How to Bet On Baseball
Writing by admin on Thursday, 12 of April , 2007 at 1:54 pm
Swing, bettor; bettor, swing.
We’ve got the NBA postseason square in our sights. Some of us are even betting hockey now that the playoffs have begun. Good times. But are you betting on baseball? Perhaps you should. It’s one of the simplest pro sports to handicap – provided you aren’t married to the idea of a pointspread.
If you’re already laying coin on the NHL, you probably know what we mean. The moneyline is to baseball (and hockey) what the pointspread is to football. You’re betting on a team to win straight up. To make up for the difference between the favorite and the underdog, payouts are higher on the dog. Piece of cake.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals were –150 favorites in Pittsburgh against the Pirates (+135). The minus sign indicates you bet that number ($150) to win $100. The plus sign indicates you bet $100 to win that number ($135). Handicappers will often look for their value picks among the underdogs, rather than risk “eating chalk” by betting on the faves for less reward.
Although the low scoring in baseball games takes the spread out of the equation, it does make betting the totals more interesting. Your totals generally fall in the 7-12 range, and since baseball is so number-oriented, you can cobble together a list of relevant stats, do some math, and come up feeling more confident about your “over” or “under” pick than you do for NBA matchups.
A statistics-based analytical process is also the cornerstone of playing the MLB market. Baseball is a game of individual outcomes – the team dynamic is almost nonexistent on the diamond. You can project how each player will perform in a game, add them up, and pick a winner. But that takes a lot of time, and time is money. Better to focus on the starting pitchers, with supporting research on the bullpens, the batting orders, the ballpark in use and the umpires working the game.
Don’t forget, a game takes place in an environment, and that environment affects the game. Think Lambeau Field in December. Now think Wrigley Field in April.
Category: Online MLB Baseball Betting
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