Baseball Betting Guide – How to Bet on Baseball

While baseball may be most popular in the United States, the game is starting to gain a foothold around the world as well. Countries like Japan and South Korea now have some of the best professional baseball leagues in the world, while other territories and countries like Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela have become hotbeds for developing baseball talent.

Betting on baseball has also become more prevalent as the sport’s global popularity has grown. These days, you can bet on every single Major League Baseball game online whenever and wherever you want. You can also place bets on other top leagues like the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and college baseball online.

Our team of experts has ranked the best sites on the web for baseball betting. The rankings change all the time depending on certain criteria, but the updated list of the best sites for baseball betting online can be found below:

Rank	Gambling Site	Deposit Bonus	Get Started
#1	Bovada Sports	50% Up To $250	Visit Site
#2	BetUS	125% Up To $2,500	Visit Site
#3	BetOnline Sports	60% Up To $1,000	Visit Site
#4	SportsBetting.ag	100% Up To $1,000	Visit Site
#5	MyBookie	100% Up To $1,000	Visit Site

So, what do you need to know about betting on baseball? You’ll find everything you need to get started winning baseball bets on this page.

Beginner’s Guide to Betting on Baseball

If you happen to find yourself at a classic sportsbook in Las Vegas, you will probably encounter no shortage of bettors that place bets using their gut instinct. Lots of bettors will claim to have a “feel” for the game, and they’ll bet accordingly. While that may work a time or two, there is a lot more actual work involved in becoming a profitable baseball bettor on a long-term basis.

The typical Major League Baseball season includes 162 regular-season games per team, so you have no shortage of opportunities when it comes to betting on the sport. Shopping for baseball betting lines, managing your bankroll, not chasing losses, and finding the right bets are just a few baseball betting tips of the trade that can help you stay in the green over the course of the long season.

The top-ranked baseball betting sites listed above have everything you could ever want with regard to baseball betting coverage, competitive odds, a variety of banking methods, attractive bonuses, and more! While there is no exact science for turning a profit, having realistic expectations and using a highly-rated site with competitive MLB betting odds are a couple of key steps you can take right off the bat.

Baseball Betting Blogs

You should take advantage of every piece of information before you start betting on baseball. One crucial trait of every successful online baseball bettor is a desire to learn as much as possible before placing a bet. While relying on gut instinct may work for some, there is more money to be made if you actually do a little bit of research before you submit your wager.

That’s why we have a dedicated team of analysts whose primary goal is to help you become a profitable baseball bettor! Our sports betting blog is updated every day, with tips and strategy guides that can help you navigate the betting process across a number of different sports, including baseball.

Baseball Betting Picks

There’s no shame in letting other people do the hard work, right? This site also employs a number of industry experts with decorated histories in the baseball betting field. There are countless MLB betting opportunities with so many games taking place every single day, which is why our team of professionals is also happy to supply you with their own baseball betting picks, free of charge!

Plenty of baseball betting sites will put their picks behind a paywall, which means you may have a tougher time actually making a profit than you otherwise might when it comes to wagering on America’s pastime online. Our free baseball betting picks are proven to be winners in the long haul, so what are you waiting for? Check out our MLB betting picks page, which is updated on a daily basis.

Types of Bets You Can Place on Baseball Games

Moneyline Bets

You are surely familiar with the moneyline if you have engaged in any sort of sports betting in the past. This is the easiest bet to get started with when you’re learning how to bet on baseball. Quite simply, a moneyline bet is a straight bet on one team to win a given game. Every site that offers online baseball betting will attach moneyline odds to each and every game. The implied probabilities in the moneyline odds reflect either team’s chances to win the game, according to oddsmakers’ best guesses.

There can be plenty of upside in betting on moneyline underdogs over the course of a long 162-game baseball season. Even the worst MLB teams will still win between 50 and 60 games every year. So, if you choose your bets correctly, you stand to make quite a bit of profit in the long run by attacking moneyline odds.

Because baseball has more randomness to it than other sports, moneyline odds for a given game tend to be tighter than moneyline odds you may find on certain NFL or NBA games. Below is an example of how moneyline odds will appear on a site with MLB betting lines:

The minus-money baseball betting odds mean the Twins are expected to win. Wagering $120 on the Twins at -120 will earn you $100 in winnings. Betting $100 on the Yankees at +100, meanwhile, would earn you a $100 profit if New York wins the game.

Baseball Runline Bets

The runline is baseball’s version of the point spread. The point spread is installed so that oddsmakers can try and even the playing field from a betting perspective on a game featuring a couple of teams that may not be evenly-matched. The moneyline/runline is there to make both teams in a given game attractive for bettors.

