MLB Betting Odds

If you are new to betting on the MLB this is the perfect resource for you. If you are looking for Live MLB Odds scroll down to the bottom of the page. First we will be going over the three main types of MLB betting, and then we explain how the odds work, followed by the live MLB betting odds.

»Live MLB Betting Odds
»How To Read Betting Odds
»Types of MLB Betting

There are three main ways to bet on MLB baseball – Run Line Betting, Money Line Betting and Game Total Betting.

Money Line Betting – The most common way to bet on MLB games is on the money line. The money line is simply picking a winner of the game straight up. Since there are no ties in baseball it is pretty straight forward, with two options (home team or away team) to bet on.

Run Line Betting – Betting on the run line for MLB baseball is similar to the spread for football or basketball if you are familiar with those. The favored MLB team will be given a line of 1.5 runs. This means that you can either chose the favored team to win by 1.5 or more runs (which is essentially 2 runs or more), or you can choose the underdog team to lose by 1 run or win the game. This gives a little bit of a “handicap” on the underdog, evening out the odds on the game. The favored team will be displayed as -1.5 on the run line, while the underdog is displayed as +1.5.

Game Total Betting – Betting on the game total is also referred to as over under betting. The sportsbooks will set a game total line, which is the total amount of runs scored by both teams combined in the game. Bettors can either wager on the game to go over or under the set total. An example would be a set total of 9.5 runs, where the under would be 9 or less runs combined and the over would be 10 or more runs combined. The game total is often set at a half number, but you will sometimes see it as an even number. For example the game total could be set for 9, where if the score totalled exactly 9 it would be a “push” and your bets would be refunded.

When you bet on the MLB at an MLB Sportsbook (betting site) the odds will be displayed in American style. Below we have explained how to read and understand these type of odds listed on MLB games.

American Betting Odds Explained:

American style betting odds are the type of odds that are most common in North America. American odds are the types of odds that online sportsbooks will display, as well as live sportsbooks, such as a sportsbook found in a Las Vegas casino.

Here is an example of American Odds

Philadelphia Phillies – (+120)
@ New York Yankees – (-140)

The odds are displayed next to the team. As you can see the American odds will either have a positive (+) or negative (-) sign in front of a 3 or more digit number. The +/- represents whether laying a wager on that bet will pay out more or less than the amount you wagered. If the odd has a + sign in front of the number this means a wager will pay out more than what you bet, while a – sign indicates a wager would pay out less than the amount bet.

Negative Odds: These show you how much money you would need to wager in order to win a $100 (can easily be converted to $10 or $1 as well). The number next to the sign represents the amount you would need to wager in order to win $100. If the odd listed was -140 like in our example this shows you would have to wager $140 in order to win $100, $14 in order to win $10, or $1.40 in order to win $1.

Positive Odds: These show you how much money you would win on a $100 wager (can easily be converted to $10 or $1 too). The number next to the positive sign represents the amount you would win on a $100 bet. If the odd listed was +120 like in our example it shows you that a $100 bet would pay out $120 in winnings, $10 bet would pay out $12, $1 bet would pay out $1.2.

Although we have explained MLB betting odds fairly thoroughly, you do not really need to worry about understanding how it is calculated fully, as the sportsbooks will also do the calculations for you and display the amount you could win with your size wager. It is also good to get a rough idea of how the betting odds work to make things easier for you, but not extremely important when betting on MLB games.

Live MLB Odds:

Here is a live feed sponsored by one of our favorite MLB sportsbooks – Bodog.com. This will display the betting odds for the day’s games in real time (updated every couple minutes).