MLB Money Line, Point Spread and Totals
Shopping Around For The Best MLB Odds
The main reason we’ve created this page is because it’s always important to shop around for the best betting line on the board. One of the biggest mistakes novice sports bettors make is just betting whatever line they have instead of betting the best baseball lines out there.
This tool is created so that you can quickly scan the board and bet the best MLB odds. The key here is it’s free to have accounts at all of the sportsbooks. When you bet the best MLB lines, you’ll lose less money on the losses and win more on the wins in the long run.
MLB Moneylines
Moneylines are one of the most common types of Major League Baseball lines. What this bet means is you’re betting on the outright winner of the game. If the team you bet on wins, you win your bet. Here is what a line might look like:
Boston Red Sox +150
New York Yankees -200
+150 means that if you bet $100, you’d win $150.
-200 means that if you bet $200, you’d win $100.
Of course, you can bet whatever amounts you want on the game but the key is to look at the plus and minus signs. If it’s a minus sign in front of the number, that’s what you bet to win $100. If it’s a plus, that’s how much you win if you bet $100. This just gives you an idea of what these Major League Baseball odds mean and how much you’ll win betting on each side.
MLB Runlines
Runlines are a type of MLB spreads in baseball betting. The runline is always either -1.5 or +1.5. What this means is the team that’s -1.5 has to win by two or more or the team that’s plus +1.5 can lose or win the game, and you win your bet. Here’s what it looks like:
Boston Red Sox +1.5
New York Yankees -1.5
In this case, if the Yankees win 5-2, 9-1 or 6-4, you’d win your bet. However, if they win 5-4, 1-0 or the Red Sox end up winning by any score, they would win.
Purpose Of The Runline
Typically, how this MLB point spread works is the team that’s favored to win the game is also then -1.5 on the runline. This gives you the opportunity to bet on them at better odds but risking that they win by two. For example, if the Yankees are a -300 favorite, they might be -1.5 -150, so you get a better price but they now have to win by two.
On the other hand, the underdog typically gets the +1.5. If they’re already a sizable underdog at something like +200, they might switch to +1.5 +120 as they now have a better chance of winning because they can still lose by a run.
You can also bet on what’s called the alternate runline where regardless what the regular runline is, it will give you a +1.5 and -1.5 option for both sides. The odds will change accordingly.
MLB Totals
Another option for betting on baseball is betting on the total. The MLB over under refers to the combined final score of the two teams. The oddsmakers set a line and you decide whether the game will go over or under that number. Here’s an example:
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
Total: 9.5
A final score of 10-5, 15-1 or 7-3 all would represent overs. Going the other way, if the score was 6-3, 7-2 or 4-0, those are all examples of unders.
The strategy of these MLB betting odds is you’re wagering on how you think the game will play out. If there are two aces on the mound, you might think it will be a low-scoring game and an under. If there are two explosive offenses going head-to-head with weak starting pitchers, then you might decide to go over.
Grand Salami
The Grand Salami is a variation of the over-under. This is actually a combined over-under for all of the games on the board. Let’s say there are seven different baseball games on a given day and they all have various totals. The Grand Salami is those over-unders added up into one big number. Then you decide whether the combined score of all of the teams on that day will go over or under the Grand Salami.
MLB Props
Baseball props are side bets focused on a whole host of different topics. These are pro baseball odds that allow you to bet on something other than who’ll win or lose the game. For example, you could bet on if a player will hit a home run or how many hits a team will have on a give day or if the game will go to extra innings.
Player props focus on the performance of players, such as maybe a head-to-head prop between Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez as to who will have more hits in the game.
Team props focus on the performance of the team, such as how many hits a team will have on a given day or whether or not they’ll hit over or under 1.5 combined home runs.
MLB Futures
Futures are a type of bet that’s more considered like a long-term investment. Most bets are settled right away but a futures bet is something that’s settled further down the road. The downside risk here is that these bets take longer to decide so not only is your money tied up for a long time, a lot can change over time to make your bet a loser. The upside is that if you’re right with your bet, you’ll earn yourself a big payday. Here’s an example:
World Series Odds
New York Yankees +600
Boston Red Sox +1100
Atlanta Braves +2000
In this case, if you bet the Yankees and they end up winning, you’ll win six times your money. The prices go even higher for the Red Sox and Braves.
Typically, all sports betting sites will carry futures, which will include baseball odds to win the World Series, AL and NL Pennants, odds to win the division and more. They’ll frequently be updated and reposted, so you can bet as the season progresses.
A +200 moneyline means that for every $100 you bet, you’d win $200 if your bet cashed in.
This is baseball’s version of the point spread. Either a team is -1.5 and has to win by two or more to cover, or a team is +1.5 and can lose by one or win the game, and they would cover the spread.
Runlines and alternate runlines are baseball’s point spreads. That means teams have to win by two if they’re favored (-1.5) or if they’re +1.5, they can lose by one or win the game to win their side of the bet.
The runline in baseball is a point spread that is always at 1.5. Either a team has to win by 1.5 runs or the other side can lose by one or win the game, and you’d win that side of the bet.
The over-under is simply the combined final score of the two teams. If the over-under is 8.5, final scores of 9-4, 5-4 or 7-2 would result in overs. Scores of 4-3, 8-0 or 3-1 would all constitute unders in this case.