In baseball, the runline will almost always be 1.5 runs in either direction. So, if we use the example listed above, runline odds on the Yankees-Twins hypothetical matchup would look like this:

With the runline, the favored team will typically have plus-money odds of covering the runline. So, if you bet on the Twins -1.5 in this scenario, your bet will pay out at +130 if Minnesota wins the game by two runs or more. Your bet on the Yankees +1.5 will pay out at -125 odds if the Yankees either win the game outright or lose by no more than one run.

Over/Under Bets

If spread betting or moneyline betting aren’t for you, perhaps you’re interested in taking a shot at betting on implied totals. The total, also commonly called the “over/under,” is the total number of runs oddsmakers expect to be scored in a given game. Both teams in a game will have an implied run total, but you will most commonly see totals listed as the total number of runs oddsmakers both teams to combine to score in a game.

Unless the betting public is heavily favoring one side of an over/under bet, both sides will typically come with very similar odds. Here’s an example of how a baseball over/under bet would look at an MLB betting site:

Baseball Parlays

A parlay is a combination of different bets all lumped together in a single wager. With a parlay, you need every single result to go your way in order for the bet to payout. If you get every single necessary result, your payout will be substantially larger than it would have been if you had bet on every single option individually. Your chances of winning a parlay are obviously lower than they would be if you’re betting on a single outcome, but the payout amounts increase with each additional selection you add to your bet slip.

Here is how a payout structure may look for parlays at baseball betting sites:

• 3 bets (+600)
• 4 bets (+1000)
• 5 bets (+2000)
• 6 bets (+4000)
• 7 bets (+7500)
• 8 bets (+15000)
• 9 bets (+30000)
• 10 bets (+80000)

Futures Bets

A futures bet is a wager on a future outcome. With a baseball futures bet, for example, you can place a wager on which team will win a certain division, league, or the World Series. Oddsmakers will put odds on every team’s chances of winning at the beginning of the season. You may also find futures odds on individual accolades, such as Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, and the Cy Young Awards.

Odds for every team to win the World Series, for example, will fluctuate over the course of a season. So, if you time your bets correctly, you stand to earn quite a bit of bang for your buck with a baseball futures bet.

Baseball Prop Bets

Prop bets were made famous by the Super Bowl, but nowadays, you will find prop betting options for just about every sport at online betting sites. Prop betting is a different way to get in on the action. These bets often times have nothing to do with the actual baseball games themselves.

For example, some MLB betting sites offer odds on which team’s manager will be the first to get fired in the upcoming season. You may also find props on which player will lead the league in home runs, or whether any pitcher will throw a no-hitter over the course of a full season.

Baseball Leagues You Can Bet On

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the top division of pro baseball in the United States. It is also undoubtedly the top league in the world in terms of talent, recognition, popularity, and betting interest. Top players from all over the world dream of eventually making it in MLB, which is why the league attracts so much talent from countries others than the United States.

Major League Baseball is split into two smaller leagues, the American League and the National League. The only discernible difference between the leagues was that the American League utilized a designated hitter in place of a pitcher in the batting order, but the National League adopted the DH starting in the 2020 season. Each league is comprised of three divisions: the West, Central, and East.

There are 30 Major League franchises in all, though every big league team has a number of minor league affiliates located all over the United States designed to help teams develop young players. 29 of the 30 big league franchises are located in the United States, with the Toronto Blue Jays being the only exception.

American League

East	Central	West
Toronto Blue Jays	Cleveland Indians	Oakland A’s
Baltimore Orioles	Kansas City Royals	Los Angeles Angels
Tampa Bay Rays	Detroit Tigers	Houston Astros
Boston Red Sox	Minnesota Twins	Seattle Mariners
New York Yankees	Chicago White Sox	Texas Rangers

National League

East	Central	West
Atlanta Braves	Milwaukee Brewers	Arizona Diamondbacks
Miami Marlins	St. Louis Cardinals	Los Angeles Dodgers
New York Mets	Chicago Cubs	San Francisco Giants
Washington Nationals	Pittsburgh Pirates	San Diego Padres
Philadelphia Phillies	Cincinnati Reds	Colorado Rockies

The winner of the AL meets the winner of the NL in the World Series every year to determine baseball’s champion. The World Series dates all the way back to 1903, when the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. A World Series has been held in all but two years since 1904 and 1994. The ’94 World Series was canceled due to the players’ labor strike.

