, an individual baseball game can be broken down into options such as the First 5 Innings Runs Over/Under.

Race Bets for MLB betting take a different approach of backing a team to be the first to get to a set total of runs. This could be options such as Race To 3, Race To 5 or Race To 6, and there are further selections available, such as which team will be ahead on the score after two innings.

• Win Markets
• 1st Inning Result
• Lead After 5 Innings
• Race to X Runs
• Player Betting
• Player Hits
• Player RBIs
• Player Strikeouts
• Score Betting
• 1st Innings Total Runs
• 4th Innings Runs Odd/Even
• 7th Inning Correct Score

The Correct Score on the total match runs, plus correct score picks for an individual innings, are popular picks. However, this is a very small sample of the types of markets you can find for MLB baseball betting. With so many options, what’s the best approach for how to bet on MLB baseball? Keep it simple.

Ensure that you study statistics and form and use MLB betting tips for guidance. Familiarise yourself with the MLB teams, and fully understand your preferred markets. While there are many to choose from, specialising in just a select few markets will help to keep things focused.

MLB Betting FAQs

What type of baseball bets are there?

From a win single on the outcome of an MLB match to a long-term pick on the World Series champion to an in-play correct score bet, there are numerous options.

What is a baseball moneyline bet?

A moneyline bet is the American odds format of the match-winner option, such as -180 on a favourite and +210 on an underdog.

Can I bet on MLB Futures?

Yes, targeting options such as the end-of-season award winners, and the Divisional, League and World Series Winners, is a popular type of baseball betting.

What are parlays?

Parlays in baseball betting are accumulator bets, such as outright winner picks from four MLB fixtures in one bet. All selections have to be correct for the bet to be settled as a win.

What is an MLB same-game multi?

When this option appears for an MLB match, it means that you can select from different markets for that one event into one bet, such as the match winner, total runs and the team to score most home runs.