Baseball Betting Odds
While baseball is a sport with origins largely based in the United States, Americans aren't the only people who wager on it. In actuality, there are many different countries around the world that enjoy baseball betting.
This being said, the odds attached to betting lines often vary based on what area of the world they're offered. Moneyline odds are widely used in the United States, fractional odds are common in the Uk, and decimal odds are popular in Canada, Europe and Australia.
For this reason, some bettors will visit foreign sportsbooks and feel lost when looking at the lines. However, understanding different baseball betting odds doesn't have to be complicated when you know how they work. So with that in mind, let's take a closer look at the three main types of odds.
Moneyline (American) Odds
This is the most common type of odds offered in baseball. The moneyline lets bettors know how much they stand to win by wagering on either the favorite or underdog. And moneylines are always expressed in figures of 100 or more to make this easier for bettors. You can see an example of this below:
Los Angeles Dodgers -120
Arizona Diamondbacks +115
In this game, the Dodgers are favored because people would be wagering $120 to earn $100 in profits. If somebody placed a winning $100 bet on the Diamondbacks, they'd win $115. L.A. or Arizona merely have to win the game for a successful bet; the final score doesn't matter.
It's also important to understand run lines too because these are commonly used in conjunction with moneylines. A run line is a point spread that teams must cover in order for a wager on them to be successful. A 1.5-run spread is almost always used, though a 2.5-run spread is occasionally used in the case of big mismatches. You can see what a run line looks like below:
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 +110
Arizona Diamondbacks +1.5 -115
Based on their -1.5 run line, L.A. must win by 2 runs or more; assuming they only win by 1 run, the bet is a loss. Because the Dodgers are starting out at a 1.5-run deficit, they are underdogs on the moneyline. So if somebody places a successful $100 wager on L.A., they'll collect $110 in profit.
The Diamondbacks are being spotted 1.5 runs, which means they only have to lose by 1 run or win the game for a profitable wager. But since they're beginning with an advantage, bettors must wager $115 to win $100.
Decimal Odds
Baseball betting in Europe and Canada often features decimal odds. These odds deal with much smaller numbers and there are no plus sign or minus signs used. Here is what decimal odds look like:
New York Yankees 1.90
Boston Red Sox 2.20
Beginning with the favored Yankees, people would be betting $1 to earn $0.90 in profit ($1.90 total). If one were to bet on the Red Sox, they'd be risking $1 to earn $1.20 in profit ($2.20 total). As you can see, decimal odds are quite easy to understand.
Fractional (UK) Odds
Fractional odds have been commonly used in the United Kingdom since the 16th century. These odds feature two different numbers, separated by a slash. The first number represents what the potential payout is, while the second number is what you're risking to win. Here's an example of fractional odds:
Chicago Cubs 6/5
Cincinnati Reds 10/11
The Cubs are the underdogs here because you'd be wagering $5 to win every $6 in profit. With the favored Reds, you would be betting $11 to win $10 in profit.
All of the baseball betting odds that we've discussed are pretty easy to understand after a closer look. So no matter whether you're looking at an American, UK or European-based sportsbook, you shouldn't have much trouble figuring out what each line means.