The New York Yankees (27) have won the World Series more than any other team, with the St. Louis Cardinals (11) ranking second all-time. The Yankees have also appeared in the World Series a record 40 times. The Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, and Tampa Bay Rays have never won a World Series, while the Mariners are the only team to have never even appeared in a Fall Classic.

The last five World Series winners are listed below:

• Kansas City Royals (2015)
• Chicago Cubs (2016)
• Houston Astros (2017)
• Boston Red Sox (2018)
• Washington Nationals (2019)

Korea Baseball Organization

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is the top league of professional baseball in South Korea. While the quality of play and overall talent in the league pales in comparison to Major League Baseball, a number of high-profile players have come to the US from the KBO and found success over the years. The list includes Hyun-jin Ryu, Eric Thames, Chan Ho Park, and Shin-Soo Choo.

Most of the rules you will find in the KBO are similar to those in MLB. The KBO regular season spans 144 games, and the regular-season standings have much more impact on postseason success than they do in Major League Baseball. There are also just 10 teams in the KBO compared to the 30 franchises in MLB.

• Doosan Bears
• KT Wiz
• Lotte Giants
• Samsung Lions
• NC Dinos
• Hanwha Eagles
• Kiwoom Heroes
• LG Twins
• KIA Tigers
• SK Wyverns

The Korean Series is the KBO’s version of the World Series. Rather than a typical American type of playoff format, though, the KBO’s regular-season standings determine the playoff seeding. For example, the team that finishes the season with the best win/loss record earns an automatic berth in the Korean Series. The top-five teams in the regular-season standings advance to the playoffs.

The No. 5 team will face the No. 4 team in the first round. The winner of that series advances to face the No. 3 team in the next round. That winner moves on to face the No. 2 team, while the No. 1 team awaits the winner in the Korean Series.

The last five Korean Series champions are as follows:

• Doosan Bears (2015)
• Doosan Bears (2016)
• KIA Tigers (2017)
• SK Wyverns (2018)
• Doosan Bears (2019)

College Baseball

College baseball isn’t as popular among bettors as other college sports like football or basketball, but the college baseball season does garner quite a bit more attention by the time the postseason rolls around. The college baseball season typically runs from February until the end of the College World Series in June.

There are nearly 2,000 colleges located all over the United States that play some level of organized baseball. NCAA Division 1 is the highest level, and teams from this group will play for a title in the College World Series every summer. NCAA Divisions 2 and 3, junior college, and NAIA are the lower levels of competition. You can find college baseball betting odds at the same baseball betting sites at which you’ll find Major League and KBO baseball odds as well.

The College World Series takes place every June in Omaha, Nebraska. The Division 1 tournament includes 64 schools competing for the biggest prize in the sport. The eight regional champions then advance to the College World Series Finals to play for the title.

The University of Southern California (USC) has won 12 College World Series titles, which is the most for any program in the history of the event. LSU and Texas have each won it six times, while Arizona State has five titles. The last five College World Series champions are listed below:

• Virginia (2015)
• Coastal Carolina (2016)
• Florida (2017)
• Oregon State (2018)
• Vanderbilt (2019)

How to Bet on Baseball Online

1. Find a Baseball Betting Site

If you consult the table of top-rated online baseball betting sites at the top of this page, you should have no trouble finding the right site that suits your needs. From competitive baseball odds, comprehensive baseball betting coverage across a number of different leagues, fast payouts, quick withdrawal speeds, and good customer service, the sites listed above check all of the boxes.

2. Sign Up and Create Your Account

Once you have settled on where to bet on baseball online, the signup process is simple. Find the “Join” or “Sign Up” page, where you’ll then be prompted to enter some personal information. Create a username and password and enter a valid email address, and you’re all set! Signing up to bet on baseball online is free of charge at all of the best MLB betting sites.

3. Make a Deposit and Collect a Sports Betting Bonus

Before you can take advantage of baseball betting lines, you have to fund your account. On your site’s deposit screen, select your preferred method of payment. Most sites accept major credit and debit cards as well as e-wallets (like PayPal), and even cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin). Then, enter the amount of money you want to put into your account.

Type in the promotional code attached to your welcome bonus offer. That way, you can inflate your bankroll even further without having to actually deposit any extra cash!

4. Bet on Baseball Online

The sign-up and deposit processes should only take a few minutes. Once that’s all done, you’re ready to place your first bets! Sift through the site’s variety of baseball betting options. Once you have found the bet you want to place, enter the amount of money you want to risk. Remember to never risk more than you’re willing to potentially lose if your bet goes awry.

Once the information is finalized, submit your wager and get ready for your winnings to come rolling in for baseball betting online!

Baseball Betting FAQ