MLB Betting Market Basics
Allan Lem (aka “fathalpert”) began playing fantasy sports in high school and transitioned to DFS in 2015. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Economics and lives in California with his wife and two kids. Allan got his break in the industry covering Preseason NBA content and has since helped with NBA, Summer League, MLB, and Preseason NFL content as well as overseeing the RotoGrinders blog program. He dreams of winning a big tournament so he can try cashing one of those giant cardboard checks at his local bank. You can follow Allan on Twitter @allanlemdfs.
Hello Grinders. The goal of this Betting Markets overview is to break down the components of MLB odds, discuss how they are useful for DFS purposes, and show how you can incorporate the betting materials here on RotoGrinders into your daily process. Let’s dive in!
What are the key betting numbers, and what do they mean?
In baseball, the two main betting numbers I focus on are the Moneyline (or Line) and Total. The Moneyline helps us identify who the favorite and underdog are in the game, as well as giving us the odds a bettor must lay to win their bet. The team listed with the higher Moneyline is the favorite, and they will be listed with minus money (ex: -150). In contrast, the underdog will be the team with the lower Moneyline, and they will be listed with plus money (ex: +140). A -150 Moneyline means you’d have to lay $15 for each $10 you’d like to win. If the underdog is +140 in that game, you would win $14 for every $10 you lay.
The Total refers to the number of runs scored Vegas predicts will be scored by both teams combined. Bettors can bet the over or under on that Total. Totals are useful in helping to identify which game environments are expected to have a high scoring output, and that’s usually driven by some combination of poor pitching, elite hitting, or park factors that produce more offense.