Finding the right baseball betting site might seem daunting at first. With 162 MLB regular season games, plus the entire playoffs after that, baseball is one of the biggest betting markets around in terms of sheer volume. Add in the popular professional leagues in other countries like Japan and Korea, and the number of wagering opportunities on offer with baseball betting is simply enormous.
In this article you’ll learn everything you need to know about baseball betting, including the best sportsbooks which cover it, the top betting markets, explanations of all the major leagues and competitions, and much more besides.
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As a betting market, MLB in the UK might not get the same attention as football and horse racing, or even the NFL and NBA in the United States. It’s still hugely popular though, and – as such – is covered to some extent by almost every major sportsbook.
The actual quality of these baseball betting sections and features can vary, however. When settling on the right bookmaker for you, these are the five areas you should prioritise.
Every betting site which covers baseball will almost certainly let you bet on MLB. It’s the biggest league by an absolute mile, and draws the vast majority of the betting attention. If you want to wager on a competition like Nippon Professional Baseball instead though, make sure it’s available before you sign up.
Also be sure to check the actual bet types which are available. If you like to wager on games inning-by-inning, clarify that the right live markets are available. If you prefer going long-term instead, check that there’s a good selection of outright markets – Overall Winner, MVP, Cy Young, and so on.
Watching along with a live baseball game is not only enjoyable, but will greatly improve your wagering. If live betting is your thing, it might allow you to pounce on a perceived momentum swing, or bail on a bet you’re no longer comfortable with. Even if you simply wager pre-game, actually watching the action will massively help your own analysis of both teams and players.
Live streaming of MLB on a sportsbook is basically unheard-of, for licensing reasons. Instead you must subscribe to a TV channel like BT Sport, or the MLB TV streaming service. Games in places like Korea, however, are much more likely to be streamed.
If you prefer on-the-go baseball betting over its desktop-based counterpart, this should be the first thing you look at. Identify the brands you’re interested in, and download either their Android or iOS app. It’ll always be free to do so, and – in most cases – you’ll be able to browse the app as long as you like without even signing up.
There are two main things to focus on. Firstly, does the app perform well on your device, or is it subject to lag or outright crashes? Secondly, how usable is the app? Can you find your way around the interface comfortably? Are the text and odds displayed clearly enough for your liking?
With at least 17 or 18 half-innings to play through (and potentially more if the game goes to extra innings), baseball offers a truly enormous number of live sports betting opportunities. Make sure you pick a sportsbook that lets you take advantage of them.
Both in-play and cash out features should always be available. Look at both user and critic reviews to ensure that those features work well, and won’t leave you hanging when you need them most. You should also check that live odds update frequently to reflect the latest goings-on, and – of course – that those prices seem fair.
Both welcome offers and ongoing betting promotions can provide genuinely useful benefits for bettors. Be sure to check, however, that baseball is an eligible market before using a deal – if not for the wagering requirement, then at least for using any bonuses you acquire. Some sites will even run baseball-specific deals, such as free bet clubs, which give you a free bet token if you spend enough money on eligible games in a given timeframe.
In terms of sheer number of bet types, baseball is closer to tennis than something as open-ended as football. That being said, there’s still a good amount of variety you can use in your baseball betting, with these being the main markets to focus on.
These are the most straightforward and popular MLB betting lines. Quite simply, you’re picking which of the teams is going to win a given game. Since ties aren’t possible in baseball, you literally just need to pick between two options here.
This is the most popular form of handicap betting with baseball. As in other sports, it creates a fake score before the game kicks off. You then pick a team to win, based on that fake score. Let’s say the home team Braves are playing the underdog Red Sox, for example, and you take the Braves -1.5. That means they need to triumph by at least two runs for your wager to win. Even if they win the actual game by one run, your wager still loses.
These MLB odds revolve around the total number of runs in a game, and work in the same way as an Over/Under in football. The bookie sets its predicted total, and you then need to bet on whether the actual total will be higher or lower than that amount. If the Total is set at 9.5, for example, and you take the over, you need at least 10 runs to be scored in the game (by both teams combined).
There are often a wide variety of prop bets available for a baseball game, covering a diverse range of outcomes. Some will be team or overall props, such as ‘Will a run be scored in the first inning?’, or ‘Will there be a grand slam?’. Others will be player props, in which you bet on a particular player to hit a home run, get a hit, strike out a certain number of batters, and so on.
These are the longest-term markets in baseball betting, typically covering an entire season. The most famous is simply ‘Outright Winner’ (‘World Series Winner’ in the MLB), in which you predict which team will hoist the trophy after the final game. Other team-based Outrights include the winners of both the American League and National League. Outright markets on players are also popular, such as MVP Winner, CY Young Winner, and Rookie of the Year Winner.
The actual quality of the odds matter enormously to your gambling success, and this is absolutely true for baseball betting too. That might sound obvious, but it’s one of the most important MLB tips which is often overlooked. You can do all the research you like, and even make some pretty smart wagers. If your bookmaker is giving you poor baseball odds on your bet slip, however, your profits won’t come close to what they should be.
