Baseball betting is somewhat unique from other sports as a point spread is NOT used when you make your pick on who you think will win the game. A moneyline is used which is basically the same as saying “odds” are offered in lieu of the spread. This makes it easier to pick the winner since you don’t have to win by a certain amount of points, however, the favored teams are weighted heavier odds-wise which means you can’t just go out and bet all favorites and be a winner. We’ll list an example below:
Pittsburgh Pirates +180
New York Mets -190
The above listed odds are basically stating that the Mets have a twice as likely chance to win as the Pirates do. At -190, that means you’re laying $1.90 per $1.00 that you’re trying to profit. If you bet that heavy favorite and it is to lose, you’re now in a hole of -1.90 which means you have to win 1.9 times just to break even. Don’t be fooled for a second into thinking that heavy favorites can’t lose. New bettors almost always fall into that trap and a trap it is!
So does that mean you’re better off betting the dog at +180? Yes and no. Yes because your risk isn’t as much and your reward is much better. If it does lose, you only have to win one game to break even which is a much better position than being down 1.90 units. No, in that as the odds state, there’s about a 2-1 chance that their going to lose the game.
So who to take in this matchup? It could be said that heavy favorites are best avoided and big underdogs are as well. Some of the better bets you’ll find in baseball are short underdogs (the closer to even odds the better as this denotes the underdog has a much better chance of winning yet you can still hit a winning percentage of 50% or less and still grind out a profit.)
Did we say grind? If you think you’ve arrived into the sports betting arena and your going to take the world by storm and get rich quick you are an absolute fool. Sports betting is a grind at the very least and it’s best said that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Many foolish gamblers approach this sport thinking they’ll be unbeatable and clean up betting on rock solid pitchers such as Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Jake Peavy but what they don’t take into consideration is that they heavy moneyline odds that they have to lay in order to bet these pitchers, already sucks the value out of the matchup and that even these good pitchers lose at times and when they do, you have one heck of a hole to climb out of just to get back to breaking even.
So how does one win at baseball betting? Stick to short underdogs and totals. Avoid high vigorish (odds) whenever possible. It’s a taxing waxing on your bankroll just waiting to happen.
Looking for the best place to bet on bases? Check out 5Dimes.