Fortunately, there are a good number of MLB UK betting sites out there which will give you fair odds. All of our 10 recommended options at the top of this page fit that bill, but the three UK bookies listed below are arguably the best of the bunch.
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As with other sports, there’s no single formula which will allow you to be successful in your baseball betting. That said, there are definitely measures you can take to significantly improve your chances. These are our three top free baseball betting tips to help get you started.
Some bettors will specialise in pre-match, live, or outright betting, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t mix all three. In fact, doing so is arguably the most important of our baseball betting tips. It will not only keep things fun, but will also improve your chances of success.
That’s because each form offers a completely different approach, with in-play betting – for example – giving you dozens of opportunities for each game which simply aren’t possible pre-match.
Also look to vary your risk/reward ratios on a regular basis. Multi-game parlays will deliver a big payout if they come in, but the chances of them winning are obviously low. You can still take them, however, if you’re careful to balance them with safer Money Line and Run Line bets.
Doing this for MLB betting is easy, with Major League Baseball receiving an enormous amount of not only free baseball betting tips, but also statistical analysis throughout the season. The vast majority can be accessed for free, and all can be used to your betting advantage.
You can research the form of both teams going into a matchup to inform your choices on Money Line MLB odds, for example, and ballpark factors will also help out here. The form of individual pros is also important for player props, with even stats on hitters versus a specific starting pitcher being easy to find.
Special betting offers are designed by baseball betting sites to give you value, so use them wherever possible. Some will help to increase your profits, like odds boosts on specific markets. Some will give you free bets, which can then be used for risk-free wagers on future baseball games. Others will simply lower the risks of losing your stake, like insurance on multiples bets. Either way, you’re still helping your chances of making money over the long-term.
Major League Baseball obviously dominates not only baseball coverage and interest, but baseball betting too. Outside of the USA, however, there are other competitions dotted around the world which offer high quality action, and plenty of betting opportunities.
If you’ve got any interest in baseball whatsoever, you’ve probably already watched the MLB. It has the most money, the most talented players, the biggest crowds, and – quite simply – the highest level of quality. The franchises – names like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox – carry a level of history and prestige which can’t be matched elsewhere either. Bettors will also find the most markets – by far – relating to MLB. Pre-match, live, and outright sections will all usually be crowded, with constant betting opportunities running from Spring Training in March, through to the World Series in October.
It’s not exactly controversial to say that Japan is home to the second-best league in baseball. While not on the same scale as MLB, there’s actually still a considerable amount of both money and fans involved in the game. The best players in the league have routinely shown they can thrive in Major League Baseball too, with Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Yu Darvish being just a few notable examples.
There are plenty of other good domestic leagues around (including those in Mexico and Cuba), but the World Baseball Classic offers a truly different baseball betting experience. This is an international tournament, which has been held four times so far. It’s a whole lot of fun to bet on, not only thanks to its unusual format, but also its unpredictability. The mighty USA has actually won only one title so far, with Japan (twice) and the Dominican Republic being the other champions.
If you’re a fan of the game who hasn’t actually dabbled in baseball betting before, there’s never been a better time to learn how to bet on baseball and try it out for yourself.
Not only are there a huge amount of MLB tips available for betting – there are dozens of oddsmakers who will let you act on this information, each offering a slightly different experience. Some might be targeted more towards mobile betting, for example. Others might provide eye-catching special offers, while certain sites simply focus on providing great prices. In certain cases, you’ll find baseball odds not only on Major League Baseball, but on less-heralded competitions from further afield too.
If you’d like to narrow down all those baseball betting sites for yourself, simply use the advice earlier in this article. To save yourself some time instead, you can simply pick one of our recommending sites for MLB betting. Either way, we wish you a fun, responsible, and profitable time.
Unibet arguably has the best baseball odds out there right now. Their range of markets for both individual games and season-long outright wagers is extremely impressive. Not only that, but their actual prices are highly competitive too.
There are plenty of different options. The most common is the simple Money Line, in which you bet on a team to win. Other popular choices include Run Line and Total Runs. The former is basically a handicap bet, while the latter works the same way as an Over/Under in football. There are also lots of both team and player props, plus long-term outright markets (such as World Series Winner).
This is a very common term used in baseball betting. Usually, it refers to the aforementioned Money Line bet, in which you just wager on one team to beat another. It can also be used to mean Run Line, in which bettors create a ‘fake’ score before the game starts. Specifically, when someone talks about ‘the lines’, they’re talking about the current odds for those markets.
Absolutely. There are dozens of British betting sites which will let you bet on the MLB, from the preseason through to the World Series. Some will also allow you to wager on competitions from further afield, like the leagues in Japan, Mexico, and Korea.
You can check out a few of our top free baseball betting tips in the article above. Our top piece of advice, however, would be to mix your bet types. Don’t simply limit yourself to either pre-match, in-play, or outright wagers, as each form offers its own unique opportunities.